Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Copper Center to McCarthy
At Sawing Logzz we slept like, well, logs, and then got up and gorged on the world's best muffins, supplied by our hosts. They told us no hurry on checking out, so we lazed around until 11:30 before hitting the road.
Copper Center's Wrangell-St. Elias Visitor Center was just down the road, so we went there first to get a map of the national park. There's a small museum, and we walked a short trail with some good views of the Wrangell Mountains. It was a little overcast, but the mountains were peeking through the clouds.
Welcome to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Mount Drum (12,011 feet)
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, at 13.2 millions acres, is the largest national park in the United States, yet not very easy to access. There are only two roads that lead into the park, neither suitable for rental cars. Despite its inaccessibility, there are a few small settlements inside the park, including the unlikely little town of McCarthy, where we've arranged a two-night stay.
The 34-mile Edgerton Highway connects the Richardson Highway with Chitina. Partially ghost town and partially inhabited, Chitina was once a bustling burg of 3,000 souls and an important railroad hub on the way to the Kennecott Copper Mine, near McCarthy. Currently, Chitina's population numbers only 125, and people come here to fish for salmon on the Copper River or pass through on their way to McCarthy and the historic Kennecott Mines.
Along the Edgerton Highway
Copper River
Random Alaska
Chitina marks the beginning of the rough, gravel, 62-mile-long McCarthy Highway. The road to McCarthy ends abruptly at the Kennicott River, requiring visitors to cross a footbridge and walk the last half mile into town. There actually is a separate, private vehicle bridge, but you have to live in McCarthy and pay several hundred dollars per year to drive across, which really cuts down on the traffic!
The General Lee, Alaska style
Handyman's dream, Chitina, Alaska
Road to McCarthy, not "McCathy"
The alternative route to McCarthy is by air taxi. Sounds like fun! We decided months ago to fly from Chitina to McCarthy and then take a shuttle on the return. The flight was $125 each and the shuttle $79 each, so we saved a few bucks this way. Plus, we wanted both experiences. We couldn't come to Alaska and not fly in a bush plane, but yet the rough road is infamous as well.
Chitina Airport
We arrived at the “Chitina Airport” a few minutes early for our 2:45 flight, so we walked down to the river to check out the fish wheels. A fish wheel is a revolving wheel with baskets, turned by the river's current. The baskets scoop up fish and slide them over into a holding tank. Salmon season was over, so the fish wheels weren't in the water, but I was still excited to see them up close and in person.
Fish wheel
Copper River
The Wrangell Mountain Air airplane arrived twenty minutes early, and as all three of the passengers had already arrived, we left a little early. No TSA bullshit here. We were only asked, if we had bear spray, to put it in the back. The pilot didn't ask for tickets or even our names. He was expecting three people, and there were three people standing there willing to board his plane. Good enough!
Pilot Brendan
It was a 25-minute flight from Chitina to McCarthy, flown at an altitude of roughly 5,000 feet, through 4th of July Pass, with mountains every way you looked. The McCarthy Road was visible below. So cool! The fall colors were brilliant.
The flight to McCarthy
Kuskulana Bridge
Those falls colors again!
Absolutely gorgeous
Brendan made an extra pass over Kennicott Glacier and Root Glacier, so they could be viewed from both sides of the plane. Just before touching down in McCarthy, we passed by the historic Kennecott mining town. As a side note, due to a clerical error long ago, the town is “Kennecott,” and the river and glacier are “Kennicott.”
Kennicott Glacier and Root Glacier
Gravelly Kennicott Glacier
Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark
Our chariot
The Wrangell Mountain Air folks drove us the last couple of miles into McCarthy, where we checked in at Ma Johnson's Hotel and were shown to our room in the Lancaster's Backpacker Hotel across the street. They put us in room 2, downstairs, which I think was the largest room in the place, with a queen and a single bed.
The baths at Lancaster's are shared, and the upstairs guests have to come down an exterior stairway to access the bathrooms, so I was glad to be downstairs. There are two half-baths and two shower rooms for the ten-room hotel. The rooms don't have locks, so there were no pesky keys to keep up with.
None of this was unexpected, but what we didn't realize is that Lancaster's has no heat! No heat, for $149 per night. Omg, in Alaska, no heat! Also, the windows were single pane, and you could see light around the edges of the exterior room door. So in addition to the cold temperature, the room was also quite drafty. Ma Johnson's, across the street, does have heat, but you still have to share a bath, and the price is $249 per night. Never mind, we'll suck it up and be cold.
Where we checked in
Where we stayed
Cute but cold room
McCarthy/Kennecott: Kennecott is an abandoned mining town on the edge of the Kennicott and Root Glaciers which is now a National Historic Landmark overseen by the National Park Service. Back in its copper mining heyday, Kennecott was a dry town, so McCarthy sprouted up five miles away as a place the miners could go to have some fun. When the mines closed in 1938, both towns almost died, until Wrangell-St. Elias National Park was created in 1980, and the few remaining residents started catering to tourists. McCarthy now reportedly has a thriving population of 107 (more like five year-round).
Bustling McCarthy
After checking in to our room, we walked around the cute little town of McCarthy really, really slowly (twice), went into the two or three businesses we found open, and still only killed an hour. I kind of loved it.
The grocery store/liquor store was slim pickins and expensive. The owner apologized for the scarcity of goods and explained that the store is only open 120 days a year, and they are closing for the season in eight days, at which time they'll pack up anything that can't be allowed to freeze over the winter and haul it with them out of town.
Around town
Another vintage classic
Great name for a bottle shop
Dinner was had at the world-famous Roadside Potatohead, a pulled-pork barbecue sandwich, cheesesteak sandwich, and of course fries and beers. Despite having to haul everything out to this remote location, the prices were no higher than other parts of Alaska, $48 with tip. Deal!
"The Potato"
Back at the hotel, we found a random dog on the loveseat in the “parlor.” We called her Gary. Later we found out that her name is Kimmi (and that she's a girl), but she'll always be Gary to us...
Motel mascot
Tomorrow we're going for a guided hike on the Root Glacier. Earlier, when we got to town, I called Kennicott Wilderness Guides to check in and spoke with Jason, who will be our guide. He told us that no one else had signed up for the hike tomorrow, so we're getting a private tour for a group price. All right!!!
Tom
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