On this Sunday morning, we prepped the motorhome to leave it in the Wrangell View RV Park about five miles outside the town of Chitina. We made sure we turned off the inverter, water heater, and water pump and locked all the compartments and doors.
We had packed up the Jeep the night before, so we didn't need to do that. We headed toward McCarthy around 7:30 a.m. not really knowing how long it would take to get there.
It would also be our first time car camping in a long, long, long time. But we were both happy with our decision to leave the rig behind. We wouldn't have to listen to the incessant rattling on the 60 miles of the McCarthy Road, and we wouldn't have to worry about damaging it or having a breakdown. I don't think Coach-Net would come get us out there.
Tent camping was an option, but Linda was concerned about inclimate weather and she thought we'd be more comfortable in the Jeep if it rained.
I had checked into lodging at the various hotels and cabins, but we couldn't find anything that was reasonable. The Alaska TourSaver has a coupon for $100 off a stay of two nights or more at the Kennicott Glacier Lodge in the Main Lodge. But the rooms in the Main Lodge are $205 - $235/night and those rooms don't have private bathrooms, while their larger South Wing with private bathrooms run $305/night.
There were some cabin options, but we ultimately decided to go the cheaper route as we prefer to spend our funds on experiences rather than accommodations. Also, the McCarthy Road ends at the Kennicott River, and only local residents can drive over the local access bridge and use the road system in McCarthy that connects to Kennecott. Visitors have to walk across the footbridge over the river, and then you can catch a shuttle that runs between the footbridge and McCarthy on the half hour most of the day or you can walk the half mile to town. More on the "getting around" logistics later.
Back to our drive. Not far from the RV park, a beaver was swimming in a lake beside the road. Approaching Chitina near One Mile Lake, we saw a large object standing on the edge of the road in the distance. As we approached, we could tell it was a moose, and I was able to get one quick photo while it scampered for cover.

That was our fourth moose sighting in Chitina in the two days that we drove through town.
Passing through Chitina, we started on the McCarthy Road and re-traced our drive from a couple of nights ago.
For what it's worth, the National Park website has a McCarthy Road Guide and you can even download a McCarthy Road Audio Tour or print the script from the audio tour. Or, you can pick up CDs of the audio tour at the park's Copper Center Visitor Center or at the Chitina Ranger Station. We forgot to do all of the above.
As we proceeded, there were still rabbits to watch for, but at least we knew where the trouble spots were in the road on the "paved" part all the way to the Kuskalana Bridge at mile 17.
We stopped at a turnout to get a photo of the bridge before we crossed. It seems to be the thing to do.

It's hard to see down into the gorge as you are crossing the bridge, and you aren't supposed to stop on the bridge, but the view to the other side isn't too shabby.

On the other side is a "wayside" where there is parking and primitive restrooms. I had read that there is a "catwalk" under the bridge, so I walked down to take a look and perhaps get some photos of the gorge and river.
Well, there indeed is a "catwalk" ....

but it's not easily accessed, probably for good reason. I don't know, I thought there would be stairs or a ladder, but nope - it requires some climbing, and though there weren't any "keep off" signs, I wasn't up for summoning my inner Spiderman this morning.
Driving on after the bridge, the road was better. There are a couple 35 mph speed limit signs and that, apparently is the speed limit for the whole road. If you stay at that speed and slow down for the marked bad spots, curves, unmarked potholes, and rabbits, the road really isn't all that bad as it has apparently been improved greatly over the last few years.
We spoke to a couple of locals over the past few days that said they wouldn't even take their truck on the McCarthy Road, much less a motorhome. But it had been a few years since they had made the drive, and again, the road isn't the horror story we heard about.
Still, I'm glad we didn't bring the RV. I may have been comfortable in a truck camper, a Class B, or a campervan or possibly towing a small trailer (although I would have concerns about the tires on a small trailer), but the longer the wheelbase, the less I would recommend taking an RV. The "paved" section in particular has some sections that can really torque the frame of longer-wheelbase vehicles.
Here are just a couple of photos from the rest of the drive.

This photo below is one of the marked bad spots with a small Class C coming toward us.

I should mention that there are several turnouts along the road where you can boondock if you choose, and there is a really nice spot next to the Lakina River.
The drive is remote and pretty, but it's not spectacular by any means. On this clear day, at least we got a couple of views of the Wrangell Mountain Range.


