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Wrangell - Saint Elias National Park - Part 1 of 4
 
My Best Day Yet - Thanks to the People That I Met
(you will have to read all four parts to fully understand the title)
 
My first "coup d'envoie" on this Alaskan trip was of course the much quoted:
 
September is also a prime time to visit Alaska. Fall comes early to Alaska and many of the deciduous trees are blazing yellow and red by Labor Day. Combine the bright yellow colors of the aspen and willow trees with the blazing red tundra plants and you have the best fall colors experience Alaska has to offer. You will see why Polychrome Pass in Denali National Park earns its name!
 
This directed my travels directly to Denali National Park. Going to Fairbanks, south to Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula were all a natural spin off from visiting Denali National Park.
 
My second "coup d'envoie" happened only hours after I left Prince George on my way to Alaska .
 
At a rest area on Highway 16, just west of the town of Smithers, I engaged a couple from Pennsylvania in conversation. My thinking was if they were American and were going east on this route, chances are they had probably been to Alaska.
 
It turned out that they indeed were coming back from Alaska. I told them about my desire to drive the Dalton Highway. They counseled against it and instead proposed an "adventure route" which they had taken.
 
It caught my attention because it involved a 100 mile drive along a dirt road into Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and the hamlet of McCarthy. They also spoke of a beautiful hike one could make to a glacier.
 
That is all the info that I needed because if I was not going to drive the Dalton Highway, I would at least drive this dirt road. So my impetus to go to Wrangell - Saint Elias National Park came more from the road than from the park. I knew nothing about the park including its name.
 
So after Valdez this is where I am heading.
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Valdez, AK
September 20, 2007
 
The next morning I returned to Prince William Sound College for some more blogging .
 
 I knew I was in a college and not a university when I overheard the following conversation:
 
"where is your girlfriend?"
"what do you mean, girlfriend!"
"I saw you touching her leg under the table"
 
Morning became afternoon and I don't think I left the college till about 16:00.
 
The weather, much to my disappointment, had not gotten better and it was even raining which was another reason I was not eager to leave the college.
 
Finally around 16:00 I hit the road and my route to McCarthy and Wrangell - Saint Elias National Park took me north for a distance of 140 km once again along the beautiful Richardson Highway.
 
As I was leaving Valdez, I stopped to top up my tank at a gas station. I couldn't help but notice a huge board on which were written almost a 100 names. My curiosity got the better of me. I was told that these were customers who had bounced cheques and who had not settled their account. In Alaska, as well as most other parts of the U.S., customers still pay for most purchases with a personal cheque. It seems archaic and time consuming but that is the custom .
 
The return trip up the Richardson Highway was a lot quicker because there was little reason to stop due to the weather. Furthermore, I had already taken photos on the way south when the weather was much better.
 
The junction of the Richardson Highway and Highway 10, 140 km north of Valdez is an access road to Wrangell - Saint Elias National Park which is a wilderness park like Denali National Park.
 
When I got to the intersection, unfortunately, I could not simply turn east and head for the park. I had to think about getting out as well. Therefore I drove another 60 km round - trip to fill the gas tank and stock up on a few basics.
 
While taking this detour I was amazed to actually catch glimpses of the rounded top of Mt. Wrangell (14,463 ft.) and the jagged top of Mt. Drum (12,010 ft). They were obscured by clouds on my way south.
 
Once I got back to the junction of the Richardson and Highway 10 it was 19:00. That's the time for most people to crawl into a motel room. For me, it was only the start of "show time".
 
Let's see - the distance to McCarthy is 100 miles, that's 160 km on a wilderness dirt road with no services . I should be there around midnight - just perfect timing.
 
I must say that when I travel, I travel with a minimum of information. That is not good, but that is my nature. I am too eager to get from point A to B to waste much time in researching my next destination when I know I will be there to find out first hand.
 
That of course leads to surprises.
 
My first surprise was that Highway 10 - 45 km - is a beautiful windy paved road that leads to the hamlet of Chitina. A simple look at the map would have told me that it was paved, but I think I was too hyped to look at details like that. There is even a gas station at Chitina but I drove by without checking to see whether it was still open.
 
