McCarthy/Kennicott and Valdez

Well, here is yet another one that I'm behind on putting up... I'm about up to date I think with the bigger/more fun AK trips at least (aside from one more). Kennicott/McCarthy was on tap for this trip and a little Valdez Silver Salmon fishing to finish it off. A friend and I drove the Denali Highway from Anchorage to McCarthy and camped along the road. Spent the day hiking out at Root Glacier and exploring Kennicott. I've gone there several times now, I think I like it.. Maybe not the hippy pot smoking town of McCarthy, but Kennicott... The mine is just that, a mine. However, the area is awesome to go play around in and during the summer when all the tourists flock to Denali, the Wrangell St. Elias area is not only better than Denali, you don't have to fight the crowds. Its a well kept secret in the state during the summer months for sure.. Maybe it is just the 60 mile dirt road that keeps a lot of them out...

The stairwell glaicer there around the corner from the Kennicott Mine is the largest in the world and it doesn't dissapoint! Also one of the more amusing parts to walking on glaciers is the blue pools that are crystal clear. You can look probably a hundred feet down and still see no bottom. The hike to the actual mines is several hours long so most are content just walking to the glacier which is only about a half mile. I could spend weeks hiking up those valleys, high up into the mountains and glaciers... its a once a year area for me I think.

After hiking around, we hit the SIlver's off of Alison Point in Valdez. We hooked several nice Salmon right off the bat so that was fun. A foggy day in Valdez.. go figure!