Valdez to Cheticamp and the fishcamp

Leaving Valdez –

Today’s destination was to arrive at the campsite outside of Chitina Airport so we can catch an early ½ hour flight to the remote town of McCarthy.

 We all wanted to check out the other side of the Valdez Harbor, so we thought it best to do that on the way out of town. There was a great hike over there, but since the weather was threatening, and the mosquitoes plentiful, our motivation quickly vanished.

Internet photo of Salmon Gulch Hatchery in Valdez, Alaska

We found a large parking lot at the Salmon Gulch Hatchery on Dayville Road, where the possibility of seeing bears feed on salmon from the road, is the greatest.  Usually mid-July is when they come, and with the help of the sea-lions chasing salmon into the stream, the bears often are seen doing a little combat-fishing of their own.  Unfortunately, life is all about “timing” and ours (as far as bear-viewing) on this trip has been off.  Not only did we not see a single bear gobbling up salmon here at the Salmon Gulch, we never even saw a salmon! How about that!  We did see a bald eagle though, so that was something! People watching has always been an interest of mine, so I was entertained regardless.

One of the few Bald Eagles we have seen in Alaska.  For some reason I pictured them in every tree, but unfortunately they were rather rare where we traveled.

Here’s a little about the Valdez Fisherman Development Association and the hatchery which I stole directly from their website:

“Valdez Fisheries was organized in 1978 by a group of Valdez residents representing a cross-section of the Valdez community. The desire to raise more salmon for local fishermen came after they experienced several closed fishing seasons due to the bitter cold winters of 1971-1973, which killed off most of the natural runs to Prince William Sound. The resulting fishing closures all but devastated the commercial and sport fisheries in Prince William Sound. Out of this need, the vision for today’s hatchery program grew, and its founders set a goal of producing an annual return of 10 million pink salmon and 100,000 coho salmon”.

For more info go to their website: http://www.valdezfisheries.org/about-vfda/  where very interesting information regarding the hatchery itself can be found. Fascinating stuff!

 Hoping the low clouds obstructing the gorgeous mountains would clear, we hung out at Salmon Gulch a little longer.  When the clouds refused to lift, we headed back up the Richardson Hwy, and back through Keystone Canyon.  Little was visible, and nothing recognizable as we traveled back through what was so breathtaking just a few days ago! We were so lucky we were able to see it at all!  Last year we traveled by RV through the Italian Alps and in both directions the clouds obscured the mountains.  We were so disappointed! ( you can read my entire European RV Tour Blog found on top tab on my home page). Or go to http://europeanrvtrip2015.blogspot.com/

Stopping along the Richardson Highway we could still see that the low clouds were covering the Chugach Mountains, but nature still abounds if you just get out and look. Flowers by the roadside, meet the valley and river below. Awesome!

We stopped at an abandoned rail road tunnel, hand-cut into Keystone Canyon, that was started in 1906, but unfortunately work stopped due to feud between nine different companies who fought to take advantage of the short route from the coast to the copper mines at Kennecott. A gun battle broke out and the tunnel never finished. This little gem was quite hidden by trees, but again, it was written up in the book Milepost Tour Guide the must-have if you are driving in Alaska.

The partially completed railroad tunnel of 1906, not finished due to gun battle. A hidden bit of history at mile mark 14.8 on the Richardson Highway

As we headed north we took a short, but terribly mosquito infested, no-view hike along Blueberry Lake,   We had lunch in our rigs, then headed north again.  Dennis and Vickie wanted to take the hike Norm and I had found on the way south, but due to the low clouds, there was no view here either.

The view one day......

Then we took Dennis and Vickie back a few days later and the view was pretty much gone. What a difference a day makes!  Take gifts in life as they come and enjoy!

At this point, following each other was getting pretty tedious.  One couple might want to stop, the other might want to talk, ( Dennis loves talking ) so we decided to meet at the next campground.

Seen in store front door

First, we had to check out Chitina, pronounced CHIT-na, which was a prominent railroad and mining supply town in 1910, which now has a population of a whopping 200. Its beautiful scenery, dilapidated buildings and fishing are it’s main attractions.

