I left Anchorage around 4:30 pm on a Friday evening heading towards Wasilla to go to Chitina. Stopped by a Carrs grocery store, which is rumored to be bought out by Safeway, to pick up some food- california rolls in particular. This is the same road I took going to Denali National Park on July 4th weekend.
Instead of going towards Palmer, I went towards Wasilla and not heading to Chitina at all. After driving 50 kilometers north of Wasilla, I decided to take Hatcher Pass back to Palmer. I've never taken this end of Hatcher Pass before, but I knew the road led to Palmer.
Hatcher Pass starting at Willow wasn't too bad. But it got very bad at places. Potholes. Big potholes. And lots of them. After driving for a many kilometers, I stopped at a turnout just before sunset came. It was a cold and rainy night. I figured I didn't want to spend too much time driving, so I decided to rest at the turnout. I put the backseat down, and headed for bed. After an hour or so, a guy a red minivan pulled into the same turnout and probably went to bed too because I didn't hear or see him get out of his van. In fact, I'm not even sure if it was a guy or lady.
At midnight, while still raining, I decided to head on out again. Sometimes, when I'm alone with another person, I get this weird feeling that person may end up to be a killer waiting for the right moment to strike. But I'm sure on this stormy night, this person just wanted a rest from the long, rugged drive. When I woke up, I figured I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep for another couple of hours, so why not hit the road again.
Most of the drive through the rest of Hatcher Pass was at 15-25 kph. At the end of Hatcher Pass was the hiking trail I've been to so many times before. I pulled up into the dirt parking lot and went to sleep until 11:00 am, and only waking up a few times in the night.
