Alaska-McCarthy

Goodbye ocean and otters! It’s day 6 and we’re heading for the McCarthy Road. You will find various reports of the McCarthy Road and some may scare you away from the drive. However, don’t be intimidated by what you read. This road is well-traveled through the summer, and they shut it down by mid-September. There’s plenty of potholes along this dirt road, but you’ll have great opportunities to see the landscape of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, which is the biggest in the US and three-times the size of Switzerland. Don’t be too scared of the one-lane bridge that sits 238 feet over a gorge and overlooks the Kuskulana River. It’s a highlight of the McCarthy Road adventure!

Another part of the adventure is the footbridge at the end of the 60-mile road. There are no personal vehicles from tourists in McCarthy, so you either take the shuttle or walk. It’s less than a mile to walk into town and much appreciated when you’ve been riding in a car the last several hours.

This is a time commitment as it takes at least 2 hours each way, but the tiny town of McCarthy offers several semi-rustic hotels plus there’s a lodge at the Kennecott mines not too far away. Full disclosure, the original plan was to drive to McCarthy and back in one day, but spending the night is a much better option. Since we weren’t planning on staying in McCarthy, but booked a room in Chitina, right before the road starts, we had a change of plans at the last minute. Ma Johnson’s Hotel is a great option for staying in McCarthy. However, had I researched, we would have stayed at the Kennecott Lodge. Ma Johnson’s did not have ensuite bathrooms, ergo you shared with whoever else was in the hotel. Overall, a rustic adventure in a tiny town of around 200 residents. The bar across the “street” had a great night with an Anchorage-based band and many campers coming in for the party. While not our scene, they sounded like they had a great time. Unfortunately for us were loud enough that we didn’t fall asleep until well past midnight.

The morning of day 7, Ma Johnson’s provided breakfast in a little building across the street and then we rode the shuttle from McCarthy to Kennicott. If you have the time, it’s highly recommended to take the 2-hour tour of the Kennecott mines. These mines were built in 1911 where copper and silver were mined for around 28 years. We opted out of this and just walked around admiring the view. Afterall, this part of Wrangell-St. Elias has a different landscape than we found anywhere else.

Saying goodbye to Kennecott and McCarthy, we hiked back to our car and drove the 60 miles out to Chitina. We then continued on to Palmer to check into the AirBnB for the night.

**Day 8 coming soon**