We never saw a single soul in Chitina. This is the Main Street.

At the campground, Wrangle Air RV Park, Dennis and Vickie met this lovely family that invited us all down to the Copper River to join them while they fished with a fish wheel that evening.

The young family consisted of a friendly, kind-hearted husband probably in his late 20’s, early 30’s, and his wife who has an important high stress job determining how many fish are where, and figuring how many fish they should allow to be caught. They then open and close fishing with that information on a daily basis. They also had a 7 or 8 year old boy, and a adorable little girl who was almost 3 ( same age as my granddaughter ), plus the grandmother.

When we arrived there was a huge campfire beside the water, and a camping- kitchen set-up to be envied. Nearby in the river, there was a huge water-powered  fish wheel.  This amazing fish-catching device is on a floating dock with wooden paddles and baskets. The paddles are driven by the current, swinging the basket downstream, catching the salmon swimming up.  It was amazing!  We could hear the “thunking” of the salmon hitting the holding box under the water.

Here in Alaska, fish wheels are only allowed in the Copper and Yukon Rivers where there are very strict regulations, and an accurate count of the fish caught must be kept and reported to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

This couple was insisting that we try a Copper River Salmon – the most healthy of all salmon species, so when a few landed in the box, the father went out and scooped them out with a net.  Once he brought them to shore either his son or tiny daughter took a club and with a couple of hard knocks, killed them!  It was amazing to see this tiny little girl wield a large club with such strength and accuracy!

Alaska law requires very careful accounting of size and type and quantity of salmon caught.

The mom would then wash them in a tub, then either she or her husband would swiftly fillet them. They were extremely careful not to leave a trace of salmon that might attract the local bears.

The fish are removed from the water, quickly killed with a swift blow to the head then washed in the stream, leaving no trace of salmon scent to attract bears.

Working for the Alaska Dept of Fish and Game, she knew a lot about these fish.  She gave us a great education about the parts of the salmon as she filleted it – from the roe to the heart that kept beating long after being removed. ( I held it still beating in my hand, believe it or not )! Norm took a video, but lost all his pictures when his phone suddenly crashed.

At one point a HUGE king salmon hit the box, its weight busting the sides of the basket.  The couple, wearing life jackets, took upon the dangerous task of trying to fix it before this borrowed fish wheel came completely apart.  The grand mother watched the kids on the shore, explaining how the silt in the water on Copper River sticks very quickly to your clothing if you fall in, drowning a person in minutes!  She was beside herself with worry as we watched them precariously hammer and struggle with the powerful paddles and baskets. The sheer power of the raging river was pushing the paddles so hard while they struggled.  The guys offered to help, but they said it was much too dangerous for them even to consider it. It was so hard to standby and just watch this young couple frantically trying to free the jammed box.

This is a huge King Salmon!

We waited and watched for well over an hour, but we knew they had big troubles to deal with so we decided to leave them alone to handle it thinking we were just adding to their stress.  Little did we know that they had previously put some incredible Copper River Salmon on the grill, and they insisted we stay to try it.  Unfortunately it had become horribly overcooked so we still don’t really know what a salmon, caught only moments earlier might have tasted like. Not to mention a Copper River Salmon which is said to be the Best in the World.  ( I am somewhat relieved that we didn’t taste something so unbelievably delicious that all other salmon dinners would pale in comparison ).

A word of warning:  This woman, who I think is a biologist, told us that Copper River Salmon is the cleanest fish, from the purist waters of the world, yet is still chock full of parasites!  She will NEVER eat raw salmon, no matter how fresh it may be, or where it is from.  She said they ALL have parasites! Cook it!  It will then be delicious and safe.  I must say the image ( which I will spare you ) of all those parasites, are still haunting me.  I tell you this for your safety, not to ruin an otherwise very healthy food for you.

We all said good-bye and headed back up the hill to our motorhomes for the night.

This evening was the most memorable and enjoyable of our trip.  It was awesome to be so warmly welcomed by this incredible family, and shown a very vital part of Alaskan culture. Had we not been at the right place at the right time and willing to to accept their kind invitation, we would have missed this incredible opportunity.

