Alaska's Matanuska Valley in the Fall

The family and I took a trip up the Glenn Highway last weekend. The Glenn Highway is part of the National Scenic Byway system.  I was showing a house about 60 miles from Palmer so we made it a family outing.

The photo above shows the Matanuska River Valley, with King Mountain on the right and Castle Mountain on the left.  They are in two different Mountain Ranges.  Castle Mountain is part of the Talkeetna Mountains and King Mountain is part of the Chugach Range. This photo is taken about 10 miles east of Palmer and looking to the east.

At the very beginning of the trip, a bald eagle sat on a dead cottonwood surveying the valley below.  He purposefully ignored the highway traffic roaring below him.

I really envy these eagles.  I remember sheep hunting in the Talkeetna Mountains and taking all day to hike from one ridge all they way to the bottom of the valley and then back to the top of the next ridge.  As we lay down exhausted at the top, we got out the binoculars to look back where we came.  There was an eagle just cresting the ridge and heading our way.  He glided across the valley we had just struggled over and about 5 minutes later sailed right over us and into the next valley beyond.  He had yet to even flap his wings...I remember thinking, "there is something wrong with this picture!"

I dropped my family off at the cabin by Victory Bible Camp and continued up the road to show the house.  I was met by the owner and the potential buyer.  We walked the property, looking at the moose tracks, the Matanuska Glacier and the beautiful log house.  

Two days later we entered into contract on that house, contingent on the sale of the buyer's house in Wasilla.  Now the work begins, we need to sell the Wasilla house.

On the way back we stopped just above Long Lake and  took a photo of the lake and the Chugach Mountains looking South West.  There is King Mountain again, it's the pointy one off in the distance,  only this time  we are looking west.