Hatcher Pass Road Hike Mid June
What a difference a few weeks makes in the seasonal changes to the landscape at Hatcher Pass, Palmer, Alaska. The last week of May we hiked the closed Hatcher Pass Road, and it was still impassable due to snow drifts. Three weeks later it is gorgeous and I’m surprised the road is still closed. What a great hike and wonderful photo opportunities for future reference material for paintings! In the distance is the Independence Mine State Historical Park hard-rock gold mine.
Three weeks ago we turned around at this point because of deep snow. The road will open the third week of June.
At this time one large drift of snow still remains at the summit, but the road is passble. It doesn’t look very big in the photo, but as we walked by the drift is taller than our heads. I found some great scenery to use in future paintings. We didn’t have time to go all the way to Summit Lake, we saved that for our next hike.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