Flight over Wrangell-St.Elias National Park and Preserve

Our next destination is the very small town of McCarthy and the neighboring Kennecott mine situated in the center of Alaska’s Wrangell-St.Elias National Park and Preserve- the largest national park in the country.  In fact, this area is proudly part of the planet’s largest protected area, and is also a World Heritage Site totaling an unbelievable 24 million acres! Glacier Bay National Park also here in Alaska, together with Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park in British Colombia all share this distinction.

The red hash marks are my best guess of our flightpath from Chitina to McCarthy

Wild landscapes and a fascinating history of Wrangell-St.Elias are deservedly renowned, hence the National Park was created to preserve these features, plus to honor the traditions of people who live among the park ( that own about a million of its acreage ) that depend on its local resources.

There are a few ways to get there with costs reflecting the ease of which you choose.  Free- a foot power-hike the epic traverse for those extremely capable. Bicycling the 60 mile pot-holed gravel and dirt McCarthy road from Chitina is also a low/no cost possibility.  Driving is somewhat easier, although 40 of its 59 miles are gravel. Bring a spare tire because flats are common as railroad spikes have been known to work their way up through the gravel from the old buried railroad bed. It is not as bad after 60 million dollars were spent in 2014, making improvements and paving 14 miles of it. Driving is limited to 35mph or slower, so plan on taking a couple of hours. Most car rental agencies,ours included, absolutely won't allow it  Now, the easier, but pricey choices; take one of two van shuttle services that will bump you down this beautiful road of unrivaled scenery, or for the most costly yet body-friendly and time efficient, take a 30 minute scenic flight.  My choice was to shuttle one-way and fly the other but considering other’s wishes and our schedule, we flew both ways.

 Taking a scenic flight somewhere was certainly on our Alaskan bucket list, so we thought doing it here was a good choice.

Since archaeological evidence indicates humans entered this area in 1000 AD, its history is long and interesting.  I won’t delve into it here, but will jump to the year 1899 when William Abercombie blazed a new trail from Valdez through the Chugach Mountains and Thompson Pass that made the area accessible.

 A year later, prospectors Warner and Smith discovered Kennecott’s uber-rich Bonanza copper deposit. Jumping again over some interesting history, Kennecott became a company town. Most miners lived without their families ( and without booze ) in company housing.

Internet photo of Kennicott Mines back in the day

Nearby, the town now called McCarthy became the site of the turn-around train and with it came all the “entertainment” a young miner on the frontier might want, as well as restaurants, hotels, saloons, etc. serving the more than 800 people of the area at that time.  Kennecott and McCarthy co-existed for 27 years.

By 1938, after selling a whopping $200 million in ore, the copper deposits were depleted, and the mines as well as the railroad, ceased. Because of the high operation costs, the mill town was abandoned along with everything in it. Dishes on tables, as well as medical records in the hospital, and their mining equipment were left just where they were.

After that, a few people tried to resume mining with not much success, so things were pretty quiet until the 1970’s when tourism began to develop.

Today tourism fuels the majority of the economy in this remote area.  People from all over the world visit Kennecott to experience some of the most pristine wilderness left in the world, with the town of McCarthy remaining small, but still the social hub of the area. (The popular bordellos are gone, sorry)
We noticed the majority of the people working there were athletic- looking 20 something year-olds.

We were told to be at the airstrip by 8am, so the campground, Wrangler Mountain RV Park, Dennis found was perfect.  We drove a few hundred yards down the hill and parked the RV’s for the next couple of days, trusting they will be safe from theft or vandalism.

While we waited a young couple from Israel joined us. They were on their honeymoon and had flown into Anchorage a few days ago when they learned that the airline had lost all of their luggage!  They went to Target and bought a few necessities; back pack, and a few clothes.  The young bride could only find what I would describe as glorified “slippers” to wear on her feet as she headed out to a wilderness town surrounded by glaciers.  They had pre-paid for a glacier hike that day, we were going the next.

