Mt. Elias N.P.

Morning on the Richardson Highway and Willow Lake

We start early since today a long marathon is planned in what will perhaps be the most disappointing day in relation to the expectations of the day before. We savor the magical moment immediately along Richardson, where the rising sun illuminates the forests and clearings where the lakes reflect the blue color (above all the Willow Lake). A vision that requires taking several photos.

However, a significant and curious episode also happens. There is almost no traffic at that time and the few cars whiz by at high speed. We stop on one side with the four arrows lit to signal our presence and with the window open I take countless photos of the enchanting panorama. A car that is about to overtake us slows down and comes alongside us. I see a guy who is about to tell me something and, forgetting that he is not in Italy, I think he is pointing his gun at me to ask for my wallet and anything else of value. Instead he politely asks us if we need help. We thank us by showing the camera and the gentleman understands and walks away with a smile. And to think that this was once the wild west.

Towards Chitina and the Wrangell-St. Elias

After about fifteen minutes. we head east on Edgerton Hwy for 33 miles, from which we begin to see the glaciers of Mount Drum (3600 m) in the distance and Mount Wrangell (4317 m) with Blackburn (4996 m) in front. We're about to enter Wrangell-St. Elias N.P.&P. It is by far the largest park in the States, so much so that it contains 6 times the size of Yellowstone. Less known and less frequented than Denali, it has much more difficult accessibility, so much so that there are only two road routes which are quite complicated to travel and which in any case go relatively little into the park. It can truly be said that human presence is very rare.

You reach Chitina, where the trains covering the 60-mile route between the Kennicott copper mines and the port of Cordoba stopped and loaded goods and food for the 800 workers and their families who worked as miners. It fell into disrepair in 1938 with the closure of the mines. Now there are crumbling houses and few inhabitants.

McCarthy Road and Copper River

From here, we travel thebumpy McCarthy Road to the east, a road built on the path of the old railroad that winds along the beautiful Chugach Mountains and the wide Copper River towards the historic McCarthy. The journey from Chitina lasts two and a half hours one way and has the feel of eternity. On rare occasions you manage to reach 30 mph, more often you are forced to try to avoid potholes or avoid getting stuck in the mud. In these cases do not exceed 10/15 mph.

In reality the road wouldn't be really bad, it just depends on the means of transport you use considering the length (in total there will be 200 km of dirt road). To transform the route into a cart track, the sleepers were covered with earth and stones. Over time the bottom uncovers, revealing the bolts that held the sleepers together.

Kuskulana Bridge and arrival in Kennicott

The Kuskulana Bridge, a long bridge 160 meters high and 177 meters high, it makes you hold your breath when you cross it. It has been made safe and guard rails have been placed, but the view of the canyon that opens below convinces you to stay focused on driving. There is also an old wooden railway bridge currently in disuse and a whole series of beautiful views of the gray glacial melt river below which will join the Copper River, which flows into the Pacific at Cordova.

We park at the inevitable Visitor Center and walk the half mile that leads to the pedestrian walkway over the Kennicott River. In 1893 the inhabitants stretched a steel cable over the river and mounted a pulley crossing system, which remained in operation until a few years ago. At 11 we take the shuttle which travels the 5 mi. verse Kennicott, reaching it around 11.30.

It is a ghost town abandoned in 1938 and is located in the national park. It is located on a slope directly above the Root Glacier. Both locations were born following the discovery of what were the richest copper deposits on earth. More than a town, it can be considered an agglomeration of buildings used for copper extraction. What remains is quite in ruins, although interesting, and it is to be hoped that the ongoing restoration work can intervene before the collapse of the slender wooden structures occurs.

In the cliff below the town there is a real landfill where iron and wood once used for construction reign, to which every now and then is added the scrap of something that has fallen into disrepair in the meantime. The one that was there power station It is in good condition and can still be used inside see the boilers with which the energy necessary for extraction was produced. Those who worked there were considered lucky as they could work in a hot environment, while temperatures outside dropped to abysmal levels. There was a fire in 1924, but the interventions were very rapid as the plant was essential for the operation of both the mine and the movement of the ore.