About 15 miles from the end, a Black Bear crossed the road.

It stopped and looked at us briefly.

That was our last stop for photos.
Approaching the end of the road, there is a bad section as you start the descent toward the river, but again it just requires going slower.
About a half mile from the river is Glacier View Campground, where you can camp with an RV or tent for $20/night, or sleep in your car for $10/night. Just parking your vehicle for the day is free and parking overnight is $5 per night. The website says "RV sites are limited so call ahead". Fresh water is available, but there is no dump station. They have a Camp Store where they have snacks and a grill, and some folks rave about their burgers.
But, since it's still a half mile from the footbridge and we wanted to be more convenient to town, we by-passed Glacier View. There is another free day-parking area about a quarter mile from the footbridge, but we continued on to Base Camp Kennicott which is right on the river next to the footbridge.

And it also has a glacier view.

This (we would learn later) is the Stairway Icefall portion of the Root Glacier.

Base Camp owns the land by the river on both sides of the road. They charge $25/night for camping, $10 for overnight parking, and $5 for day use parking up to four hours.
Since I forgot to get cash, and we weren't sure if the one ATM in McCarthy would be operational, I paid for two nights of camping online in advance in order to save what cash we had. When we pulled in, I told them I paid two nights online and they said "Okay, just park anywhere". They didn't ask for proof of payment, didn't take any information, didn't give us a tag for the Jeep. Nothing. "Just go park" was the message.
So, we found this little spot right next to the Kennicott River not far from the footbridge on the south side.


We got set up and got our bed ready. Thankfully, with our backpacking gear we have sleeping pads and sleeping bags, and we tested our "beds" last night. In this case, being short at 5'8" was helpful as I barely fit stretched out most of the way with only a slight bend in the knees.

I think Linda brought every pillow we own so we could prop up and read before reclining for sleep.
They have a couple of outhouses for bathrooms, but no other amenities.
There is, in fact, pretty good Verizon 4G service in the "campground" and the towns - a nice surprise so we could upload photos and check emails at night while we're here.
So, it took us two hours and fifteen minutes to drive the 60 miles of the McCarthy Road, and that includes stops for photos. Linda pretty much averaged 30 mph and I'd say two to two and half hours is a good estimate of time each way.
If we had brought the RV, we would have gone much slower and, knowing what we know now, we would have likely broken up the trip with a night of boondocking on the way in and on the way out. But I'll reiterate - we're still glad we didn't bring the RV. Although the road "isn't that bad" it's still bad enough that just the rattling alone would drive us crazy - we don't have the best suspension in the world.
After getting settled, it was getting close to 11:00, so we donned our daypacks and walked across the footbridge.

This is a view looking north over the "campground".

And this is the view looking south to the side we're parked on with the Chugach Mountains in the background.

In the photo above, you can also see the "locals" bridge that is used for supplies and for residents of McCarthy and Kennecott to access the McCarthy Road.
Here's a closer look at our "campsite".

View of the footbridge from the other side.

"Footbridge" is a bit of a misnomer as the locals traverse the bridge on their ATVs, motorcycles, and dirt bikes. Just up the hill, is the community church, and there were several ATVs parked out front on this Sunday morning.

We weren't sure of the shuttle schedule at this point, and all I had read was that the shuttle was $5/person each time you get a ride. I clarified later, but at the time we just continued to walk the road toward McCarthy.

A little farther the road turned left, but there was a path to the right leading to another footbridge over a creek.

My research didn't tell me there were two footbridges. From there, we could see the town of Kennecott in the distance tucked under the mountains.

Okay, let's get this out of the way. The Kennicott Glacier was named after an Alaskan pioneer and explorer around 1900, and of course, it is the source for the Kennicott River. When copper was discovered in these mountains, the Kennecott Copper Corporation was formed and, apparently, it was established with an "e" instead of an "i" in the name due to a clerical error. The company town that sprang up, Kennecott, was named after the company. Thus, the different spellings you see in this entry and those that follow while we're here.
So we have the town of Kennecott where the Kennecott Copper Corporation mined copper overlooking the Kennicott Glacier, and where the site of one the former employee housing units of the company is now the Kennicott Glacier Lodge. So there you go.
Back to our walk. Just on the other side of the second footbridge are a pair of nicer, clean outhouses for those making the walk to and from McCarthy. They are better than the ones in the "campground", but it would be quite a walk just for a bathroom visit.
Eventually, we reached the back side of the McCarthy Museum on our right and we turned right past the front entrance to continue our walk into town.

