Kennicott Glacier Lodge Glennallen

... Station, but they no longer have the passport stamp that was on Jim's list. We then parked at the footbridge, and walked across to catch the shuttle van. From the schedule posted, it looked like we had just missed the 2:00 pm shuttle, so we decided to walk into McCarthy. We purchased a shuttle ticket and checked out the town (one short block) while waiting for the van.

We caught the 3:00 shuttle and rode to St. Elias Alpine Guides in ...

... 8217;s too bad we don’t do that all over the United States; maybe it would help some folks remember what patriotism is all about.

Another thing I liked about being on base were the “garage sales”. Every Saturday morning, starting at 8 AM, different housing sections hold their annual garage sales. In addition, occupants in other sections can apply for a permit and also have their own sale. The addresses are published on the base ...

... Center to the face of the glacier is about two miles round trip......not something we could do. The parking area was filled with cars and the trail that was visible was dotted with folks all bundled up for the walk. It was a cool day around here yesterday and part of today. The sun just came out but there's a very cool breeze and I'm feeling very sorry for all of you in that awful Az heat! At 54 degrees this morning ...

... pavement ends: Drive at your own risk. So, I'm glad I didn't drive my own van.

My destination was the tiny town of MCcarthy and the abandoned mine and town of Kennicott. Kennicott used to be a thriving and profitable copper mine, but was abandoned in 1938. The Park Service eventually acquired the mine and is in the process of restoring some of the buildings.

I almost ran into Barbara Steps (daughter of Richard and ...

... along the road ready to go. By the way, I believe that road surface conditions in Alaska are worse than in Canada.

It turned warm today, for the first time since I was in South Dakota over a week ago. Warm enought for just a T-shirt (rather than multiple layers). But not warm enough to have to run the A/C in the van.

Gas prices are "down" to ...

... to reach the glacial edges of Wrangell. We had a nice relaxing first evening there... just wandering around the area near McCarthy... hunting around the dry river beds for small smooth rocks with interesting formations, looking at some of the huge boulders that had perfect cracks through them, like some giant had squeezed them until they cracked... I suppose similar to the way gl*********s when you put just enough pressure on it (as opposed to when it shatters ...

... It's a strange place here in the middle of nowhere. We stayed in a little cabin at the road's end, but the actual town of McCarthy is one mile on the other side of the Chitna River, only accessible via a walking bridge and small dirt road. The old mining town of Kennicot is another five miles down the dirt road accessible only by a shuttle service - old passenger vans that ferry visitors back and forth for five ...

... some direction to my day. It became clear that the cup of coffee that I craved was not to be had on this side of the Kennicott River. Other than a tire repair shop, everything was closed for the season. My first discovery was that the hamlet of McCarthy was not located at the end of the road, as I thought, but one kilometer beyond the footbridge across the Kennicott River. While my ultimate destination, the Kennicott Glacier, was 6 miles further ...

... I knew nothing about the park including its name. So after Valdez this is where I am heading. --------------------------------------- ------------------- Valdez, AK September 20, 2007 The next morning I returned to Prince William Sound College for some more blogging. I knew I was in a college and not a university when I overheard the following conversation: "where is your girlfriend?" "what do you mean, girlfriend!" "I saw you touching her ...