After being stranded in Homer on Monday 8/18 we were up and ready to go early Tuesday morning. At 8:30 am we were notified the Sterling highway was once again closed to traffic because of the Swan lake forest fire. We had already lost one day and losing a second day would cause havoc with our schedule going forward.
Shortly after 9:00 AM we were notified that the road would once again open using a pilot car to guide the drivers through the smoke. The pilot car is a emergency vehicle that guides traffic through the difficult areas one direction at a time. This can cause significant backups.
It was decided that no matter how long it took we were going to make the 228 mile trip to Anchorage.
As we approached the Swan Lake area @ 70 miles north of Homer @ 10:30 AM this is what we saw.
The closer we got it was with some trepidation, driving forward into the smoke.
As we entered the fire zone, they were no longer using the pilot car and traffic was moving in both directions.
There were times when visibility was down to 50 feet and we were going very slow.
There were several people in our group with breathing issues and many used wet wash clothes over the nose and mouths to avoid breathing the smoke.
Beth and I were fortunate. Although the smoke was uncomfortable, we were able to make the 30 minutes trek without any serious issues.
We found out the next day they again closed the road later that afternoon and it remained closed for the next several days even affecting the Friday night High School football schedule. Many of the teams were unable to travel.
The rest of the trip to Anchorage continued without any additional problems.
Not much to report about Anchorage. We were only there one very short night and then on to Denali.
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