A Road Less Traveled
If you can’t take a trip right now, the next best thing is to plan one. This Alaska adventure takes some thoughtful preparation, but the journey and the destination are well worth it.
Which is the largest national park in the U.S.? It’s Wrangell-St. Elias in Alaska, home to some of the largest glaciers and highest mountains in the country. Visiting there is not like driving under the Roosevelt Arch in Yellowstone and exploring all the park’s amazing sights in a series of short drives. Wrangell has no distinct entry point and is spread out over 13.2 million acres, six times the size the Yellowstone.
We (Dick and Maggie) wanted to get a taste of this vast area, knowing that we would be just skirting the periphery. We discovered that sometimes you have a better view of the splendor from outside the park. That’s one reason we took a kayaking and camping side-trip out of Valdez to Glacier Island in Prince William Sound, near Columbia Glacier (the other reason is we love kayaking). But that’s another story.
One of the intriguing places we wanted to visit within the park was the out-of-the-way town of McCarthy. Most places in Alaska are “out of the way,” but McCarthy has a unique way of preserving its remoteness. To get there, you either have to drive the infamous McCarthy Road, or take a bush plane. I’ve been on worse roads in Costa Rica and West Virginia. The road is 60 miles long, unpaved, mostly flat and mildly rough, but it has one challenge — it’s an old railroad bed. You might wonder why there is even a town in this remote location, and why anyone would want to go there.
Mining. Not gold mining—like the strike that ignited the Klondike Gold Rush and built the town of Skagway, east of Wrangell NP — Copper mining. Copper was fortuitously discovered there in the early 1900s and the Kennecott mines proved profitable for many years. A railroad was built to connect this valuable resource to the heart of Alaska and thus to the rest of the world. When the copper was exhausted, the mines shut down and the railroad was abandoned. The tracks and ties were torn up, creating the McCarthy Road.
Unfortunately, the spikes got left behind. They can protrude unexpectedly anywhere along the road. Oh, and there are no gas stations or stores along the way, and your cell service probably won’t work. If you get a flat tire, you better have a spare and know how to use the jack. If you get a second flat, you better have some food and water.
Fortunately, we made it in and out without mishap, though we did see someone who was not so lucky. One of the secrets is to drive slowly and stay on the main path. If it’s a clear day, you can see snow-capped mountains and beautiful lakes. You may see some wildlife. We stopped for a short hike to break up the drive.
The official start of the McCarthy Road is in Chitina, the last sign of civilization for a long time. But first you have to get to Chitina. It’s possible to drive from Anchorage, but we took a more scenic route. We drove along Turnagain Arm from Anchorage to the fishing town of Whittier, just off Prince William Sound. Of course, you can’t just zip into Whittier. You have to go through the mountains via a long tunnel. This road doubles as a railroad tunnel, with cars and trains having to take turns, so plan accordingly, especially if you want to catch a ferry in Whittier.
Whittier is a delightful place to wander around and have lunch. The harbor is full of fishing boats. Almost everyone lives in one government building. Besides fishing, tour boats leave from here to explore the incredible glaciers that calve into the Sound or the ocean. We drove our rental car onto the ferry and stayed outside for the entire trip to Valdez.
Prince William Sound is known for its jaw-dropping beauty and wildlife. Valdez is known for the Exxon tanker that nearly destroyed it. The Sound has revived, but remnants of the spill remain below the surface.
We had a beautiful sunny day and calm waters for our ferry trip. No cruise ship could give you any finer ride. The blue waters of Prince William, waterfalls on the lush green hillsides, and snow capped mountains were all around. Otters, seals, puffins, and other animals could be seen, particularly as we came closer to the glaciers. Icebergs appeared everywhere, and many provided islands for the wildlife.
Valdez is still a tanker port, but the ships that use it are carefully guided in, to minimize the risks.We stayed at a B&B near the harbor in Valdez. As noted earlier, that was our take-off point for a four-day kayaking adventure. Then it was back in the car, heading to Chitina and the McCarthy Road.
