Palmer, Alaska - August 22nd to 25th, 2022
Palmer is less than an hour’s drive from Anchorage, but has a totally different feel. It is a small town surrounded by farmland with a backdrop of mountain peaks. During our four night stay in Palmer, we enjoyed a variety of activities and sights.
Monday was a short drive from Denali State Park to Palmer. It rained most of the way, so we didn’t have much of a view during the drive. We checked in at Paradise RV Park just in time to eat lunch. By this time, the rain had stopped, but the skies were still very overcast.
The RV Park was small but nice. It was next to the airport and the golf course, out in some farmland. Our spot was on the end of the row, right next to a raspberry patch. We were told to help ourselves to the raspberries. We ate our lunch, picked some raspberries for dessert, then drove over to the Alaska State Fair, just a couple of miles from the campground.
The fair in Palmer is much larger than the one we went to in Fairbanks (Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, Alaska - July 31st to August 1st, 2022). The one in Palmer lasts for three weeks. However, they are shutdown on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This is due to COVID, so that they can thoroughly clean the place each week. Traditionally, the fair is only two weeks long, but open all days of the week. Had we realized the days they were closed when we were initially mapping out our route and itinerary, we might have shifted the dates we were in Palmer, as the fair was the main reason we were there. We should still be able to get two full days in at the fair, Monday and Thursday. Hopefully that will satisfy Keith, who was the one who requested we go to the fair.
We waited in line for almost half an hour to buy our tickets. If we had purchased them online, we could have bypassed the line. We’ll know better on Thursday. The fair had plenty of vendors to stroll around and see, including crafts, food, and commercial products. There were also plenty of activities for the kids, from carnival rides to petting zoos. You could get your picture taken cuddling a pig, sitting on top of a stuffed moose, or holding a raptor. There were large “hamster balls” that little kids could get inside and roll around in a pool of water. That was fun to watch.
We sampled a lot of food, some traditional fair food and some not. Starting out, we split a funnel cake. You can’t get more traditional fair food than that! Ann balanced that with some healthier food of an ear of roasted corn, fresh spring rolls with peanut sauce, and panang curry rice bowl with chicken. Keith tried the Alaskan crab cakes and ate some of Ann’s fresh spring rolls. For dessert, Ann tried the Dole whip in a waffle cone while Keith had a vanilla malt from the Alaskan Soda Jerk stand. We saw the same Soda Jerk at the Fairbanks fair. They were a lively bunch, with music playing as they rang a bell and called out the orders when they were ready for pick up.
The highlights of the day for us were the goat milking contest, the lumber jack show, and the Extreme Raptors show by Jonathan Woods. Keith was hoping to see the large vegetables that the fair is known for. However, this was the first week and no vegetables were on display yet. Hopefully there will be more to see on Thursday.
Our plan for Tuesday was to drive up to Hatcher Pass and go for a hike. When we came out of our Red Tail Lodge (our camper van) in the morning, the cows were in the pasture to greet us, about 50 feet away. It rained all night and looked like more rain in the morning. Since it looked like the weather was going to improve as the day went on, we waited until after lunch to drive up to the pass.
The road from Palmer up to the pass is paved most of the way. It starts out following the beautiful Little Susitna River for about five miles. Even with the overcast skies and the light rain, the views were gorgeous. The last mile and a half to the pass is a narrow, windy, rough, steep road. The vistas were worth the trouble.
At the pass, the April Bowl Trail starts across the road from the parking area, switch-backing up the steep mountainside. The trail passes close to a pretty waterfall. As you climb higher, a pond appears, then another, then yet a third. They are all in a “bowl” fed by a snow field. The trail continues on top of a rocky ridge that winds around the back side of the bowl.
Even though the trail is just a little over two miles long, give yourself plenty of time to complete it. It took us much longer to complete the trail than we imagined. The 1.1 miles to reach the summit took us an hour and a half to complete. There were mainly two reasons for such a slow ascent. First, we had to watch our footing along the rocky ridge line. That just meant that Ann stopped often to take in the ever changing wonderful views around us and, of course, take pictures of them, the second reason our ascent was slow.
Luckily, the skies started to clear during our hike, especially since Ann forgot to bring her rain jacket with her. The sun popped out every now and then from behind the clouds which lit up the different mountain peaks surrounding us at different times.
On the way back down, we spotted a pika. That’s the first one we’ve seen in Alaska. They are cute little animals. We see them a lot in Rocky Mountain National Park and knew they existed in Alaska. Also, just like in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, there are marmot in Alaska. The species found in Alaska are slightly different, so we were hoping to see one. The rocky ridge was the perfect environment for marmot and others had reported in AllTrails that they had seen them, but, unfortunately, we didn’t. We were diligently scanning the rocks for them, but all we found were arctic ground squirrels.
As we passed by the waterfall on the way back down, we saw a ground squirrel scurry down the rocks and cross the water. We thought it was trying to hide from us. However, in a few short moments, he popped out of the rocks just a few feet from Ann. Then he stood on his hind legs, looking like he was begging. He kept approaching Ann, coming within a foot or two of her before she would stomp her feet to scare him away, only to have him come right back. Yes, people must be feeding these guys for them to approach people so readily. Ann didn’t care to get bitten or scratched, so she continued down the trail.
We completed the 2.3 miles with an elevation gain of 853 feet in two hours and 35 minutes. It was hike number 36 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2022.
