venturing4th: Glen Highway, Richardson Highway and the Whitney Museum

We long for sunshine! That would mean it isn't raining and we would have been able to enjoy the scenery on the drive along the Richardson and Glen Highways today. Fortunately, we will be driving back north on the Richardson Highway on our way back to Canada, so we'll get another chance to see the incredible mountains, glaciers and waterfalls. In the meantime, here's how we saw them today, in the rain.

Heading out of Palmer this morning at 7 a.m. with clouds in the valley.

The leaves on the deciduous trees along the higher elevation Glenn Highway out of Palmer are definitely changing color. It reminds me of New Hampshire in early October.

Matanuska Glacier that heads in the Chugach Mountains and trends northwest 27 miles. The glacier's average width is 2 miles; at its terminus it is 4 miles wide. It is the biggest road-accessible glacier in Alaska. We didn't, but others on the Caravan had driven here yesterday to walk on the glacier.

Along a winding section of the Glenn Highway.

Since we de-camped so early we stopped for breakfast along the way. Our Driver's Manual, which has our daily itinerary, always lists a good breakfast stop along the drive. Since our Leader, JJ, is partial to cinnamon rolls, he always mentions if a stop has good cinnamon rolls. Today's stop not only had good rolls, but they were also Alaskan sized! The coffee was $0.25 a cup.

After we turned south on the Richardson Highway we passed the Worthington Glacier.

Another view of the Worthington Glacier.

Snow poles along the highway guide snow plows in winter.

Approaching Valdez we passed through Keystone Canyon where there were waterfalls left and right.

This one is called Bridalveil Falls, (Frederick is there for scale), and a quarter mile further along the highway is...

Horsetail Falls.

Frederick is in the picture for scale.

We arrived in Valdez and hour and a half before we could enter the campground so we drove to the Maxine & Jesse Whitney Museum in town. This "high-quality" museum is devoted to Alaska Native culture and Alaskan wildlife, and features ivory and baleen art-work, moose-antler furniture, and natural-history displays, including some very creative taxidermy.

Bill! Bill! - look, look!!

More cool stuff for Bill.

Frederick admiring a 2400 pound moose.

Caribou on the left, Dall sheep on the right and Frederick just escaping the clutches of the Polar Bear.

Interesting artifacts.

"Making a living from making art -

Contact with non-Natives dramatically changed the world of Alaska Natives. Whalers and traders brought disease, liquor, and new technology. Missionaries and teachers introduced Christianity, foreign languages, and their own values. By the turn of the century, many Alaska Natives who were reliant on non-Native food and goods to survive sought out paid work.

At the time, there weren't a lot of jobs for men, and there were even fewer for women. Those who saw opportunity in making art for the market turned to skin sewing and basket weaving to supplement their income. At the suggestion of traders, Yup'ik women learned how to make coiled baskets - a hot item among collectors."

Carvings from ivory and whalebone.

After our last visit to the Alaskan Museum at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, our favorite Anthropologist challenged us with a few terms and names. Here they are:

Tootuks

Mukluks

Nevroks

Ivar Skarland

Otto Geist

Sedna

and, for extra credit - Kazighi

We only knew one of the terms - mukluks - those high top, flat soled, boots/slippers. But today, we asked at the Whitney Museum and the student docent helped us out, his name is Carl Young.

This is an example of Sedna - Inuit sculpture from blue grey stone. This one has ivory tusks.

Tootuks are holes in the nose, ears, lips, for jewelry.

Nevroks - not a clue. We give up!

Ivar Skarland - a Norwegian Anthropologist who originally studied forestry but came to the University of Alaska. He died in 1965.

Otto Geist was also at the University of Alaska, recruited Ivar Skarland, and they became life-long friends. Professor Geist, an Archeologist, studied circum-polar cultures. He died in 1963.

For the extra credit - Kazighi are hand tools, maybe some of the items that are in the second picture above, from the Museum.

We also learned about models and miniatures in the Native culture.

The history of miniatures in Alaska goes way back. They were used for ceremonies and as toys for children. In the 1800s, Alaska Natives started making them as collectibles for anthropologists and museum buyers who wanted to show people back home how Alaska Natives lived. Later, model boats, sleds, and houses became popular items on the tourist market.

Many artists worked in their living rooms at home. Others worked in their own studios or community workshops because dust and noise from motorized carving tools became a nuisance at home.