Today we're taking a long day to visit this out-of-the-way National Park. Wrangell-St. Elias NP is the largest park in the nation. It is larger than the states of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island combined. The picture of Mt. Blackburn above was taken along the Glenn Highway on a rare day when the clouds cooperated.
The town of Chitina (pronounced Chit-na) is about 30 miles from the Glenn Highway. This is the last place to fuel-up prior to taking the 65 mile dirt road leading to McCarthy. Other than the filling station and 1 bar, I think I've captured the entire town.
This is the beginning of the road leading into the park, and is pretty much the last few miles of pavement to be seen.
At the end of the road lies the Kennicott River footbridge, then a short hike up the road to the edge of McCarthy where you catch the shuttle leading to the Kennicott Mine, 5 miles away.
Bob takes a break in the shade just in front of the McCarthy-Kennicott Museum.
Here Bob waves at the door of the museum. This next photo, taken slightly out of order, shows the dirt on our car. Did I mention that no one has a clean car in Alaska?
The Root Glacier consumes this area. Although it appears to be dirt covering the glacier, it is actually glacial silt covering just the top few inches of the glacier lying directly in front of the Kennicott Mine.
For further information:
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
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