Hmmm….. wow. It took me many months to find hiking shoes and boots that fit my difficult feet, and Norm teases me about how I guard them with my life.  I won’t leave them outside the RV for fear someone ( either 2 or 4 legged ) might make off with them. My heavy-duty pair even had a $60 lift made into the sole to compensate for my very slightly shorter leg, which basically makes them (while on vacation) irreplaceable.  My sneaker-type hiker had the lift inside the shoe, and could be removed.

  So I took a leap of faith asked her what size shoe she wore.  When she told me she was close to my size, I did something I thought I would never do – I offered to let this strange couple from a foreign country borrow them so she could do her glacier hike. They were staying in the hotel we were having dinner at that night, so we thought returning them wouldn’t be too difficult.  I thought I would do my own little “international relations” good deed- to demonstrate Americans are in fact, a kind people, and that "The Donald" does not represent us! I must say, it felt really good.  The newlyweds were so very thank-full.

One of the two planes landing on this 

Two small planes landed onto the runway ( we couldn’t believe this was really an airstrip) dirt parking lot. The love-birds got into one, the four of us got into the other. Everyone, thankfully, got a window seat. We donned our headsets and tested them to see if everyone could hear each other, then we took off for our half hour flight over some of the most ruggedly beautiful terrain in Alaska-Wrangle St.Elias National Park!

The views were spectacular as we flew beside Mt.Blackburn and over glaciers as well as the Copper River.  

Note the glacier in top center of picture with the clouds hovering over it.

 I was fortunate to get the back seat to myself so that with a little straining against the seat belt I was able to see both sides of the plane as we flew beside the 16,000 foot Mt.Blackburn, over both Root and Kennicott Glacier and the Erie Mine. By the time we landed we had a pretty good over-sight ( pun intended ) of the area.  It was a great ride, with Dennis, Norm and I taking lots of great pictures. Vickie was battling a little nausea, so didn’t take any at all.

When we landed we were promptly met by a driver from the Kennecott Lodge where we had reservations for the next couple of nights.

 Removing our hiking gear from the plane, the pilot noticed our bear spray ( don’t leave home without it in bear country ) and went a little crazy. He ranted “You should have told me you had bear spray!”” You can’t take that on-board!  If any of it had gone off, we all would have died!”  I told him calmly that it was HIS responsibility to ask- we were obviously hikers ( by our gear ) and in bear territory the probability of our carrying spray was probably pretty good! How would we ever know that?  I suggested he might make that a question he ask each and every passenger.  Anyway, we made it safely, and it was the most glorious of days! With temperatures in the high 70’s, it was a little hot for this part of the world, and the locals were complaining. Global warming, possibly?

We took the hotel’s van along a very narrow, bumpy road to the very lovely hotel, Kennecott Lodge where they held our bags in a side room until check-in time.

 Norm and I hurried across the street to Kennicott Wilderness Guides for a pack rafting trip I have been looking forward to for months.( yes, the two spellings of “Kennicott” and “Kennecott” are correct.) Kennecott Mine for some reason spelled it differently from its namesake, Kennicott Glacier. “Kennecott” tends to indicate historic features, where “Kennicott” most often indicated natural features like the glacier, river and valley. It is confusing.

My next entry will detail my long-awaited Pack-raft trip.

Pack rafting - my tour from Hell

Once our travel companions told me they wanted to stay an extra day in the remote area of McCarthy and Kennicott, I questioned what we would do to fill it.  It was very expensive to stay here, and we would have to eat all our meals in restaurants, which we rarely do.  Not to mention that we have RV’s rented, loaded with food, sitting back at the airport parking lot. But we didn’t want to disappoint them, so we went ahead and agreed to the plan.

So, going to the internet, I started exploring possibilities many months ago.  What I discovered was that most of the activities included hard-core hiking, most often involving ice picks!  Well, that’s out, I can't be trusted with an ice pick.  Or there were multiple day, over-night hikes out into the wilds of Alaska. Hmmmm…. No.  Flight-seeing trips… too expensive and we had a short one coming in already…. That’s a no.  Glacier Hikes, definitely, but we have one booked already. So that brought me to the water.  We wouldn't have been on, or in water for the past few weeks, I started researching. I wanted something fairly exciting, and unique.  I found a company that offers something called “Pack-rafting”!