This was one of the first signs we saw, and it provides a pretty good idea of the vibe.

We stopped at the place that runs the shuttles for tourists to clarify the schedules and fees.
First, the shuttles start at 9:00 a.m. and the last one leaves Kennecott at 7:00 p.m. On the half hour, they are supposed to be at the footbridge by the river.
Second, there is no charge to go from the footbridge to McCarthy or from McCarthy to the footbridge. Third, they've raised their prices from what I had seen online. It's now $10/person to go one way from McCarthy to Kennecott or from Kennecott to McCarthy (about 4.5 miles). Or you can buy a "round trip" ticket for $15 - basically, you are buying two tickets and getting the second one at half price.
You can always walk the road or walk the Wagon Road Trail between the two towns, but the shuttle saves a lot of time.
Now, if you are booking a tour or hotel, the tour companies and hotels usually provide you with local transportation from the footbridge as needed.
Okay, now that we got that straight, we continued on to McCarthy River Tours & Outfitters next door.

Using our TourSaver, we booked a half-day glacier hike on the Root Glacier. The tour price is $95, and we got 2-for-1 with our coupon. The "restriction" is that all TourSaver people have to go on the 1:00 p.m. group hike.
Though we were way early, we went ahead and checked in and filled out and signed the required waivers. And we learned that we were the only people booked on today's tour - nice, half price and a private tour.
I took a couple more photos of McCarthy - there isn't much to it.


For what it's worth, McCarthy developed to support the vices that weren't allowed in the company town of Kennecott. So, the miners would travel down the hill to McCarthy for alcohol, pool halls, gambling, and the brothel. The mine operated from 1908 to 1938, so those were the prime years for both towns.
We had some time to kill, so we decided to get some lunch. Of the three restaurants in town, only one - the Roadside Potatohead (aka "The Potato") - was open.

We ordered burgers keto-style without the bread and declined their famous fries, and we watched the free-ranging dogs which sniffed and wrestled outside in the patio area. Though the door to the restaurant was open, none of the dogs went any farther than the threshold. Even when they arrived with their owners (off-leash, of course), they knew to stay outside and no commands of "no" or "stay" were uttered. Although I'm not a fan of dogs hovering around while I'm eating at a restaurant, it was fascinating to watch.
As our lunch was served, our neighbors from back in the RV park, Greg & Kathy, arrived, so they joined us. We learned that they moved up their trip to Alaska because their daughter is getting married in Homer later this summer. We had a nice chat.
After lunch, we sauntered back to the tour company where we met our guide, Amanda, and got fitted for crampons. Then we hopped in the van and she drove us up to Kennecott where we would begin our hike at the National Historic Landmark that is the Kennecott Mines.

Looking out toward our "campground" all those dunes of dirt are actually part of the Kennicott Glacier which terminates at the lake in the distance.

Here's the thing about the Kennicott Glacier. The mountains on the right side of the photo above are the Fireweed Mountains, and back when the mine was operating, the view of those mountains from Kennecott was blocked by the height of the glacier. Amanda told us that kids that lived in the town during that era have returned and been shocked to see the new view. Pretty amazing.
We paused by the Kennicott Glacier Lodge, which as I mentioned earlier, was housing for mine employees, specifically the upper level employees like engineers. Actually, it's a replica built on the same site.

We walked through town past a mixture of restored and non-restored buildings from the mining era with the most prominent certainly being the 14-story mill.

Many of the buildings are open for a self-guided walking tour, but a few, including the mill, can only be accessed on a paid, guided tour.
The ghost town, as it's often described now, certainly has a fantastic view.

That's Mt. Blackburn in the distance.

At 16,390 feet, it's the highest peak in the Wrangell Mountains, and it's the fifth highest peak in the U.S.
We continued through town on the trail.

The majority of today's hike is on the trail above the Kennicott Glacier as it's about two miles to get to the access point of the Root Glacier. Here is a view of the Kennicott Glacier that shows the ice beneath the varied-colored dunes of the moraine surface.


In the photo below, we can see the different colors of the glacier moraine as well as Mt. Blackburn and Root Glacier on the far right as it flows into and connects with Kennicott Glacier.