Just past the hamlet of Chitina, the McCarthy Road starts. The wilderness extends its welcome with the end of the pavement; passage through a tall, narrow rock canyon just wide enough for one car to pass (it has obviously been blasted out) and the crossing of the immense Copper River over a narrow bridge
 
Those are all signs that you are leaving civilization behind .
 
The road is narrow and extremely bumpy, rocky and rutted with washboard. I am driving at 25 km per hour and I can feel my car shaking.
 
The road has its origins in a railway track constructed in 1909 by the Kennecott Copper Mine. From here the copper ore was hauled 196 miles to the port of Cordova. The mine was abandoned abruptly in 1938. Subsequently the iron tracks were salvaged and the rail bed covered in gravel creating the McCarthy Road.
 
No question of turning back, no matter how bad the road gets - I think.
 
Driving 25 km per hour with 100 km to go means a four hour trip which would put me into McCarthy about 01:00. It is getting late.
 
Darkness sets in and my only contact to the outside world is that which is illuminated by my headlights. I search in my limited repertoire of CDs for appropriate music. I am stuck in time with my music of 20 years ago. - Will it be Vangelis, Yanni or maybe the Innuit group Kashtin, or the Native American group Sacred Heart with their haunting sounds. I opt for the haunting sounds. The occasion seems to call for it .
 
I don't have to worry about hitting any wildlife. At 25 km per hour it would hardly make a dent. Besides, there is no wildlife other than the odd flushed grouse or ptarmigan that I catch in my peripheral vision.
 
With darkness the sense of isolation sets in.
 
With darkness, the mind starts to play the "what if" games and all the things that could go wrong are flashed through one's consciousness. I can feel my face being flushed more and more as the drive continuous.
 
About an hour into the drive, I can't believe it - I am overcome with a desire to turn around and go back. There is no place to turn around, the road is narrow and rocky and miserable.
 
Fortunately, this phase passes and I carry on, resolved to deal with whatever comes up.
 
No one has passed me on the road and no one will. About three cars came from the opposite direction. I am definitely headed into the Alaskan wilderness.
 
The trip is broken up by a spectacular river crossing at the Kuskulana Bridge which was impressive even at night. There is a sign there not to stop on the bridge but I could have had a picnic there since there was no traffic .
 
I tried to capture the night with my camera with little success. I think my old Pentax digital camera was much better at seeking out what little light there is in the night.
 
Stepping out of the car in the pitch black darkness and walking away from the car only a few feet evoked the usual adrenalin reaction. Surely there are monsters out there lurking in the dark waiting to pounce on me.
 
To my surprise there were parts of the road which are better and I started to increase my speed accordingly. At one part of the road which had recently been upgraded, I was reminded of the Liard Highway. This was short lived as the condition of the road once again deteriorated.
 
I had set my odometer at 0 at Chitina so I knew exactly how far I had to go. This was a good thing as there were no mileage markers.
 
Finally, well after midnight a sign loomed into view announcing the McCarthy Road Info Station for the National Park.
 
Needless to say everything was closed for the season not to mention the time of night.
 
I eagerly sought out the facilities of which I was badly in need .
 
Parking the car in front of the earthen pit toilet and putting the beams on high I proceeded to go about my business. Bathed in this sea of light, surely no bear would come anywhere near here.
 
A little further along, I passed signs for cabins and finally arrived at the end of the road and a parking lot surrounded by a few buildings showing no sign of life.
 
My final proof of having arrived at my destination was when my headlights picked up the footbridge which I would use tomorrow to get to the glacier.
 
At this point my knowledge of the area was confined to thinking that the few buildings that I saw around me in the dark was the town of McCarthy and that 6 miles beyond the foot bridge lay an abandoned mine, a lodge and a huge glacier.
 
I was also aware that the shuttle that ran between the foot bridge and the glacier was no longer running so if I was to go further it was to be on foot.
 
I had picked up all the appropriate information at the Visitor's Center on the Richardson Highway but failed to take the time to read it. Therefore I was running on the "discovery method" mode as usual .
 
However, I would deal with those problems tomorrow.
 
It was now around 01:30. The rest of the night was spent in the car.
 
With the morning light I was ready for a cup of coffee.
 
 ........ Continued in Part 2

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