Kennicott Wilderness Guides, the only outfitter that offers this outing, described its half-day adventure  to me at great length over the phone; we would carry our 20 lb rafts in a pack to the edge of a glacial lake where we would then inflate them, paddle in the lake to get accustomed to them to hone our new skills.  We would then have the option ( if we were adventurous enough ) to paddle the class II plus rapids, or merely walk around them if we weren’t feeling too daring in these freezing, unforgiving waters.  I intended (and knew without a doubt that Norm would want to as well) to paddle the rapids! Sounded pretty intimidating, but this was our last “hurrah” on this trip, and I wanted a really memorable experience.

We stayed here at Kennicott Lodge for two nights. It was a beautiful lodge with Root Glacier as a backdrop.  I still can not believe just how beautiful Alaska is!

Immediately after arriving in McCarthy and then the Kennicott Lodge, Norm and I headed across the street to the Kennicott Wilderness Guides’ office. I very specifically asked if the very warm weather would possibly affect our trip, and if so, could we do something else.  They assured us that although the glaciers had been melting a lot in the last couple of days and the rivers and lakes rising, that we would still have “so much fun” out there.  Ok. Norm and I ate our lunches that we had packed back in the RV, got out stuff from our stowed luggage in the hotel and went back at the appointed time to start our private adventure, ( No one else signed up ) for my personal “Day from Hell”

The first order of business was to get fitted for dry suits.  These are especially important not only because of the obvious danger of hypothermia due to melted glaciers ( think of swimming in a glass of melted ice water ) but also the danger we were unaware of - glacial silt permeates these waters; it sticks to regular clothing and the weight will quickly pull you under the near freezing waters.  Yikes!

I thought we were lucky that our suits were brand new, thinking not too many sweaty people had worn them before us, and we would have the comfort in knowing that water most likely will not creep in the openings.  But what came with that “privilege” were the INCREDIBLY tight bands around all the openings.  Yup, ladies- that means wearing a heavy rubberized garment to exercise in that is so tight around your throat you can barely fit a finger down there! I know many women as we have aged, cannot tolerate tight clothing around our neck.  I am one of them.

After dancing and stomping around the porch like a couple of Sumo Wrestlers, ( attracting a few on-lookers ) we finally donned our suits. Half exhausted already,we then went about the arduous task of finding sneakers ( I think they found them in dumpsters ) that would fit over our neoprene socks we wore over our own thick socks.  After many attempts we found ones that would work, grabbed our gear and hobbled over to the van.

Note the Sumo pose? Norm was "burping" the air out of the dry suit 

Our young, female guide told us about herself during our scenic, bone-jarring ride ( which, of course, is half the charm of the place ). We stopped and parked at the footbridge that leads into Kennicott. I was quite surprised when we were instructed to take our rafts, which were not in packs at all, out of the van and start inflating them right there! We would be carrying them, inflated, through the narrow paths to the lake.  What? Seriously? I wanted to see how heavy these were in the pack to hike with because Norm and I are interested in purchasing some type of inflatable/foldable kayaks in the near future.

Kennecott River pedestrian bridge crosses the river providing access to the road into the town of McCarthy and the old mining town of Kennecott. 

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperatures rose to a warm 78-80 degrees.  The sun, here in Alaska, is surprisingly strong, not unlike Florida, due to both the altitude and cleanliness of the air.

Putting air in these rafts was pretty labor intensive.  The "bag" Norm has is made of parachute material. You open the bag to grab some air, then squeeze the air into the raft. After about 15 minutes it was pretty firm

After you got the raft pretty full with the bag method, you fill it the rest of the way with the hand pump, that also took a bit of coordination.  

