PART IV: WRANGELL
ST. ELIAS
The
next part of our Alaskan adventure took place in Wrangell St. Elias National
Park. Wrangell St. Elias National Park
is the largest park in the country.
Incredibly, it’s six times the size of Yellowstone. Combined with Glacier Bay National Park and
several parks in Canada, it is also the largest protected wilderness on the
planet. The park contains four major
mountain ranges, which include many of the tallest peaks in the country. These peaks include 18,000’ Mt St. Elias,
several active volcanoes, and many of the largest glaciers in the world.
While
the park is massive, most of it is very difficult to get to. Most of the park is only accessible by float
plane. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the
time or money to go that route. Instead,
we had to settle for a brief visit to the old mining town of McCarthy. McCarthy is the most accessible part of the
park, but even it requires a marathon drive.
To get there, we’d have to drive a 60-mile dirt road.
EXHUMING MCCARTHY
We
left the Worthington Glacier behind, but enjoyed some additional views of it
farther down the road. We made good time
along the Richardson Highway, and spotted the Alaska Pipeline, which runs from
the Arctic Ocean to Valdez, on several occasions. A bit before the town of Copper Center, we
found the turn for the road to Chitina. This road was also paved, but rather
rough. In fact, it may have been rougher
than some of the dirt roads we traveled.
We
passed by Kenny Lake, which was hosting some sort of music festival. In the Eskimo town of Chitina
we took advantage of our last opportunity to get snacks and gasoline. The gas was $3.49 / gallon, and a big bag of
Doritos ran us $7.50. I was glad we
picked up most of our groceries in Valdez!
We needed to be well provisioned though, as we
were about to embark on the 60-mile gravel road to McCarthy.
The
first few miles out of Chitina were quite rough. Plus, we started out following a Subaru. Thanks to the drought, all we could see was a
cloud of dust. Fortunately, the road
conditions improved as we went. Also,
the Subaru pulled off a few miles up the road, and we were able to drive in the
clear most of the rest of the way.
Early
on, we crossed a bridge over the Copper River.
We were now many miles upstream from the Copper River Delta we had
visited outside of Cordova. It’s a big
river even here though. From the bridge,
we spotted dozens of Eskimos fishing the river using nets and fish wheels. I have no idea how these fish wheels work,
but it was certainly a fascinating thing to see.
A
bit later we were treated to views of the Chitina
River, which is a major tributary of the Copper. A few miles farther, we reached one of the
most exciting parts of the drive. The
road crosses an old railroad trestle 238’ above the river. The bridge spans an impressive gorge, and
driving across the bridge was quite the exercise in concentration. It’s nowhere near as bad now as it used to be
though. In the early days of the road,
the bridge hadn’t been modified from its railroad days. Back then, you had to drive across the
railroad ties, without the benefit of guard rails. Personally, I don’t think I’d be able to even
attempt it. These days, guard rails have
been added, and a deck has been built over the old ties. Even with those improvements, Christy was a
nervous wreck, and she wouldn’t let me drive!
We
stopped on the far side to take some photos of the bridge before continuing
on. The next interesting feature was
another old railroad trestle. There
isn’t much left of this one though, and a relatively new roadbed has been built
below it. The new road offers some
interesting views of what’s left of the span.
We checked this one out and stopped at a primitive rest area before
resuming the journey.
The
road from here was in good shape, and we averaged about 40mph the rest of the
way. Honestly, I’ve driven highways in
Pennsylvania that were rougher. The only
difficulty was oncoming traffic. We
passed cars going the other way frequently, and most of them were flying. Perhaps there was some sort of competition
going on to determine who could drive the McCarthy road the fastest? This is really only noteworthy because most
of the road is one lane. When you’re
driving 40mph and someone is coming toward you at 65mph, it doesn’t leave much
time to get out of the way. Apparently
there is some unwritten rule that traffic coming from McCarthy has the right of
way. I was looking forward to taking
advantage of that on our way back out.
Aside
from dodging traffic, the reminder of the drive was less exciting. We occasionally got views of the surrounding
mountains, but most of the ride was in a scrubby, dusty forest. Adding to the gloom was smoke from a nearby
forest fire, which seemed to get worse as we went. By the time we neared the end of the road, we
began to wonder if visiting McCarthy had been a mistake.
Just
before the end of the road we stopped at a small National Park information hut,
but it was already closed for the day.
We continued on to the end of the road, which terminates at a footbridge
over the Kennicott River. Local residents can drive across another
bridge just downstream to access town, but this bridge is not open to the
public. Instead, we turned around and
investigated the two private campgrounds at the end of the road.
