Willow to Valdez

Hi
My wife and I are renting an RV in August and traveling from the Wasilla area to Valdez. We'll be doing some fishing, hiking, and sight seeing. Hopefully catch silvers in the Susitna, pinks in Valdez, will definitely stop at glacier view, I would like to see an ice cave. hopefully drive up into hatcher pass. I'm thinking about renting a ATV to ride into some back country.
What would you guys recommend I do? The way things are going I may be unemployed so I'm not sure that I want to spend a lot on fly outs etc

Thanks

Drive north on the Parks highway from Wasilla to Cantwell. Take the Denali Hiway to Paxson then the Richardson down to Glennallen then on to Valdez. You'll find plenty of wild country to kick around in off the Denali Hiway without a 4 wheeler. Should be some decent grayling fishing to be found here and there. Caribou season opens sometime in August so try to get out on the DenaIi before that or you will have lots of company.

That look like a great ride. Thanks Drasselt

Many motorhome rental contracts in AK specifically prohibit travel over the Denali Highway, or at least they used to. If you can find a rental that allows it, Drasselt is right. It's a great drive.

I checked. I'm not allowed to go faster than 25 mph and need to stop every 15 miles to check for a flat tire but i'm not allowed on hatcher pass, which looks like a nice paved road

The road to Hatcher Pass, starting from the Palmer end, is steep and twisty. An RV could present a traffic hazard if oversized and/or underpowered. The road out the backside of Hatcher pass to Willow is a lot more interesting and not nearly as crooked or steep.. It's been several years since I've been on it and can't recall whether it was paved. Good drive though.

The Denali Highway is a great trip.But August is the month that starts to get rainy. The west half of the Denali can get tremendously bad with potholes during the rainy season. Beautiful country though.

I'll be there in early August so hopefully the road is still good. I'm really looking forward to the ride.

Thanks white

IF you get here, better hope things change.

Effective 12:01 a.m. March 25, 2020:

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Pursuant to the Governor’s declaration, the State of Alaska hereby orders the following. Upon arrival in any community in Alaska from another state or nation, you must:

Proceed directly from the airport to your designated quarantine location, which is the location identified and affirmed by you on the mandatory State of Alaska Travel Declaration Form (attached).
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I'll see ya in August my friend

I see some gray areas on the map but theres no explanation as to why they are gray. Is this native land? If so are there any extra requirements to fish or hike?

Quite possible. Here's a link to Ahtna: https://www.ahtna.com

That is not native land. Its a combination of state and federally owned with a few private parcels scattered around which are usually easy to identify by the cabins and private property signs. Some of that gray area is part of the Tangle Lakes archaeological district.

Yes. If you click on the Ahtna link above, hover on "land" in the index at the top of the page and then click on land permits scroll down and there is a good color coded land status map.

Booked marked. My dream kinda trip.

The Denali Highway shouldn't be missed. All told, I've probably spent well over 100 nights at various places along the Denali. I camped for a summer at Susitna Lodge doing wolf and bear work. Fascinating country. I misspent dozens of weekends in the Maclaren/Tangle Lakes country hunting ptarmigan. One of the few places I know where one can find all three species (willows, rocks, and white-tailed) if you know where to look.

If you've got the time, another cool trip off the Richardson Highway is east over to McCarthy and the old Kennicott Mine.

Jack

I did a float trip down the Maclaren for moose and I wish I had taken a shotgun. I've never seen such an abundance of ducks in my life.

Unfortunately Im back home. It was a great time. Excellent fishing, good weather and the sights. We had our papers in order so getting out of the airport was a breeze. We went and picked up our RV and we were gone. Up to the Euklutna tailrace through Palmer and hatcher pass, Wasilla. I fished most of the streams along the parks hwy. Goose and sheep had a lot of aggressive pinks. We started seeing Denali right around Willow and got some nice pictures of it in Talkeetna. Up to Denali park as far as savage river and then back to Cantwell and across the Denali hwy. Alot of nice sights there. Something was going on and I suspect that the boys were hunting caribou but I'm not sure. Turned south at Paxson and two large mountains were glowing orange from the sunrise. We had to stop for construction and the flagman said that it would be a 25 minute wait so I made everyone coffee. Down to Valdez, and the bears, sea lions and birds were feasting on pinks. Spinners worked well on them but a jig twitched under a bobber was incredible and no snags. When I had had enough I gave what was left of my jig and bobber to a couple with kids that weren't having much luck. Then up to worthington glacier. You are allowed to walk right up to this one and I got some pictures of the blue light under it. Backup to Glenn allen and across the Glenn hwy down into hope, then the Russian river. I have always thought that blushed reds were an awesome looking fish. I found one and started fishing for it when two brown bears came crashing up the stream. they didn't pay any attention to me and just kept on going. I eventually caught that red. We went back up to whittier and walked the trail to portage glacier. Its very nice scenery up there. With time left we went over to fish creek hoping for silvers. Wow, I can't believe how many silvers came in with the tide. It looked like a run of pinks swarming around. The mud there is, noteworthy.
That's a shortened brief summary. It was an awesome time. Copy and paste the link below for some of the pictures





https://postimg.cc/gallery/J0XC5LF

That spot at Worthington glacier amazes me. The buildings that are there get completely covered with snow every winter ! That drive through Keystone Canyon just south of Thompson Pass is awe inspiring !