Alex and Julie's Travels: 2015 Summer Journey Alaskan Crossing, part 21

2015 Summer Journey

Alaskan Crossing, part 21

McCarthy/ Kennecott Mills

July 26, 2015

We spent a great day on the Matanuska Glacier; it was late afternoon before we hit the road again (04:00 pm). This would be our last view of the glacier from the highway; some good memories were made today

It would be 210 miles to McCarthy, so just pass the turn on to Ak4 Richardson Hwy we found a pullout and that were we stayed.

July 27, 2015 …Day 31 in Alaska

Julie and slept in a bit and didn’t get down the road till almost 11:00 am. By now a lot of the hwy was beginning to look the same.

Passing by a Alaskan Yak ranch, we saw no signage for tours and there wasn't much of a area to pull over.

Rougher looking road were ahead, weather beaten and rough patched.

Pulling into a wayside for a better look at the Copper River below, also a couple of motorcycle riders were enjoying the view.

Liberty Falls State Park was just a hop down the road so not pulling in was in order. It’s a small quaint park with beautiful trees all around and a waterfall to boot!

I did note that there are two sites large enough for a truck camper. A few more miles and here we are at Chitina, the beginning of the McCarthy/ Kennecott road.

The vastness of the Copper River could be view as we cross the bridge with some gulls (I think) giving us a ten tail salute.

video

Cross the bridge you can see several fish wheels in action, we wander towards one of the fish wheels that was at a easy access road by the river, not long after the motorcycle guys caught up with us.

Back on our journey towards McCarthy I had read about a particular area along the road that was subject to landsides, yes we found it, sometimes the road would be blocked for days or for weeks at a time.

One of the things we noticed was how the Wrangell-St.Elisa NP weaved through the road sort of like the road was a piece of thread on a needle and the park boundary line was a piece of folded cloth. This would play itself out many times along this road.

Up ahead was a motor-home making its way across the Kuskulana Bridge, built in 1910, an all wooden deck spans that 525 feet across the Copper River and at a dizzy height of 238 feet above the Copper River.

There is an abundance of water fowl along this entire road.

At the Gilahina River, a train trestle towering high above the ground. This was part of the rail system that the owners of the Kennecott Mills had built for bring in goods and transporting refined copper out.

A few more mile and we’re here.

At the visitor center Julie and I signed up for the Mill tour starting tomorrow. We would wander around a bit to some of the area.

Walking to the Kennecott River I spotted the pizza bus. I had seen this bus from a You Tube video that declared they had the best pizza in Alaska. We will order one on our way back and see!