Thursday, September 5, 2019
McCarthy to Tonsina
Another morning and another COLD beginning in our unheated room. Breakfast at the Bistro today was a veggie fritatta with roasted Brussels sprouts and bacon. Yum!
Originally, we'd planned to tour the Kennecott mill town this morning, but since we saw it yesterday with Jason, we had time to kill today until the 4:30 shuttle. Just as well, because Tom felt terrible.
True story
While Tom laid back down after breakfast in our frigid room, I went for a walk. First I visited the McCarthy Cemetery, then I started down Wagon Trail Road, which leads to the Kennicott Cemetery, but only made it about half a mile before I got concerned about running across a moose or a bear and retreated.
McCarthy Cemetery
Why the little fence?
Beware of wildlife
The hotel folks kindly let us have a late checkout since Tom was sick, so we stayed till 12:30, then went to the Roadside Potato for more coffee.
It seems we're bugging out of McCarthy just in time. The various stores, restaurants, bars, hotels, guiding outfits, and the National Park Service are either already closed for the season or are closing within the next ten days. They're shutting this place down behind us!
After coffee, we headed over to the footbridge, where we'd catch our ride later. You can take a shuttle to the bridge for a fee, but we had lots of time and not a lot of luggage, so we walked. It was a beautiful day, crystal clear and 70 degrees, much warmer than in our room!
McCarthy Footbridge
Kennicott River
Wrangell Mountains
We had a picnic lunch on the McCarthy side of the footbridge. The view of the Wrangell Mountains from here is outstanding! Then we crossed the bridge over the Kennicott River and enjoyed the view some more from a different angle.
The Wrangells
U.S. and Alaska flags
The shuttle van pulled up at 4:10, and since all four passengers had arrived by then, we left 20 minutes early. We were expecting a bus, but were glad to see a van, which was much better for the rough road. Coincidentally, the other two passengers were also from Knoxville. Small world!
The 62-mile-long McCarthy Road, leading from McCarthy to Chitina, is gravel surfaced, washboard rough, potholed, and infamous for causing flat tires. The road was built on top of the old railroad bed of the Copper River and Northwest Railway, which shut down operations in 1938 when the Kennecott mines closed. To this day, railroad spikes continue to resurface through the gravel and puncture tires.
The shuttle driver made two stops along the way. The first was at the Kuskulana Bridge, a 525-foot-long, one-lane bridge suspended 238 feet above the Kuskulana River. The driver let us out here so we could walk across the bridge and get the best views. The original train bridge was built in 1910 in the dead of winter. How they accomplished this feat in such harsh conditions I have no idea.
Every road sign in Alaska
Kuskulana Bridge
Kuskulana River
Jana and Tom
The second stop was at a scenic vista of the Chitina River, our driver's favorite spot along the McCarthy Road, and also a good opportunity for him to take a smoke break. Ha! He dropped us off back at our car, parked at the Chitina Airport, at 6:35.
Chitina River
It was a 45-minute drive from the airport to the Tonsina River Lodge, located at mile 79 of the Richardson Highway, an odd little outpost in the middle of nowhere, a hotel, Russian and American restaurant, bar, spa, liquor store, laundromat, RV park and campground. We were the only guests. At $148 a night, the hotel would be overpriced anywhere but Alaska, but at least we have heat! We were also pleased to have this opportunity mid-trip to do a load of laundry.
The owners of the lodge are Russian, and the food at their restaurant was fantastic! We ordered a Russian pot, which was a hearty meat and potato stew, and machanka, a gigantic multi-meat and hashbrown dish. The restaurant isn't open for breakfast, and since there's nothing else around here for miles, they gave us a big thermos full of coffee and a few danishes to take back to our room for the morning. We're staying here two nights.
The night was crystal clear, but there was no visible aurora borealis. We were SO LUCKY in Fairbanks!
Moonrise over the mountains
Tom
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