McCarthy / Kennecott, Alaska.

June, 7. 2008. Part Two.

McCarthy is an awsome place. Locals claim the weather is great all summer, though im not sure i believe it. I have been there twice, once was aweful and rainy, the other time it was amazingly sunny. hmmm. McCarthy is one of those places you have to really want to get to. Its at the end of a 60 miles gravel road and is another 7 hours or more to anchorage from there. The closest major town is probably Valdez (hardy a cultural center) and thats many hours away as well. McCarthy sits in the middle of the Wrangell St. Ellias Nation Park and is surrounded by peaks and glaciers. Perhaps the most amazing anf strange thing about the town is that at any point in the town, you are only about 1/4 mile from the glacier. the river that runs from the ice cuts off the town to traffic, so pay lots exist for visitors. from the lot you can walk across the small bridge into town which consists of some simple lodgings, food and flight services. Everything is old and funky, and not because that sells more shit to tourists, but because they are out in the middle of nowhere and the frontier life is more a reality here than perhaps anywhere on the road system.