The sun came out in full force for our drive down from the pass. As we started our descent, a hang glider came around the mountain and into the valley we were heading down. He flew over our heads and landed on the road behind us. What a treat! The other treat was the view. The same views that we thought were gorgeous earlier in the day on the way up were simply stunning all lit up by the sun on our way back down. We passed by several people on the side of the road, with buckets in hand, picking wild berries. What a wonderful day!
Wednesday morning we got our chores done, doing laundry, taking showers, dumping our gray water, and filling our fresh water. Paradise RV Park charges $5 combined for washing and drying a load of laundry along with $5 per shower and $5 to dump (unless you have a full hookup site). Usually we complain about private RV parks charging for showers, but it was worth it this time. The campground facilities were the cleanest we’ve ever seen. They provide you with a clean floor towel to use when you step out of the shower, and we swear the owner cleans out the shower between each guest. The only (minor) complaints are that the laundry and showers are only available during office hours and the water heater seems to have a hard time keeping up with the load when both washers and both showers are running at the same time. If you need laundry or showers in the evening, there are facilities in town. The restrooms are a little unusual in that it is a co-ed facility with two stalls. However, it works out just fine.
The rain started up again in the afternoon. Our plan was to tour the Musk Ox Farm, but we weren’t too excited about doing it in the pouring rain. We drove over there anyway to check it out. The last tour was at 5 pm and the forecast said the rain should start clearing by then, so we reserved our spots for the 5 pm tour. While we waited, we drove into town and found a place to buy a couple cups of chai and hung out in our Red Tail Lodge with a good cell signal.
Our gamble paid off. By 5 pm, the rain had stopped. The 45 minute tour was very informative and took us around the fields to see the musk ox. They are the only domestic herd of musk ox in the world. The fine winter hair that the ox normally shed in the spring is harvested by combing out their coats. The farm’s gift shop is filled with the soft, warm yarn that is made from the ox hair that they collect. They also have hats and scarves made from the yarn for purchase as well.
After the tour, we went back into town to have dinner at the Bleeding Heart Brewery. We heard people at the campground raving about how great the brewery was. However, as we pulled up to the place, we weren’t too sure about going in. From the outside, it doesn’t look like much. We were so glad that we chose to venture inside. The food was wonderful along with the beer.
Ann ordered the Bahn-Mi with a side of beet relish while Keith had the special, the lamb stew. For dessert, we both had the other special that day, the rhubarb crumble. To drink, Ann had the Jasmine Green kombucha and Keith had two beers, the Valley Trash: Dirty Blonde and the Mass Appeal. To add even more enjoyment to the evening, we shared a table with Biff and Janet from New Jersey. It was nice to spend the evening socializing with them. They are a lovely couple and wish them the best on the rest of their trip.
Thursday morning, we drove into town. The sun was out, so we strolled through the garden next to the visitor center. Ann hates to pass up good lighting and colorful flowers without taking pictures. The fair didn’t open until 11 am and we weren’t sure the large vegetables would be on display yet. Next to the garden in Palmer, there is a display with full scale models of the award winning cabbage, zucchini, carrot, and beet from 2009, known as the Mat-su Giants. The cabbage weighed 127 pounds, the zucchini weighed 29.65 pounds, the carrot 18.99 pounds, and the beet was 42.75 pounds.
From there, we walked over to Vagabond Blues, a nice cafe. Just like the brewery the night before, the outside doesn’t look like much, but it is rather nice inside. We both had a little mid-morning treat with our chai. Ann picked out the pumpkin spice coffee cake while Keith had a snickerdoodle cookie, his favorite type of cookie. It was an enjoyable, relaxing morning.
At 11 am, we drove over to the fair. This time we bought our tickets ahead of time online to avoid the line at the gate. The line was even longer than Monday’s line. Thursday was “Agricultural Day” which meant that you could get into the fair for $3 instead of the usual $14 for a Monday or Thursday (weekends cost more) if you made it through the ticket line before 2 pm. However, you were encouraged to bring a food item to donate to the food bank. So we essentially paid $22 extra so we wouldn’t have to wait in line for an hour.
For our second visit to the fair, we concentrated more on the farm items. We walked through a couple of exhibit halls with arts and crafts, such as paintings, hand-made clothing, baked goods, photographs, and quilts. They had some interesting demonstrations as well, with bobbin lace making, card weaving, scroll saws and wood lathes.
In the main Farm Exhibits building, there were more animals on display than there were on Monday, from cows to pigs to goats. And, much to Keith’s delight, the crops were on exhibit. The vegetables didn’t break any world records this year, but they were still impressive. In addition to the vegetables, there were fruits, flowers, and bonsai trees. We found the displays of all of the different types of berries very informative. We’re still not sure we can now properly identify all the wild berries we see in Alaska, but now we have a much better idea.
Of course, we had to eat more fair food. We didn’t eat quite as healthy as we did on Monday. This time we had buffalo burgers and freshly made potato chips. The burgers were nothing special, but the potato chips were fantastic. They spiral cut a whole potato and deep fry it, right in front of you. It is a lot to eat, but we split an order. Then, since Keith liked his bite of Ann’s roasted corn on Monday, he got his own ear this time. However, he was a little disappointed as it wasn’t quite roasted long enough and the corn was not as sweet. Ann finished off her eating frenzy with a Denali cream puff with four berry sauce.
After consuming all of those calories, we should have walked around some more to burn them off, but, instead, we sat down and listened to a folk blues singer for a while. He was an excellent acoustic guitar player. We finished off our fair experience by watching the antique tractor pull.
For such a small community, there are so many things to see and do. We hit the highlights while still having plenty of time to relax in the peaceful atmosphere.
Check out our related video: Palmer, Alaska
(Ann)