McCarthy, Kennicott, and the Root Glacier Trail

The Kuskulana River sits beneath a deep gulch on the McCarthy Road.

Part 2 of our weekend excursion took us to McCarthy and Kennicott located in southeast Alaska in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park. This was a brand new place and even a new road for me. We parked the car in McCarthy, packed up the bike and bike trailer (thanks to Helena for the borrow!) and we were off to the town of Kennicott, 5 miles up the road. I was pretty wiped out from the Klutina Lake Rd. excursion so getting to the Root Glacier trail was tough. But, we made it up to one of the camping areas with a bear-safe box for our food.. convenient!

Our campsite was pretty sweet, just off of the trail overlooking the glacier. We had a bit of rain overnight but for morning it was just overcast.

The camping area even had an outhouse - luxury!

The Root Glacier trail was easy going for the first mile and a half to Jumbo camping area. From the camping area, the trail goes to an advanced singletrack and is SUPER fun!
Though, wet roots and steep embankments are not always the best combination. Above is the status of my bike after not clearing the tiny little wet root, and I went ROLLING down the cliff on the left side. Luckily for me, I stopped down the hill a ways, while laughing hysterically...avoiding any rocks and just getting a little scratched up. I've never landed that far away from my bike before!! Tuck 'n roll skills were particularly useful for this moment.
This was Brian's first singletrack riding ever, and he loved it.. which is good for me!
View of the Root Glacier. We never actually did go up to the glacier, which seems ridiculous, but we were so focused on biking the trail alongside the glacier.We ditched the bikes part way through the trail, because the trail got unridable.
This section was scary to walk across let alone bike across.
The Erie Mine is located at the top of these cable lines on the side of the trail. After these cable lines, the trail ends overlooking the glacier and icefall.

Here's a map of our route:

Awesome trip - the entire weekend it only rained on us when we were in the car or in the tent. A short little exploratory overnight trip to McCarthy and Kennicott. We'll be back!

Dirty River Kids on the Klutina

Well since I wasn't able to race with my team, the "Dirty River Kids" at the 24 Hours of Light this year in Whitehorse as planned, I rightly represented the team as a dirty river kid on the Klutina River this weekend fishing for reds with Josh and Debbie... and scouting out a killer bike trip.
Fishing is Josh's hobby, hands down. It was fun to go with these two and I learned a lot of basic fishing techniques that I never picked up in past trips.
After the salmon run seemed to hit a lull in the evening, we decided to hit the road south another 100 miles to the end of the road in Valdez. Once we got there, we decided there wasn't a whole lot for us to do there.. so ended up making some food and peaced out back north a bit to Blueberry Lake where we hid like bandits in the trees for free camping. I had not been south of Glennallen ever, so it was exciting and kind of strange being in a completely new place where I didn't know where the highway went around the next corner. I love love LOVED going through the Worthington Glacier area, up Thompson Pass (awesome views!!) and through Keystone Canyon.. rightly named for an awesome state with lots of little "canyons" in which I was born in. ;)

Here's a view of Worthington Glacier in the state rec area.
This is the first thing I did that the doctor would say "no" to.. but was very careful and took my time hiking up to the glacier. It was WAY too close to not go up to.. you have got to be kidding me to not go up and get close and personal with that ice.

These signs made me laugh. From the road the trail this sign refers to did look awfully steep but definitely doable.. esp. if you go around it and take a different route.

Here's some flowers and mountains at Thompson Pass!! A snapshot doesn't do it much justice... the whole 360 view makes Thompson Pass all it's cracked up to be. Hopefully this winter I can get down there for some skiing.

There are a few waterfalls along the Keystone Canyon. This one is Bridal Veil Falls.

And we made it to Valdez! Reminds me a lot of the marine towns on the Kenai Peninsula. Boater heaven, for sure!

Ha ha.. just you wait til I bike to Valdez....

This speed limit sign is for my sisters... they will know why it's significant.

We had dinner at Allison Point along the ocean. Those seagulls were really talking.

Blueberry Lake. North of Valdez just below Thompson Pass.

"So you went fishing, huh? How about the fish you caught?" Uh, we'll just say I think I should stick to biking as my main hobby and leave the fishes to someone with a little better luck and with a longer attention span. Though casting was therapeutic for a short time, I was happier hanging out with a book in my hand, watching other people catch fish out of the beautiful turquoise water and making the fishes mouths pretend they're talking when they were being filleted.

Here's Debbie catching a fish - see it flopping in the water???And then the rain poured down... hard. I got to test my new rain pants and they rocked.

The rain drove everyone out. Even us after awhile.. it was time to go home and call it a weekend!

Ice Climbing at Matanuska Glacier

Wow! What a spectacular day exploring and climbing the Matanuska Glacier in southcentral Alaska! The weather has been nothing but perfect all week.
Celine and Alexis about to get onto the glacier.
Each glacier I've been at has been unique, but this one tops them all off. The glacier is ginormous, and sits in one of the most beautiful locations. To make the day even more fun, what started as a 4 person climbing trip turned into 10.. lots of new people and lots of enjoyment on a picture perfect day.
Just to give you a gauge of the monstrosity of this glacier, here is the face of the first part of the glacier below. You can see another group of climbers here for size reference.

A few of our happy climbers...

..and belayers! Huge thanks to Dean for leading the trip.Here is a photo of some more detail of the glacier from a little farther back.

The radiative capabilities of the sun this time of year are enough to make one stand there and take it all in. :-)"We came, we climbed, we conquered... we got tired" - nothing like a tasty meal and ice cream after a good venture!

I do love the Matsu valley..... being here and despite the 7 hour drive from home, having access to such a place is something worth much to me. (some photos from Al and some from Celine. Thanks girls for letting me highjack them!)

Why I Just Might Never Leave For Long

Check out my video to see why I am so attached to this place...

Just another day in paradise..