Wilderness Wandering

Day 24, August 15 2025

We “slept” in the airport last night. I’m not sure either of us really slept, but by the time we would have gotten to a hotel, it would have been time to head out again.  We’re on our way to our last Alaska National Park- Wrangell St. Elias. It is the largest National Park at more than 13 million acres. 6 Yellowstones would fit inside it. St. Elias is the second tallest peak in the U.S. Wrangell Mountain is one of the most active volcanoes in the U.S. Nine of the 16 tallest peaks in the U.S. are in this park.   We met the shuttle that transported us to the park at a coffee shop about 2 miles from the Anchorage airport. There was a summit between Donald  Trump and Vladimir Putin that morning in Anchorage. We saw Putin’s security detail across from the coffee shop polishing a black SUV. 

We rode in the shuttle van from 8:45 AM to 4:20 PM with two fuel stops and one lunch stop.  The two lane blacktop highway we started on wasn’t bad at all. The scenery was quite pretty. 

We drove over the thrilling one lane Kuskulana Bridge which  was the tallest single span bridge until the New River Gorge Bridge was built.

The 60 mile gravel McCarthy Road you hear so much about didn’t start out too bad, but by the end it did earn its terrible reputation. Most rental car companies don’t allow their cars to be driven on this road, which was part of the reason we took the shuttle.  The van driver told us they replace the suspension of the van every 30,000 miles! The van stopped at the foot bridge over the Kennicott River.  We got out and put our suitcases on a little wagon and pulled it over the bridge to the other side of the river.

Then we waited for the shuttle to take us about a mile to McCarthy. The town of McCarthy has about 30 permanent year round residents. It grows substantially with temporary workers and tourists from May to September. McCarthy and the next town over Kennecott had their beginnings as mining towns. Both towns retain their historic flavor. Kennecott is a National Historic District.  We stayed at Ma Johnson’s Historic Hotel.

The lobby was decorated in the Victorian period with intricately carved velvet upholstered chairs.

Our room was small but comfortable.  It had a double bed, a chair, a sink and a nightstand. There were nice shared bathrooms with tiled shower stalls in the hallway. There are no electrical outlets in the rooms, so everyone leaves their phones charging in the lobby!  We walked around town. We went and had huckleberry ice cream in the McCarthy General Store. 

Day 25, August 16, 2025

Our hotel included breakfast at the Salmon and Bear Restaurant across the street.  It was very good. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, French toast, pancakes, and yogurt with blueberries. 

We had two excursions with St. Elias Alpine Guides planned for the day.  First we had a half day glacier walk on the Root Glacier. Five miles of the walk was on a trail and 1/2 mile out and back was on the glacier for a total of 6 miles.  We had very serious crampons on for the mile we were on the glacier.  They made walking on the ice very safe. It took a little while to get used to the feeling of them.  We had a fabulous guide named Michael. He was a wealth of knowledge. 

After the glacier walk, we had a tour of the Kennecott copper mine.  Two men found the seam of copper by the glacier in 1900. They staked the claim and set out to find a buyer for the claim. J.P. Morgan and the Guggenheim families bankrolled the mine development. They had to build a 200 mile railroad to get the ore to a port. From 1911 to 1938 ore valued at more than $200 million dollars was produced. The mill building is the tallest wooden structure in the United States.  There were cables with large buckets that bright the ore down the mountain to the mill. The crushing process was rather complex. By the end of the various stages they recovered approximately 97% of the copper ore from the rocks. Life in such a remote part of the country was very harsh. The miners had to work every day of the week under a six month contract, often in unbelievably cold weather. The mill only closed for Christmas and Independence Day.  In 1938, the seam was depleted and the mine closed. 

After a full day of activity,  we had a little dinner at the Golden Saloon and then we went and had huckleberry heaven ice cream.

We went back to the saloon to hear Red Flag, the live music they had going on Saturday night. Everyone in town was there!

Day 26, August 17, 2025

We river rafted this morning with St. Elias Alpine Guides and once again we had fabulous guides.  We had gorgeous weather. We started on the Kennicott River and finished on the Nizina River. Our guides did all the work and made us a great lunch on a gravel bar. We floated about 10 miles before lunch and another 10 miles after lunch.

We beached the kayaks and a bush plane arrived and took us on a short flight seeing excursion of the McCarthy area and the glaciers.

What a great day! We hung out at The Golden Saloon and enjoyed the 70s music for the evening. This little town has such an amazing vibe. We love it here! It feels like this is the Last Frontier part of Alaska!

We were catching up on our phones in the lobby and charging them at the same time and a man sat down and Tim started talking with him. His name was Mike. He was a neurologist in CO and was in town to visit his recently retired friend who was working  as an accountant in town just for the summer. He heard us talking about our van and asked questions about it.  We had some fantastic conversation with him. It was about midnight when we went to bed. 

Day 27, August 18,2025

We went to breakfast. Mike joined us. We didn’t have any firm plans today. We went to Kennecott to visit the National Park Visitors Center. We did a short Ranger talk and got the passport stamped. They didn’t have an official Wrangell St. Elias National Park sign, but they did have a Kennecott Mine Historic District sign, so we made due with taking our photo with that.  We decided to hike the Jumbo Mine Trail. It’s a strenuous steep hike 4.5 miles one way with excellent views above the tree line. We went about 3 miles up, enjoyed some great views, had a snack and headed back down. We saw four people the entire hike. When we got back to Kennicott, we stopped by St. Elias Guides and said goodbye to Michael, the fantastic guide. Then we were waiting for the shuttle and we saw Mike. He and his friend’s wife were doing a little sightseeing.  They invited us to walk back to McCarthy with them. Martha and I had a fantastic conversation! We walked a neat bike trail that was hidden from the road. We departed from Mike and Martha and went to shower. And then it was time to eat. We walked to a popular restaurant called The Potato and ordered their Rosemary and Garlic Fries. Fantastic! Back at Ma Johnson’s after dinner, our new friends were hanging out on the porch. We sat down and talked some more. We all agreed that our favorite part of our day was meeting each other! 

Day 28, August 19,2025

One final breakfast at Salmon and Bear. We caught the shuttle to the foot bridge and walked around the tents and checked out the art of a local artist who rents e-bikes.

We bought some of his cards. Then the shuttle showed up. On our way through Copper Center, which was about 100 miles down the road, our driver swung into the Wrangell St. Elias VC for us and took our photo! Yay! The shuttle dropped us off in downtown Anchorage where we paid another quick visit to my favorite restaurant of the trip, Ginger. Then we hopped on the People Mover to the airport. 

We thoroughly loved our month in Alaska. Many of the people we met who work in Alaska have to hold several jobs in order to make ends meet. They are a hearty, resilient people. We also noticed that very few people here are native Alaskans. People came to Alaska to experience a more remote, private and  uncomplicated life style and never left! 

Each of the parks was beautiful and unique and awe inspiring! We are already planning our next trip to Alaska!