Fairbanks to Valdez

July 1st: Driving from Fairbanks to Valdez.

Google Maps says it will take 8 hours 34 mins to drive without stopping. We did this drive in about 9.5 hours. This part of our journey took us on Richardson Highway (marked as Alaska Highway 2 from Fairbanks to Delta Junction and as highway 4 from there to Valdez). It was the first major road ever built in Alaska. Its a true scenic route and worth spending all the time to stop at marked vista points to take real good pictures of snow capped mountain ranges. As you go down south on Highway 2, you will be accompanied by Alaskan Mountain range on your right. Alaskan range boasts the famous Mt. Mc Kinley too (which was mostly in the clouds and partially hidden by other peaks unfortunately).

Note that Delta Junction has very few options for you in terms of food. It is a really small place and we would recommend you have hearty breakfast before you start off and also stop for lunch before Delta Junction. We had a pit stop at that place for lunch + fuel in the car and went straight ahead onto Highway 4. The weather couldn't have been better :) We were blessed by picturesque views of glaciers from Wrangell St. Elias range on our left. Wrangell National Park holds 10 top peaks in the entire USA. As we got closer to Valdez we were greeted by Chugach Mountain Range glaciers too.