July 7th: My first trip on Hatcher Pass

"Squirrel", I yelled as I got out of my car in the driveway, just returning from my trip to the grocery store, "Come on down."

A few moments later Squirrel appears on the front porch. "Hi Al, what's up?"

"Hatcher Pass! You were right -- it's awesome!"

"Oh, cool, tell me about it."

"Well, the first time I saw the road I drove right past it, because I thought nobody in their right mind would drive on a road like that. It's all dirt, very steep, and the potholes are so big my entire car could fit in most of them. So I drove past it, and then I saw a ranger. I asked her where Hatcher Pass was, and she told me I just passed it. Sure enough, I was supposed to drive on that road."

"So what did you do?"

"I went back to the road, and stopped there at the bottom for a little while, trying to decide how bad an idea this was going to be. But then I thought, 'This is why I came to Alaska', so I started driving up the road. Right away I had to put the car in a lower gear because the tires were slipping, and I drove very, very slow, just creeping along."

"I kept going for a while", I continued, "and then I realized the car engine was getting hot, so I pulled over and let it cool off for a little while. That's when I got out and went for a little walk, and then I found this beautiful lake, and I ate my lunch right there by the lake. And there I was, way up in the mountains, eating my lunch by this lake, and there was nobody else anywhere near me!"

"And then what?", Squirrel asked.

"After I ate my lunch, I got in the car again, and after climbing a little higher, it was then time to come back down the mountain, and that was very scary. The road was still all dirt, very narrow, very winding, with a lot of potholes, and no guard rails to keep me from going over the sides. But I opened up the car windows, and let the fresh air in, and it was all so incredible. It took some time, but I made it down out of the mountains okay."

"Did you see the river?", Squirrel asked.

"Oh yes, the river was beautiful, too! I stopped several times along the river just to look around. And the trees are so pretty, and they're everywhere. They just keep going and going. Finally I realized I was probably out there for four hours, and I thought I should come back home, because my frozen foods were melting."

"I'm glad you liked it!"

"Oh yes, I'm going to drive on Hatcher Pass every time I come back from the grocery store. And your idea to have a picnic up there was brilliant!", I told Squirrel, giving him a high-five.