We got quite hot as we pumped these rafts up using both a nylon bag (see photo) then topping it off with a hand-pump. It took perhaps a half hour before we were ready to walk down the rocky path in shoes that offered no support. ( I have bad ankles and offered to wear my hiking boots for this portion, then put them in a dry bag when needed, but was assured it wasn’t far and I would have no problem ).  Well, it wasn’t too far, but these 20 lb bulging rafts and paddle got hung up on branches and dug into my shoulder as we made our way through a narrow path,

 Scambling up dirt piles ( pardon me, glacial rubble ) and struggling over and down large boulders, we finally reached the lake. At this point I was really hot and uncomfortable not to mention semi exhausted from the wrestling match I lost to these awkward rafts.

Heading off down the trail carrying the rafts.  The brochure said we were to carry them uninflated in a back pack then inflate them at the glacier lake.  These rafts were pretty hard to carry through brush and trees. I think we did it the hard way.

Because the air is hot and the water cold, we were instructed to splash the cold water onto the rafts so the air inside would adjust. Just like car tires, the rafts deflated enough that we had to get the hand pumps out and “top them off” making sure they were really hard.

 We got our life jackets, helmets and gloves on and climbed into our rafts and after a few tips, we paddled around trying to get the hang of maneuvering these inflated beasts.

Norm and our guide as we are about to enter the water.  Norm, who was taking pictures with his phone lost all his photos when his phone crashed!  This is really disappointing, because he is the better photographer. Thankfully I was taking pictures as well. 

There was one thing we learned within a couple of strokes of the paddle.  These were not made for lakes!  When you put the paddle in on the right, the raft would veer sharply to the left.  Paddle on the left, it would shoot to the right!  Now, Norm and I kayak quite a bit, so this is not a new skill to us.  We adjusted our strokes as much as we could, but they truly were invented as a means to cross raging rivers before it became Alaska’s newest action-sport ( death defying, raging river- running) and not a means to cross a large lake.

As I paddled away, the sun was blazing down while I was strangled by the dry suit. We would go a foot to the left, a foot to the right, gaining perhaps a foot forward. After 45 minutes, we were finally nearing the shore.  Thank God, because this was really awful!

We landed on the shore then hiked up this very rocky hill to a spot where we could look down onto the “rapids” which to both our disappointment, was far tamer than we imagined.  My ankles twisted many times as we walked on the round-rock trail, slipping in the silt trying not to fall over the ledge merely inches away.  As we had our lunches,( it was hard to swallow with the vise grip the dry suit had on my throat )  we learned that we would hike back down to where we had left the rafts, then carry them back up to where we sat, and then to the top of the lake further up the hill.  What???  Why the heck didn’t we bring them up here with our lunches?  Are you kidding me?

Carrying the rafts up and across the glacier moraines was not easy. The loose ground would give way as you walk while the wind would catch the raft and blow you over.  I was not going to hike this more than once!

We grabbed the rafts and headed up the hill.  The wind was picking up and it was catching the bulbous raft and nearly sending me over the edge as I struggled to both carry the damn raft while trying to avoid breaking my ankles on the terrain.

  I was huffing and puffing and suddenly I just could not breathe! The tight neck was seriously restricting my airflow! What made it more difficult was that I could not see the hazardous trail as tears streamed down my face.  God, I felt like such a wimp, but this trip was killing me, and I am pretty tough having put up with pretty challenging conditions without a whimper.  It was just the constant feeling of being choked to death, along with the heat, that was getting to me.

I quickly sucked it up, laughed a little with embarrassment, dried my tears and thanked the Lord we were finally at the water’s edge.  After setting the raft down, I stuck my fingers into the neck of the dry suit, pulled it away from my throat and took a few restoring gulps of air.

 Now we had to repeat the procedure; splash water on the rafts, and pump them up again.  I was so hot at this point it was fabulous to get in the boat and on the cold water.

 We paddled a short distance so we could get in position to do the “rapid” which was in reality perhaps a 50 yard run of Class I water, There was a couple of large boulders we had to make sure we didn’t hit, and the water was fast enough that it could take you sideways into the rocks.

A view of the "rapids" we were going to paddle which was not very impressive. What was impressive was this small piece of this rugged land.  You can see a glacier in the background, and flowers gone to seed in front.

These spent flowers are the first vegetation to take root as glaciers recede. They are appropriately nick named " Baby Einsteins ".  They are so cute as they gently sway in the wind!