Neither
of the campgrounds looked impressive, but the one at the river looked
marginally more appealing. It features
campsites on the gravel river bar as well as shady sites in a spruce forest. We checked in at the campground host’s
trailer, where we wrote a $20 check for the first night. Then we found a decent site in the woods, out
of the sun and the wind. We weren’t
lucky enough to get a site with a picnic table, but it featured plenty of rocks
and logs to sit on. Oddly, the campsite
across from us featured no less than three picnic tables. Unfortunately that site was occupied by a
family from Ohio that seemed to only speak French.
We
set up camp and had a dinner of hamburger helper, salad, and green beans. Afterwards, we were treated to a colorful
sunset courtesy of the smoky haze. Once
the sun dropped, we set off on our next adventure – an exploration of the town
of McCarthy.
We
walked from camp, and crossed a relatively new footbridge over the glacial Kennicott River.
From there, we followed the continuing road / railroad bed towards town,
passing a small church along the way. We
stopped at the McCarthy museum, which consists of a small building and an old
caboose. Improbably, the museum was
open, even though it was 9:30 at night.
Where else in the world can you go and find a museum open that late? We tried to check it out, but it didn’t have
any actual lights, and it was pretty dark inside. We decided to come back the next day when we
could actually see the displays.
From
there, we strolled into McCarthy.
McCarthy is an unusual little town.
It’s inhabited by an eclectic mix of hippies, mountain climbers, guides,
beer drinkers, pilots, musicians, artists, and crusty old-timers. A few of those folks live there year-round,
but the population really swells in the summer.
The town itself features a few blocks of shops along with a hotel, a bar,
and a restaurant. Of course, it goes
without saying that the community is surrounded by dramatic mountains. You might say that McCarthy is a miniature
version of Asheville, NC, but without the traffic problems.
McCarthy
has an interesting history. It came into
existence due to the Kennecott Copper Mines a few miles away. The town of Kennecott was adjacent to the
mines, but alcohol, prostitution, and other fun stuff wasn’t allowed
there. So McCarthy was developed to
provide all of the “services” not available in Kennecott. After the mines closed and the railroad
stopped operating, both towns were largely abandoned. However, in the 70’s and 80’s a few
adventurous souls began to relocate there.
In recent years, McCarthy and Kennecott have turned into something of a
tourist destination, albeit one well off the beaten
path. Tourism is pretty much the only
industry there now, but somehow the whole thing seems to work.
We
wandered through town, but ultimately ended up at the bar. The place was packed, and there was a pretty
good band playing bluegrass. Christy and
I enjoyed a couple of Alaskan Ambers and took in the local culture. The people were friendly, and best of all,
there were dogs everywhere. By this
point we were missing our dog. In
McCarthy though, if you don’t have your dog, it’s easy to borrow someone else’s
for awhile. There were plenty of dogs
strolling down the street, and we sat outside on the deck where we could play
with a few of them.
While
we were there, I noticed something interesting. It appears that McCarthy doesn’t have a
police department. I couldn’t help but
wonder what happens if there is a conflict.
Could it be that there are no conflicts or crime there? Well, probably not, but my guess is that the
people there manage to work things on their own, kind of like one big family
would. McCarthy also does not have a
post office, a fire department, or a real grocery store. It’s a long haul to Chitina
for groceries!
We
hung out in town for quite awhile, and it was actually fully dark when we
headed back. We walked back quickly and
went straight to bed, as we had a big hike planned for the next morning. It was a pleasant, cool evening, and we both
slept well despite the faint smell of smoke from the nearby forest fires.
ROOT DOWN
We
slept in until 8am and then had a breakfast of eggs, potatoes, and Canadian
bacon. Somehow our lazy morning evolved
into a scramble to catch the 10am shuttle van to Kennecott. The shuttle is $5 per person, one-way. The only other way to get to Kennecott is to
walk the 5-mile gravel road. That’s not
unreasonable, but we wanted to spend our time walking to the Root Glacier and
the Stairway Icefall. The shuttle van
picked us up on the far side of the footbridge.
It took us into McCarthy, where it made another stop. The van was packed from there, and the ride
to Kennecott was rough, cramped, and hot.
It was a relief when we finally reached the edge of town.
Kennecott
is an interesting mix of private buildings and buildings owned or managed by
the National Park Service. Some of these
have been restored, others are being renovated, and some are still in their
natural condition. A number of buildings
are open to the public, while some are only accessible on guided tours, and
others are completely off-limits. We
walked down the main street through town, following the railroad tracks. The Concentration building was on the
hillside above us, but it is only open to guided tours. We did investigate some of the other
structures. The most interesting was the
boiler room, which generated power for the mine and the town. We also checked out one of the row houses and
a couple other buildings before heading for the far end of town.
Kennecott
is certainly impressive, and it was much bigger than I expected. Best of all, this “tourist destination”
wasn’t crowded. There were a few other
people wandering around, but for the most part we had it largely to ourselves.
