June 29, 2018

Wrangell – St. Elias

Host Eric is making breakfast this morning when we step out of our room.  The bed was too soft for Mary and the hot water ran out during her shower so she has a different view of the stay than her partner.  The cast of characters gathers around the kitchen bar with coffee watching Eric work.  One couple is from College Station, Texas, another from Switzerland, a fellow who works for the National Park System, and a woman who works in counselling in the Native American community.  Quite the diverse group.  John talks business with Eric for a half hour before the rest of the troops arrive and there is always a connection between fellow inn keepers.  Breakfast is fresh fruit, eggs with jalapenos and sausage and waffles and the whole gang eats around a community table.  It is sort of like our B&B in Girdwood where the power went out.  Come to think of it, our B&B experiences on this trip have had their share of problems.  We chat with Eric on the font porch on our way out until the mosquitoes drive us to the car.  Nice people make all the difference in this business.

Our day today will be spent driving the last 120 miles to Valdez where we will catch the early morning ferry back to Whittier tomorrow.  Our mission during that drive will be to get acquainted with Wrangell – St. Elias National Park.  This is a good time to review the issues of time and space for traveling in Alaska.  We all know Alaska is the largest of the states.  If Alaska were cut in half it would be the two largest states.  Denali N.P. is a little smaller than Massachusetts.  Wrangell – St. Elias is larger than Denali and is in fact the largest of our national parks.  It is about the size of Switzerland except W-St.E has higher mountains.  Nine of the 13 highest mountains in North America are in the St. Elias range ranging from 16,000 to over 19,000 feet.  The Wrangell Mountains are volcanic and range from 12,000 to 16,000 feet.  There is a snow field in the park the size of Rhode Island where the snow is 1,000 feet deep.  You get the idea.

You have to be serious to get involved with Wrangell St. Elias.  There is a gravel road that goes about 50 miles into the park and some other gravel roads that skirt it, but outside of that it is backpacks, tents and mountain climbing gear.  There are no buses into the park, no guided ranger tours and certainly no hand holding.  The park is there if you want it, but you had better be prepared. 

We aren’t but we are curious.  Our first stop is at the Wrangell-St. Elias visitor center on the Richardson Highway which is managed by the National Park Service.  There is a scale model of the park, numerous displays of the flora and fauna and a pretty good movie with tons of aerial shots of the mountains and glaciers. We chat with the ranger and she suggests that for some easy sightseeing we take the 33 mile road from the Richardson Highway into Chitina at the edge of the park.  There is a ranger station there and she thought they might have some suggestions in the area.

Chitina is the beginning of the gravel road that ends in McCarthy and Kennicut, the two old mining towns that still sort of exist in the interior of the park.  We drive a short distance on the gravel to get a feel for the terrain but have no interest in going further.  Vicky, the Chitina ranger gives us a couple other suggestions for some interesting local sights.  Her boss called her this morning to let her know that the Superintendent will be visiting her today and she had better have all the right posters hung and she should get some locals to stop by so she looks busy.  We signed the guest book to help justify her existence.

There is a short drive south of town with some water and mountain views, and then a return to have lunch at the Chitina Hotel.  This is an old building right out of the gold rush days.  There are a couple locals and a couple other nosy folks like us.  Mary had a $9 grilled cheese sandwich with two slices of cheddar on white and John had the French dip with 2 oz. of shoe leather on a hot dog bun for $15.   If you don’t like the food or prices go outside and see where else you can eat.

After lunch we go past the Chitina airport about five miles out of town and following our ranger’s instructions work our way down a moose trail to the edge of the Copper River.  Here are 4 or 5 fish wheels with one kind-of operational.  These wheels are rotated by the current of the river and scoops dip into the water where they will grab any fish passing upstream and deposit them into a basket.  When the salmon are running this thing is a fishing monster.  Not today though—no fish.  On our way back to the main highway we pass a cemetery with all of the graves individually fenced in.  I guess you don’t want the bears digging up Aunt Mabel.

We continue to travel south through the Thompson Pass that is frequently closed in the winter.  The pass gets 900 inches of snow a year which is a good reason for an occasional shut-down.  As we continue downhill our next stop is the salmon hatchery about 6 miles north of Valdez on the Copper River.  Our host Cynthia from last night said this is a great place to watch the salmon swimming upstream and the bears romping around at the buffet.  No fish and therefore no bears.  We are still too early for the next run of salmon that will be the silvers in another couple weeks.  Another viewing area is at the Forest Service Station closer to Valdez but the same thing is true there.  A local who had stopped by there to see if the fish had started yet showed us a video on his phone from last year where the fish are literally stacked on top of each other in the water.  We’ll have to come back next month.

Our hotel is the Best Western on the Harbor in Valdez.  It is pretty dumpy but so is Valdez so it fits right in.  Mary figures out how to order a Subway on line for the ferry tomorrow which is our excuse to get out for a half hour walk.  The town is loaded with RVs, vans, motorcycles and every manner of mobile camper, most of whom will probably be on tomorrow’s ferry.  We dare to have dinner at the hotel restaurant and it turns out OK.  John has a salmon roasted in cedar paper (?) with a very good rice pilaf and a cup of chowder.  Mary has the chowder and a Caesar salad.  She is still a cheap date.

The alarms are set for 4:30 am.  We need to be lined up at the ferry terminal at 6:00 am so it is early to bed.

Today’s Most Useful Line: The mosquitoes are so thick you could swing a pint jar and catch a quart of them.