I hadn't been to the McCarthy/Kennicott area in 20 years and Bryant had never been there, so we figured it was a good long weekend adventure to take our friends who were visiting us. Right after Bryant got off work, we headed to the Klutina River just south of Glennallen for the first night. We had hoped to have some luck at red fishing, but none were to be found that evening by us or anyone. At one point, we debated not even going further east as the weather forecast was not very promising and the rain seemed to be on an on/off cycle for the past 12 hours, but we all lacked another plan so we continued on.
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| Beware! 2 - 3 hours of Gravel Ahead! |
After enjoying some short hikes around the Wrangell St. Elias Visitors Center, we bounced along the 60 miles of gravel road capturing some great scenery along the way.
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| Chitna River |
We arrived that evening and set up camp close to the Kennicott River. I was surprised to see how beautiful the Root Glacier looked up in the valley, because that particular scene never stuck in my memory. I guess it is a reminder why some places need be visited more than once to appreciate what they have to offer.
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| The new bridge across the Kennicott River |
The hand tram cable car over the Kennicott River was replaced by a user friendly bridge for pedestrian and bike traffic, which was a much needed improvement as the campgrounds on the east side of the river have exploded compared to 20 years ago. The little town of McCarthy is less than a mile from the campground, but tourists are not able to drive vehicles past the campground even through there is a service road for the National Park Service and locals 1/2 mile south of the main camping area. We didn't mind not being able to drive because we all had bikes. The first evening we made our way into McCarthy and enjoyed appetizers at the only restaurant in town.
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| Kennicott Copper Mines |
The next day we biked up toward the Kennicott Mine, which is on a gravel road 5 miles north of McCarthy. The National Park Service has also done some renovations with the old copper mine buildings. Past the town of Kennicott (if you can call it a town!) is the Root Glacier Trail and it is a great trail to either bike, run, or walk on. We had to dodge a few raindrops early in the day, but the afternoon was better than expected. The gradual bike ride back down into McCarthy is a lot of fun!
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| Root Glacier Trail |
That evening I was able to scrounge up some firewood and we all just hung around camp talking and eating. It turned out to be a fun weekend. Now along with my old memories, I have new memories from the area. For more pictures of our trip to McCarthy and Kennicott:
https://plus.google.com/photos/108360286648812110649/albums/6139664785078559265?authkey=CIbhwpeb7IanIw
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