  As we made our way into the faster water, our hearts did beat a tad faster for a minute or two.  Then we were done.  It was akin to sledding as a child.  You struggle up the hill, trudging through the snow, then the sled ride lasts for a couple of seconds! Somehow this didn't have the same thrill I remember more than 50 years ago.

Norm running the "rapids".  Go Norm!  I did it as well, but didn't want to hike up the hill to do it again. 

Our guide then instructed us to get out of the raft, and carry it back up the hill so we could do it a few more times.  No way, Jose, was I about to do that again!  I wasn’t about to go through that for a 3 second thrill ride!  Norm, who is infinitely tougher than I, did it two more times while I took pictures.

It was surprisingly difficult to fish these hunks of water out of the glacial lake. Norm proudly displays his "catch".

The time came when we had to paddle back across the lake, this time against the wind which had kicked up, making it just that much more difficult.  We played around a few minutes trying to capture floating glacier ice blocks, then finally got to shore where I could get out of that dry suit!  I carried the raft today for a total of 3.1 miles, Norm did probably a mile more.

Try as I might, I could NOT get out of this darn dry suit! It was so tight! But it felt soooo good when I finally got my head out!

I was glad my "Tour from Hell" was finally over.  We drove back to the Kennicott Lodge where Norm and I staggered back to our rooms for a nice long shower and nap before we met Dennis and Vickie for dinner.

About 5 o'clock, we all took the free shuttle for the 20 minute drive down to McCarthy, a small rustic town that’s half ghost-town, half best-kept secret that happens to have what is reported to be one of the finest restaurants in all of Alaska -  at the 100 year old McCarthy Lodge’s Bistro.  I managed to procure reservations there months in advance, which was fortunate

The couple I loaned my hiking boots to were staying across the street at Ma-Johnson’s Hotel- a small hotel with rooms filled with genuine artifacts of the mining era. In the lodging building next door, also a part of Ma-Johnson’s, was a once bustling bordello.

Ma Johnson's historic hotel in McCarthy is over 100 years old, and each of the 20 unique rooms have authentic artifacts from McCarthy and Kennicott

As we sat down for dinner, our Israeli friends came in with my shoes, all cleaned up and in a bag.  We hoped they would join us for dinner, but there really wasn’t room at the table, plus they had a nice, romantic table of their own.

The owner of the restaurant came over for a nice chat, as did the woman I had such long and friendly conversations with from Ma Johnson’s. We had a fabulous dinner, then caught the shuttle bus back to the Kennicott Lodge.

Root Glacier and the Kennecott Mine

Walking on a glacier. How unbelievable is that? Not an opportunity you have every day. And sadly, not one that folks 100 years from now may still have.

Glacier hikes are probably pretty common here in Alaska – after all the Alaska Almanac estimates there are 100,000 of them here and 616 of them are officially named. So this activity was a “must-do” from the get-go.  Here, in the remote Wrangel St Elias National Park is a great place to do it.

After checking with several tour companies, St. Elias Alpine Guides was chosen.  All the tour companies seem to go to the same places and charge the same amount, but this company was recommended both by Trip Adviser and the Kennicott Lodge, so we decided to go with them.

After signing the long and convoluted contract basically stating that they are not liable for anything, even if they are grossly negligent ( common form we have found ), and that we acknowledge the inherent danger( and paid the fee of course ). We were then fitted for the gnarly-looking crampons we would need to hike on the glacier.

This crampon similar to what we wore

We were told it would be cold on the ice, so we each carried backpacks with lunches, raincoats, hats, mittens and polar fleece.  We were wearing thermal underwear under our mid-weight tops, so needless to say on this above- normal, 80 degree day, we were sweating like crazy!

Our guide

As we walked down the main street we could see the glacier in all its glory, which I understand doesn’t happen that often!  We were blessed with good luck again!  We passed the Kennicott Mines while the 20-something male guide who looked just like a mountain climber ( 90% of the town did ) told us a little about the town.  The trail got a little steep and treacherous as we got close, but the cool breeze blowing off the ice was welcome relief.