Several folks were on the Root Glacier below us.

Eventually, we turned left off the main trail and started our descent to the glacier access point.


At the edge of the glacier, we put on our crampons.

Though we brought layers to put on, it was quite warm today, and we didn't need the extra clothes on the ice today.
We made our way up the ice ....

to views like this.

I took that photo not knowing that the guy on the right is Don Mercer, the fellow we met and went fishing with back in Haines a couple of weeks ago. I recognized him as he and his guide were descending past us.

Like us, Don added Wrangell - St. Elias on his quest to visit all the National Parks.
Looking forward, this was a different view of the Stairway Icefall, part of Root Glacier.


An icefall is like a frozen waterfall. It's part of a glacier that flows faster and develops deep crevasses due to the more rapid shifting of the ice because of gravity. The Stairway Icefall is considered un-climbable due to the speed at which it changes. Amanda said this is the largest icefall in the world outside Antarctica, and it certainly adds to the beauty and intrigue of Root Glacier.
Amanda took us over to this small waterfall in the ice.


I photographed the cool, tiny river meandering away from the falls.

After Amanda took our photo, ....

we both filled our water bottles with cold, glacier water from a nearby, smaller waterfall.

Walking back up the glacier, we had this great view of Castle Rock.

Here's a look from a different angle.

I love the different textures in the glacier surface.
This wide view includes an ice climber in the lower left.


What a gorgeous day!


Amanda and Linda were quite fond of these little holes in the ice where rocks and other surface items heated and melted into their own little pools.

In addition to this ice canyon, Amanda pointed out a "rock glacier" up on the mountain below Castle Rock.

Rock glaciers form in a few different ways, but basically they are the same as ice glaciers in that pressure and gravity cause a mass of rocks to move down an incline.
We followed another small "river" .....

down the ice to a blue pool.


The clear blue water looked like a hot springs pool you might find in Yellowstone, ....

but of course it's not exactly hot as the young lady who jumped in would attest.

Apparently, some guided tours give you the option of jumping into a frigid glacial pool. We weren't given that option, and that was quite alright.
We sat down and had a little snack while enjoying the entertainment, and I took a short video of our surroundings.
Soon, we began our walk back.

As we hiked, this leaf in the ice caught my eye, so this is my photo-nerd shot of the day.

I took one more shot of this ice-climbing guide with the icefall background before I turned and caught up with the ladies.

We were all smiles as we made our final descent off Root Glacier.

We did a glacier hike in Iceland last year, but this one was better because the views were much more stunning, there were more features to look at in the ice, and this time we had a private tour with our guide.
We love it when we end up on these tours with only our guide. We get to know them better (many are just really special people), they are a little more laid back and not so worried about their "script" or "herding cats", and we all can chat about stuff outside the realm of the tour and have more fun.
Amanda is working this seasonal gig here doing glacier hikes and guiding raft trips, but her "real" job is as a Marketing Director for a tribal college in Barrow, Alaska (now officially known as Utqiaġvik). This Californian works in the frigid Alaska arctic recruiting young people to her accredited, Alaska-native-controlled college that emphasizes native culture while at the same time educating attendees for employment opportunities.
We really enjoyed our time with Amanda.
Now, do you have to have a guide to walk on the Root Glacier? No, but it makes it easier to find the features and know what you are looking at. And with the TourSaver, the half-day guided tour is well worth it. But, if you go on your own, do yourself a favor and rent some crampons at one of the tour companies.
Walking back, the lighting was really good on the mountain above the mine mill.

This is sort of the classic view of the mill.

By the time we got back to the van, we were tuckered out. It was a five to six mile hike with about a mile walking on crampons on the glacier. You have to be somewhat fit to do it.
We said our goodbyes to Amanda when we returned to McCarthy, and we had some really nice salads for dinner at McCarthy's Golden Saloon.

Eventually, we walked back down the hill to the river and our Jeep.

After a ShowerPill Body Wipe "bath", we relaxed in our Helinox chairs by the river for a while.

Well, that concludes another fine, full day in Alaska.
Before the day ended, we booked a morning pack-rafting tour for Tuesday, so tomorrow, Monday, we'll explore the Kennecott Mine exhibits and history. We're not sure if we'll do the guided tour or not, but we can make that decision in the morning. Compared to today, tomorrow will be a light one.
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