When we learned that the small town of Glacier View does a 4th of July ‘car launch’ every year, we knew we had to check it out. Wow, what a crazy event. Check out some of the videos in this article from Car and Driver. The best part was watching attendees scramble to grab a ‘souvenir’ car part from the event to take home. Why? The night before we camped at a great boondocking spot right on the Matanuska river just up the road from the event.
On the way to Glacier View we drove up to Hatcher Pass for some amazing views, visited the remains of the Independence Gold Mine, and I hiked the first 3-4 miles of the Reed Lakes Trail, one of the most beautiful hikes anywhere. Check out the photo link below!
We did a somewhat touristy boat/truck trip to Knik Glacier. I don’t think I’d recommend it. The 30 minute ride (each way) in the military surplus truck was very uncomfortable, and unfortunately one of their boats had broken down, so there was a lot of time waiting for the remaining boat to shuttle us to the glacier. But It was cool to see the foot of the glacier from the river, and the owner of the company had some great stories, including one about the time he was trampled by a moose. We camped 2 nights at an even better boondocking spot right on the Knik river with a view of the glacier.
Then on to Hope, AK, population 200. Hope is a very cute little town 1.5 hrs from Anchorage. We camped in the yard of the McCabe cabin (friends from SF). Hope is a great place for live music on weekends, and I heard a great rock/americana band and a fun traditional bluegrass band. Some of the headliners for SalmonFest play in Hope just before or after the festival. Hope is situated on the ‘Turnagain Arm’, which has the second largest tidal swing in North America. The inlet can see tides as large as 40 feet!
So many great photos from this week! Here is the set for Hatcher Pass, Knik Glacier, and Hope. Here is a collection from the car launch, but I recommend watching the youtube video to really appreciate the event.
