From Denali, we headed north to Fairbanks. We stopped at the Museum of the North, which had fantastic exhibits on the history of northern Alaska, including the indigenous people, settlement, and wildlife. We also stopped for Thai food- for some strange reason, Fairbanks has several very good Thai restaurants, and multiple people recommended it- we were not disappointed! I was hoping to see the aurora borealis, but it was cloudy and rainy that night, not conducive to seeing the aurora.
From Fairbanks, we headed south along the Richardson Highway through the interior of Alaska. This was our longest day of driving, and it rained the entire way. We were incredibly lucky with our schedule, as it rained most days we traveled and was mostly clear on days we hiked or were outside. Although the rain put a damper on the view, it was still a beautiful drive. We ended up in Chitina (pronounced chit-nah), a very small town near Wrangell St Elias National Park. We had an awesome campsite near a river. The next day we hiked and explored waterfalls in the region.
Wrangell St Elias is the largest national park at 13.2 million acres. It is made up of several mountain ranges (namely the Wrangell Mountains and the St Elias Mountains), and most of it is not accessible. There is only one way to drive into the park- the McCarthy Road, a 60 mile one lane dirt road that connects Chitina to McCarthy. It is notoriously rough and most rental companies will not allow people to drive it (including ours). You can see the McCarthy road in the middle of the map- and pretty much nothing else but wilderness.
We flew from Chitina to McCarthy, a 30 minute flight through the mountain passes, over rivers and glaciers. It was incredible.
We only saw a fraction of the park during our time, but taking a flight allowed us to take in the sheer size and wilderness.
Once we arrived in McCarthy, we took a fifteen minute shuttle van into Kennicott, previously a copper mine and now a part of the park. We hiked about five miles to the base of the Root glacier, where we put on crampons and hiked onto the glacier itself. Honestly, it was one of the coolest experiences ever. The glacier was a beautiful blue and had so many interesting features as it constantly changes. There were crevices, pools, rivers, and giant holes.
After the glacier hike, we flew back to Chitina and started the drive down to Valdez (pronounced val-deez). This was probably the most beautiful drive I have ever done- glaciers, waterfalls, rivers, massive overlooks- all in about two hours.
Once we arrived in Valdez, we found a spot right by the ocean. The salmon were running, and we could easily spot them fighting their way up the river.
We even saw a black bear taking advantage of the easy pickings- William had a stare off with him!
From the port in Valdez, we boarded a ferry and sailed across the Prince William Sound to Whittier, which took about 6 hours.
It was cloudy and rainy, so we couldn't see much besides a few otters and seals in the water. But I have heard it is an amazing trip when the weather is nice!
Wrangell St Elias was probably my favorite national park of four we went to on this trip. It was so vast, wild, and beautiful. And hiking on a glacier was awesome.
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