How to Plan an International Trip: Travel Tales and Tips : Alaska Trip Report, Day 10: Richardson Highway, Santa Claus House, North Pole & SCENIC DRIVE

Day 10, Sep 8, 2018:

Drive on Richardson Highway from Fairbanks to Valdez:

ACCOMMODATION: Downtown B&B Inn, Valdez, 1 night

SUMMARY: 2 hour visit at Santa house at North Pole, then numerous scenic stops, culminating at Thomson pass and Bridal veil and Horsetail falls. Valdez promenade

Got up a little late. Checked out and were on the road only at 8:20.
We filled up with fuel at Fairbanks. Do not rely on the availability of gasoline at remote roadhouses.

This was our route:

https://goo.gl/maps/9iekygA5yJp

Fairbanks to Valdez (Richardson Highway):

Fairbanks to Valdez (Richardson Highway, (Alaska Rt. 4) 368 miles (562 km) . Note, Alaskans do not use the numbers, but rather the names of the highways)

NORTH POLE SANTA CLAUS HOUSE:

We stopped at North Pole, best known for the all-year ‘Santa Claus House’

We took pics of the outside and were about to leave when they opened the house at 9 am. We went in and were floored by the displays.

We took a lot of pics, bought some stuff

We were about to leave when Santa walked in at 10 am. He was very sweet to us and we took pics with him.

We had thought it might be tacky but we had had such a lovely time!! ANOTHER WOW, WOW, WOW MOMENT!

We were out on the road only by 11 am. Here is an airport on road side... planes visible

RICHARDSON HIGHWAY:

Snow capped mountains greet us everywhere...

This drive follows the 368 mile Richardson highway from Fairbanks to Valdez, and takes approximately 7.5 – 8 hours to complete. Even though the travel time is an investment, like most Alaskan highways, the views are incredibly rewarding. SCENIC route, offering magnificent views of the Chugach Mountains and Alaska Range, and some of the best glacier viewing .

In fact, there are two 100 mile sections that have been designated as State Scenic Byways, with views of glaciers, towering mountain ranges, and more.

Richardson Highway is primarily a two-lane road, but becomes a four-lane road near Fairbanks. The road is in excellent shape, and especially south of Delta Junction travelers can expect very little traffic, even in the summer. With most north-south traffic in the state funneled onto the Parks Highway, the Richardson feels a forgotten gem of a road.

The Richardson Highway was the first major road built in Alaska. Richardson Highway is not only Alaska's first road, but also the first trail into the Interior of the state. Prior to this route opening up, traveling into the heart of Alaska was only via rivers. The trail began in 1898 as a route from Valdez to Eagle as an “all-American” route to the Klondike goldfields The federal government was eager for more development on the US side of the border to prove that the purchase of this remote territory was not a complete folly. Just as the Klondike stampede ended, the Fairbanks gold rush started in 1902, and with the telegraph line added to the trail in 1903, this wilderness path became an important access route to the Interior.

Initially a five foot wide pack trail, the road was built by destitute prospectors who were eager for quick cash to escape the territory. Despite the severity of the winters, travel was easier in the cold months with horse and dog-sleds, rather than in the summer when travelers were bogged down in deep mud and attacked by hordes of mosquitoes. In 1910, overseen by US Army Captain Wilds P. Richardson, the footpath was upgraded to a wagon road.

It is Alaska Route 2 from Fairbanks to Delta Junction and Alaska Route 4 from Delta Junction to Valdez. It also connects segments of Alaska Route 1 between the Glenn Highway and the Tok Cut-Off.

The highway is not only historically significant, but is also in the top three most stunningly beautiful roads in the state. Multiple glaciers, waterfalls, towering mountain ranges and broad glacier river valleys greeted us.

Also of interest is the Trans-Alaska Pipeline that follows the road for most of the route.

AWESOME VIEWS OF MT WRANGELL AND OTHER RANGES NEAR IT FROM THE ROAD

This platform gave lovely views of Wrangell, Blackburn and the Willow lake

Worthington Glacier:

Saw the Worthington Glacier from the road. Drove up a gravel road, but there was a STOP sign and the path was fully closed . We could have walked, but got scared and left.

The next day, we reached the place through a paved road and did the short hike. But I feel we did not see the right wing of the glacier which would have been visible from the road we went on