June 22 - 23: Tok AK: Found Sara and Roy Adams at Willards Auto Elect. They were finally towed there after waiting 36 hours on the Top of The World Highway. Appears the problem with their coach was the air filter. They want to travel with us for a while to make sure their coach doesn't quit running again. Not much in Tok, good place to pick up mail. Allow 5 to 7 days for propriety mail. At Tok RV Village Campground there is entertainment every day, Dave Standford lives in Alaska, writes songs about Alaska and puts on shows. Don't miss this, it's great.

June 24: Tok to Valdez: Smoke terrible today. Decided to go South to Valdez instead of going to Fairbanks, several reasons, one the forest fires, another the heat in Fairbanks. It was over 100 yesterday. Took the Tok cutoff to the Richardson Highway, which is designated as a national scenic highway. Crossed the Cooper river and Wrangell St Elian Natl Park, the nation's largest with over 13.2 million acres. Miles Traveled: 262

June 25 - 27: Valdez AK: Beautiful town, went to Mineral Creek Canyon, can only drive 6 miles then the snow blocked the road so we hiked the rest of the way. Took an hour and a half to get back to the old stamp mill, worth the hike. The canyon has lots of water falls, and great scenery. Next trip we took was on the LuLu Bell, a great boat and wonderful trip. It goes back to Columbia Glacier with lots of sea life viewing along the way. The trip lasts 6 to 7 hours and is something not to be missed. We went up Thompson Pass, visited the Worthington Glacier, then went to "old" Valdez It's were the town was before the 1964 earthquake. There is still evidence of the old town. Valdez averages over 300 inches of snow a year and the dirt here is a funny gray, as are all the rivers.

June 28: Chitna AK: Chitna is 120 miles NE of Valdez on the Edgerton Highway. Came here because tomorrow we will go to McCarthy and Kennicott. Chitna is mostly a native town, the buildings are old and falling down. The Downtown Hamburger Bar is a tiny old camper trailer and you order at the back window. There are several lakes and saw lots of moose. Camped by the side of the road.

June 29: McCarthy/Kennicott AK: The road to these towns is a sixty mile dirt road, and takes about three hours to travel. This is a road to take your tow car, not your coach. If you have a small trailer or fifth wheel you could go part way to a couple of different campgrounds. The road leaves Chitna, passes through an old railroad cut, then crosses the Copper river on a 1,400 ft. bridge. At mile 17 you pass over the Kuskulana bridge, 525 ft long, 238 ft. above the river and built in 1910. At mile 28.5 you will pass the Gilahina Trestle, and old wooden RR bridge. Before you reach McCarthy you must park and walk over a foot bridge and walk or take a shuttle one-half mile into town. McCarthy has a few historic buildings, a couple of flight seeing services, a hotel and of course a bar. In 1900 the miners came to McCarthy from Kennicott,to party, when they had time off. We took a shuttle from there to Kennicott. The main attraction at Kennicott is a huge abandoned Copper Mill. The mine was started in 1911 and $21,000,000.00 in ore was taken out the first year. The Root Glacier is accessible from Kennicott, you can hike out and walk on it. Most of the glacier around Kennicott is covered with rock, sand and gravel. There is a hotel that is open and some old buildings being reconstructed. The roads are dirt and there was so much smoke from the forest fires we couldn't see the mountains. This is a definite must as a side trip.