McCarthy

Post date: Jul 6, 2016 6:08:27 AM

The upcoming destination is the town of McCarthy, AK, a town known for it's remoteness, beauty, and tragedy. There's one road in and one road out, the McCarthy Road. It's also one of the only two roads that lead into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

At Chitina, turn east for about 60 miles, and you'll find it. It's not the easiest ride though, or drive for that matter. 30 miles is paved until you reach the notch at the Copper River. When I crossed the river, there were hundreds of people wading out in the fast moving water with huge nets attached to poles. I assume that they were dip-netting for what I presume to be salmon. After crossing the bridge, there's a sign by the side of the road that warns about traveling any further.

Beyond this sign, it's 17 miles of pavement until you reach the Kuskulana Bridge. There are waysides before an after the bridge that offer a good vantage point. I drove across the bridge and parked in the far wayside. In the parking lot, I found a large rock, walked out to the middle of the bridge and threw it over the side.

After the bridge though, the road turns nasty - gravel, mud, washboard, huge rocks, steep grades. It was a nice ride on a street bike, but I eventually made it to foot bridge where only foot-traffic, bicycles, motorcycles, or ATVs can cross.

I had a flight-see scheduled with Wrangell Mountain Air, so that's the first place I stopped. The weather looked iffy, and I didn't want to waste a bunch of time. They said that my 1830 flight was still a go, so I headed out to tour the Kennecott Mine. Along the way, I ran into a food truck that served some awesome wings and the best brownie I've head in quite awhile.

The mine was a site to behold when you consider the working conditions, the locations of the mines, and the processing building itself. The operation was able to extract cooper at about 98% efficiency using techniques that were pioneered at the mine and are still used today as the accepted standard. Totally impressive!

After the mine tour, I had some time to kill, so I staked out a claim for the evening at Base Camp. This was the view out of my tent.

In the middle of the two mountains in the distance is Kennecott Glacier. It's massive.

After pitching camp, it was time for my flight-see. It's not possible, nor will I try, to describe the splendor and natural beauty of this area. Whenever I get a decent Internet connection, I will upload a video I took during the flight-see. For now, look at the photos in the slideshow. In some of the photos, you might see what looks like large dunes of rock, or mining tailings. It's actually glacier covered in rock.