Valdez to McCarthy, AK

In the morning, we left a message with a guy named Mark, who is the brother of our friend, Dave, in New Meadows, Idaho. He has some property in McCarthy, AK, and we were headed there, so we left a message. We weren't really sure if we'd see him or not, as we hadn't made prior contact. The ride out of Valdez started in a narrow canyon. There were waterfalls everywhere. The canyon opened and we crossed over Thompson Pass, which is pretty famous for the extreme skiing that goes on there. Not a bunny slope in sight.

We then entered the Copper River drainage and the Alaska Pipeline appeared again. It runs from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. Just as I thought the scenery was done for the day, we approached the turnoff to McCarthy. The Wrangell Mountains appeared, and they were something else. We had a great view of Mt. Wrangell (14,163 ft.) and Mt. Blackburn (16,390) along with a bunch of other peaks.

We stopped for lunch in Chitina, a funky little town that was bigger than Anchorage back in the gravy days of mining. It is where the dirt road begins, known as the McCarthy Road, which crosses over the Copper River and ends in Kennicott, an old mine. We loved this little town of Chitina--it even had an art gallery! And as we were wandering around Chitina, my phone rang. It was Mark! He WAS in McCarthy and told us to head on over to his property. The stars were in alignment for us to meet--if he hadn't called just then, I wouldn't have gotten the call, and if we'd showed up a day later, he wouldn't have been there, as he had plans to go to Anchorage.

Mark contemplates his future in Chitina, AK.

The view on the way to McCarthy.

Another view...and we arrived in McCarthy. It is accessible by foot only for outsiders. Locals and workers can use a toll bridge. We crossed the footbridge on our motorcycles after getting the OK from Mark.

Mark and his friend Bryan bought their property a couple of years ago. They hope to have a hostel there someday. It does not have a million-dollar view--it has a fifty-million-dollar view. It is truly incredible. They have a direct view of the Root Glacier, which is massive, and mountains all around them.

The guys are building a platform for a yurt. This is not such a simple task when you are hundreds of miles away from the nearest supplies. Here, Mark gives Mark and Bryan some building advice.

We rode bicycles that evening (thanks for the loaners, Erin and Bryan) into town for a beer with Mark. A great time was had by all!

Odometer: 6632 miles