As we walked, we were lucky to have a clear view of the glaciers

At we hiked down the moraine, we could finally feel the welcoming cool air from the ice.

Arriving at the glacial edge, we donned our crampons and headed out.  It took a few minutes to get used to the new footwear, but soon our confidence grew as we trudged across the slippery surface, marveling at the icy vista in front of us. Soon we were walking as if on pavement as the crampons dug into the ice, providing vital traction as we made our way down slopes toward bottomless crevasses. It was a little unnerving, to say the least – especially when the guide told us how one man got too close, fell into a crevasse, never to be seen again! Now THAT kept us from venturing too near the edge without him holding on to us, I tell you!

The guide held Norm tightly so he could see the deep crevasse up close.  Hold on! I didn't take a turn - There's no way I would let this guy literally hold my life in his hands!

During the next hour we looked down crevasses, viewed blue pools, waterfalls and canyons. We walked through shallow rivers running across the top of the glacier while the guide explained the geological reasons of how each feature came to be.  At lunchtime the guide spread out yoga mats for us to sit on and made hot chocolate for us as we ate.

There were some people who ventured out on the ice without a guide, which is allowed, but probably not smart. 

There is ice under this dirt, which surprised us.  It is very complicated  how it got there over the centuries, but I couldn't possibly explain it.

After lunch it was more about killing time as we meandered our way back.  At this point it was really hot, and because he had another tour that afternoon, he nearly ran the two miles back. (at least it seemed that way ).  We stopped for a pee break and most people used this opportunity to strip off layers of clothing before we resumed the grueling trek.  He refused to let us go at our own pace – saying something about a legal reason for it. Laughing, we couldn’t understand how that could be since we waived all out rights.

Walking through town we checked out all the deserted buildings 

As we walked back, we took pictures of the town and mining buildings, and gratefully hit the showers back in our rooms.

That evening we had a family-style dinner at the lodge, where they had us sitting with 4 other couples. We all shared stories and got to know each other a little as we passed the food around the table. After dinner, Norm, Dennis, Vickie and I attended a slide show given by a National Park Ranger that was rather interesting. After that the night was still pretty young, but boy, we had had a long and very eventful day.

In my heart I wanted so badly to go down to McCarthy and attend the Open Mike night, but the hassle of getting there, and Norm’s definite disinterest, had us hanging around the porch talking to some other travelers before reluctantly heading back to the room for the night.

July 8th, 2016

After enjoying the lovely buffet breakfast the lodge served ( we got the meal plan ) we headed back across the street for our final guided tour of both here and of our vacation.  St.Elias Alpine Guides has the sole rights to guide people INSIDE the 14 story Kennecott Mine concentration building.
As we headed down into the town of Kennicott and up the steep mountainside where we entered the building, our guide told us stories of what it was like to live and work in this formidable land during one of the richest copper strikes in history.

Walking down the only road in Kennicott. The building at the top of the hill is 14 stories tall!

In 1938 the Kennecott Copper Corporation suddenly abandoned the mine, leaving it a virtual ghost town with all equipment, buildings and even personal belongings left as they were.  We learned how the equipment was used to melt the copper and how they prepared it for transport.

Everyone was fascinated as they learned how copper was ingeniously  mined,processed and shipped back in the early 1900's

After lunch we got the shuttle back to the McCarthy airport to fly back to Chitina to our waiting RV’s. As we handed our back-packs to the pilot ( the same guy as the other day ) I waited to see if he would inquire if anyone had bear spray in the luggage. I was surprised he didn’t since he went crazy the other day when we flew with them inside the plane.) When we took them out of our packs, he then duct taped them to the struts of the plane.  Never can take too many precautions, in my opinion!

Our bear spray canisters were duct taped to struts to make sure they would not accidentally go off inside plan.

Wrangel Mountain Air plane

We have been so blessed to have such fabulous weather!  The clear blue sky afforded us such incredible views of the mountains, valleys, rivers and glaciers below.

Flying away, we could see a couple of glaciers below

After returning to the RV’s we drove a short distance to the next campground for the night, Tolsana Wilderness Campground.

Our final view of the Copper River as we head west toward Anchorage.