From McCarthy to Valdez

There aren't many people around despite it being a tourist location highly recommended by guides. In reality there is not much to see compared to the effort required to reach it. The weather turns bad when we decide to go for a walk at Jumbo Creek, a panoramic point to observe the Root Glacier below us. There is also a moment of suspense when some hikers coming in the opposite direction inform us that there is a large black bear (some even speak of a second bear) roaming the area. We proceed paying maximum attention, trying to speak out loud in order to signal our presence. We only meet other travelers who confirm our view but luckily for us there are no bears to be seen.

The relationship with bears is a very complicated one: on the one hand we would like to see them in order to immortalize them and get to know them more closely, on the other hand when we walk along paths on foot a certain amount of attention is necessary so as not to surprise them. If they attacked we would have very little chance of defense. We certainly don't dream of feeding him since the fine amounts to $500.

On our way back we take a tour of the town of McCarthy and we can say nothing but disappointed. It was once the town that provided services (also understood as alcohol and women) to the miners stationed in Kennicott. Now there are few houses there, some of which are very run down. There is nothing that calls attention except the artists who demonstrate their extravagance by coming to practice here. A couple of gift shops complete the picture. Spending a day there can be an even longer and more exhausting experience than traveling on the 60-mile road of the same name. of dirt road.

A route that we will immediately follow and which will cost us another two and a half hours of patient driving. Once we reach Chitina, we would like to go down to kiss the asphalt, but instead we travel a few more hundred meters of dirt road to better see the fishwheels (see Nenana area) on the Copper River.

After going back along Edgerton Rd., continue on Richardson Hwy. There are still 72 miles between us. from Valdez along an incredibly scenic road. We pass Pump Station No. 12, the last of the series encountered starting from Prudhoe Bay, along the Trans Alaska pipeline. The weather is not bad but the sun is not out and this does not contribute to giving liveliness to the panorama.

When tiredness seems to surface, on E. 28.6 we find ourselves faced with the grandeur of the Worthington Glacier, which seems to block our way. Fortunately it then deviates and avoids it, but the mass of glacier just before Thompson Pass remains remarkable. If he has retired as many others have done in recent years, one wonders how far he went before.

It is now 7pm and the weather presents us with all the possible characteristics of variability. Here the pipeline passes underground on the track discovered next to the road. All around there are still many snowfields, being an area where it snows a lot and where it probably also rains a lot, incorporating the humid air coming from Prince William Sound. We are talking about snowfall of around 600-900 inches per year (15 – 20 m). In fact, the area holds several world records in terms of annual snowfall, in the course of a day, etc.

At the pass the clouds are just above us, indeed at the summit point we find ourselves in a stretch of fog where visibility disappears completely. You emerge on the other side, the one that leads to the Sound. Patches of blue in the sky alternate with cloudy stretches and reveal an idyllic landscape below us on the descent towards Valdez. What might be considered the gateway to Valdez is Keystone Canyon, where the Bridal Veil and the Horsetail Falls, two beautiful waterfalls that seem to act as curtains for such a door.

Once past the bottleneck at the bottom of the road that descends from Thompson Pass, a plain opens up in front of us slopes towards the sea, where the gem that is Valdez is set. Just before 8pm we are in the B&B that will host us this evening. Here too the lady is absent but on the door there are all the directions to access. We call the landlady to report our arrival and she reaches us in a couple of minutes. It is a richly furnished house that we will share with three girls from Madrid, who sleep in the adjacent room.

Evening in Valdez

We have dinner at the Totem Inn based on fish (halibut and salmon), good quality but cooked with little imagination. The town is small as we expected, with a nice marina for pleasure boats, but it has a truly enchanting location. Regarding the weather, it probably doesn't have the same luck, sharing the fate of the other towns in Prince William Sound (Cordova and Whittier) full of rain and fog. The fact remains that its waters are among the few ice-free waters all year round, even if in winter an average of 9 meters of snow falls there, while in summer the thermometer reaches a maximum of 16°.