When we rented our car in Anchorage, there were no questions about the McCarthy Road, and we were very careful anyhow. We had heard that if you rent a car in Valdez, there might be restrictions.
When we pulled into the town of Kennecott about four hours later, we had to struggle to understand what we were seeing. The forest opened up to broad vistas of mountains and glacial streams. We headed to our destination at the Kennicott Glacier Lodge up a steep hill. It appeared that the whole valley was filled with vast undulating piles of gravel. On closer inspection, we were seeing an immense glacier, covered in many places by stone, that swept almost to the entrance of the lodge and continued straight up the mountains in the distance. It was an unworldly sight.
Further up the hill from the lodge, was one of the largest buildings you’ll ever see in Alaska — the Kennecott mine and milling works, now completely abandoned, but still standing and part of the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark. The National Park Service provides a wonderful historical tour of the mine and the equipment for extracting the valuable copper. Stories of what the workers endured were very moving. Some of the structures are falling down and off limits, but other parts are sturdy and include boilers and other equipment.
The Lodge is a great place to stay, although there are also rooms in the nearby town of McCarthy, within walking distance of Kennecott. If you want to leave the driving worries to someone else, the Lodge has a deal that includes van transportation along the entire McCarthy Road (but where’s the fun in that?) We had one dinner — family style — at the Lodge and one in McCarthy. The town is an eclectic collection of old west boarding house, restaurant, air strip, and graveyard. Our dinner became more leisurely when the power went out, but everyone was laid back and friendly.
The mountain and glacier view from the lodge is stunning, but there are many other things to do. You can pick (and eat blueberries) from the many bushes nearby, you can take a tour of the Kennecott Glacier, or take a hike out to one of the other glaciers.
The glacier is easily accessible from the lodge, but care is needed on the ice. The surface can be slippery, the terrain is hilly, and there are unseen crevasses and streams within the glacier. There are guided tours available, which provide crampons and walking sticks. We gingerly went on our own with just our poles, not venturing too far from the road, but enough to experience one of the great natural wonders of the world. The glacier, of course, is moving, as can be seen from its path down the mountain and into the valley, but the pace is imperceptible.
On another day, we followed a trail to one of the other main glaciers. The path was lined with bright pink berry bushes — soap berries, I believe. We didn’t eat any, but from the looks of the scat along the trail, something was eating more than their share. As we proceeded along the trail, it appeared that the scat was likely from a bear, and that it was getting “fresher” as we hiked along. That meant the bear was ahead of us, perhaps an hour, perhaps five minutes. Because we had gone camping earlier on this trip, we had bear spray, which I kept right at hand.
The brush was very dense along the narrow trail, so we couldn’t see far ahead. And then, sure enough, we spotted a black bear, and then another, almost certainly a cub. Being between a mother and her cub is the most dangerous position to be in when hiking in bear country. Despite my love of bears, we cautiously backed off immediately, so as not to get near either one. When the bears had a chance to move on, I vainly attempted a photograph, but got only a black patch of scrub, which I claim is clearly a bear. We decided to return the way we had come. As is often the case in Alaska, you may be on your own if an injury occurs.
We left Kennecott the next day, traversing the McCarthy Road without a hitch. We made a side trip to the Nabesna Road, which was a piece of cake after McCarthy. We then took the road back to Anchorage, rather than the ferry from Valdez to Whittier. We drove along the Copper River (famous for its salmon) and stopped to see one of the fish wheels built by the native people for harvesting salmon. We stopped in Glenallen, where we experienced a minor earthquake (it happens in Alaska) and some delicious “catch of the day” — salmon, of course. Before reaching Anchorage, we visited another glacier, the Matanuska, which is accessible from the road. We hiked on it, as well.
There are many ways to do this trip, and the one you plan and undertake will be the one that leaves you with priceless memories for a lifetime. If we can be of any help, leave a comment through Medium. (Most photos, Maggie Louden). If you want to read about other adventures in Alaska, including our kayaking trips in Glacier Bay, you can go here.