For
more on the history of Kennecott and McCarthy, see:
http://www.nps.gov/wrst/historyculture/upload/Kennecottbulletin.pdf
And
here is a map of Kennecott:
http://www.nps.gov/wrst/planyourvisit/upload/2008%20Kennecott%20Map.pdf
We
continued through town, and found the trail to the Root Glacier at the far
end. The trail starts out as a
continuation of the old road / railroad bed.
Initially it stays high above the glacier’s terminal moraine. The Root Glacier’s terminal moraine is a
long, nasty mess of rocks and dirt below the base of the glacier. The trail itself followed the glacier’s
lateral moraine, which consisted of a narrow ridge high above the broad
glacier.
The
hiking through here was actually rather easy.
The terrain is mostly flat, and the occasional rock slide presented the
only difficulties. Before long we passed
a side trail down to a designated camping area near the foot of the
glacier. A few minutes later we crossed
Jumbo Creek and Amazon Creek on footbridges.
Before
long we found ourselves high above the glacier.
We were treated to some nice views of the surrounding peaks, as the wind
had shifted and cleared most of the persistent smoke out of the valley. As we hiked, we spotted a group of hikers far below, out on the glacier itself. One of the local outfitters offers guided
hikes on the glacier, and we had considered that option for today’s
adventure. Ultimately though, we decided
to save our money and stick with a straightforward hike to the base of the
Stairway Icefall.
The
last part of the official trail featured a couple of narrow spots with steep
drop offs. These made Christy nervous,
but the hiking seemed reasonably safe to me.
This part of the hike featured some outrageous wildflowers, and before
long we got our first views of the Stairway Icefall ahead.
An
icefall is essentially a steep section of glacier, typically consisting of
numerous crevasses as well as seracs. While glaciers are often relatively safe to
walk on, icefalls are extremely unstable and dangerous to climb. The Stairway Icefall is one of the largest in
the world.
We
reached the end of the trail at a set of cables coming down from the old Erie
Mine. The mine is perched high up on the
cliffs above, but it’s very difficult to see.
It’s possible to climb up to the mine, but it requires a potentially
hazardous scramble.
When
I had first planned our trip, I had considered doing a 3-day backpacking trip
here. From the end of the trail, we
would’ve continued along the glacier’s terminal moraine to Lake Erie. Lake Erie is a small, icy lake adjacent to
the glacier. I thought this would be an
amusing destination, as Christy spent 5 years or so living on a more famous
Lake Erie many miles from Alaska (although with remarkably similar weather). Beyond Lake Erie, we would’ve climbed up to a
ridge with sweeping views of the glacier, the icefall, and many distant peaks. Ultimately though, we decided to spend a few
days in Cordova. With that addition to
the trip, I had to shorten this trek to a dayhike.
We
took a long break there to enjoy the view.
Eventually some other hikers arrived, rousing us from our naps. Before we headed back, Christy stumbled
across a large piece of copper ore.
Interestingly, the unrefined copper is actually green.
The
hike back was uneventful, but we noticed smoke rolling back up the valley as we
walked. We reached Kennecott in time to
catch the 5pm shuttle back to McCarthy.
We got off there and walked down to the general store for ice
cream. It was a hot, sunny day, and the
ice cream was quite refreshing. From
there we walked back to the campground, where we paid for a second night. Originally I’d thought about heading down the
road a ways before finding another place to camp. In the end though, we decided it would be
easier to stay where we were and get an early start the next morning.
That
night we wrapped boneless chicken breasts in foil and grilled them over a
fire. Pasta and beans rounded out the
meal, which was quite tasty. We spent
the rest of the evening playing Scrabble and enjoying the fire along with some
beer and a bottle of wine. Later a
couple arrived, and for some reason they selected the campsite next to us, even
though most of the campground was empty.
This was bad campground etiquette, but it got worse. After they set up camp they went to the
campsite across from us to cook and eat dinner.
That campsite was certainly a better choice for eating, as it featured 3
picnic tables. If they wanted to cook
there though, why didn’t they just take that campsite? I wonder if they paid $40 for the use of two campsites?
We
ended up drinking a little too much beer and wine that night, but it didn’t
matter much. We would be spending the
next day exclusively in the car. First
we’d drive the 60-mile gravel road back to Chitina. Then, after covering some miles on the
Richardson Highway, we’d embark on the next adventure - a traverse of the
Denali Highway from Paxson to Cantwell. The Denali Highway runs 135 miles through the
Alaskan Wilderness. Most of that road is
gravel, too, so we knew it would be a long haul. That road would take us to Denali National
Park, where we planned to spend the remainder of our trip.
Back to Alaska
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!