Saturday, July 16
We wake up at 6am. after a good night's sleep on futon. We have a mighty breakfast: about a liter of orange juice and a half a liter of oatmeal each with blueberries and yogurt, and some coffee.
bananas and blueberries for breakfast
tazlina river
After ten miles of riding to headwind we are at the visitor center of Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve (PIC) (PIC). We meet a Finn from Pori. She lives in Southern Germany and is now visiting friends in Alaska. She gives us Sisu pastilles and some Swiss chocolate. Some Sisu we surely need today, but now after three months, we still have some of the chocolate left.
copper center
Ten miles later we have lunch at the historic Copper Center Roadhouse (PIC). The place advertises itself as "fine dining": alright, the place is pretty neat, but the dining part is just burgers, since they are out of Caesar salad ingredients and salmon. So, we have a Low carb/Low fat Chicken Wrap and Veggie Burger with a side salad for $7.50 each. Very tasty and reasonably priced.
airmail
At 4pm. we are at the Edgerton Highway junction. We are promised "tourist activities" some 33 miles away in Chitina. But first we have a four-mile downhill with 8% grade to go. Then we are in Kenny Lake. It is still early, so we boldly go on. We have nice and flat ride for a few miles until we hit another 8% grade downhill for a mile. Not so surprisingly, thereafter we have some significant climbs and some decent descents until we reach Chitina airport. The only thing I remember thinking is, who on earth is going to ride those hills back in a couple of days?
copper river
Last few miles from the airport past the three, two and one mile lakes go fast to a nice downhill.
We are in Chitina at 8pm. after riding 112.8 kilometers in 7:38.
one mile lake
The tourist activities in Chitina are none. The trading post has just closed, and there is a campground outside of town. The only lodging in town seems to be the "hotel" advertised by the local bar, Uncle Tom's Tavern. We take the room for $80, really crappy and dirty room, but it has a shower and running hot water.
hotel behind uncle tom's tavern
Tomi fetches some dinner items from the local grocery store that is located in a trailer and still open. We fix sandwiches in our room before going to the Tavern for a couple of beers.
Sunday, July 17
cabbages
In the morning we find out that some curious creature has visited our breakfast (formerly dinner) left outside in a closed bag; all the veggies and bread are still there but the packet of pepperonis is gone. There is no trace of the packet nor the pepperonis nearby.
on dirt again
campground by copper river
We have a rocky road to McCarthy (PIC) --- where the road ends. The first few miles are roller-coaster, but then the road levels to a slight but constant uphill. Most of the road is potholes, washboard or loose gravel. The weather is dull (PIC), and it sprinkles most of the time.
milemarker 5
We have some nice stops on our way. At the Silver Lake campground --- a place managed by an elderly couple --- we have fresh coffee and muffins for breakfast that we could not find in Chitina. Then after 17 kilometers of riding we stop at an Espresso hut for Lattes. The host, a former military person previously situated in Germany, is new to business, and his coffee is not very good.
old railway trestle over kuskulana river
view from the trestle
With still some 24 kilometers left to McCarthy, we find another Espresso place, The Copper Cup. This is a relatively new business as well --- this is its second Summer --- but it so much better planned and managed (and cleaner) than the previous place. We have hot chocolate and coffee in a cosy hut, listening to the increasing rain drumming the roof. The are also hand-knit scarfs, hats and mittens as well as yarn for sale.
something went wrong
Our bikes left out in the rain attract a couple, planning to do some bicycling in Alaska, to sneak in. We talk with them for quite a while, and end up with their extra copy of Alaska; Bicycle Touring Guide (2nd. Edition). Thanks Kathy and Don!
the copper cup
We reach McCarthy after riding total of 98.16 kilometers in nine ours, the final 20 kilometers in really rainy and muddy conditions. It's 9:30pm. The restaurant in town, The New Golden Saloon, serves food until 10pm., so we are in quite a hurry to find a place to stay. All the places in the town are full. Bummer!
But there's Bill (from Michigan) sitting on the patio of Saloon informing us that there are couple of guys stuck in the backcountry (their airplane pick-up failed) and their reserved room in Lancaster's Backpacker Hotel will be unused tonight (PIC). It takes some time for the hotel staff to check this fact, and finally we are issued a dark and cold room for $68. The receptionist even runs to the Saloon to holler, that there area couple of diners still showing up.
older railway trestle over gilahina river
Gee, we are lucky tonight! We haul our dirty stuff to the room, change some dry clothes on and hurry to the saloon. We have pasta, Bolognese and Salmon Alfredo ($15 each), and some beer. Then we find out that they have Yellow Tail wines (from Australia) for $10 a bottle. We cork Shiraz and start feeling warm again.
When we arrived in town several people greeted us with "You made it!", "We passed you miles ago!", etc. Still I can't understand that people honestly think driving on a gravel road is harder than riding a bicycle on it. Most of the people fly to this town, anyway.
We have ridden 1018.4 kilometers in Alaska so far.
Cheers and Good Night!
Monday, July 18
dirt
kennicot mill
kennicot mill
Then we take about 20-kilometer hike (PIC) to Kennicot and Root glacier (PIC). It's cloudy but warm, and eventually it starts sprinkling.
hues of root glacier
- How can you tell the difference between an American hiker and a German/Russian hiker on the trail?
- The former greets you with "Good morning", "Hello", or "Hi, how are you!", while the latter stares you mouth open like you are from an alien planet, or he/she is. I find it disturbing.
dreamer
The Root Glacier comes in multiple hues of brown and grey, since it is mostly covered by residues of the nearby soils. However,a lot of it is bare and shines brightly in the distant sunshine.
hiker in woods
We do not bother to go too far, since it looks like it'll start raining any moment. On the other hand, the hard and icy surface is rather ungrateful terrain for trail running shoes, and it hurts the hands if one has to go on all fours.
hiker on ice
By five we are back in McCarthy (by shuttle) and visit the Saloon for quick snacks (4 different dips and pita points for $10) and beer before finishing the household duties and laundry, which costs us $8.5 a load. Yikes!
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Tuesday, July 19
downtown mccarthy in the morning
undeveloped mccarthy
a dog
Today we have nice weather. We take advantage of it by stopping at the Copper Cup for coffee and Alaska-made ice cream; blueberry and wildberry (mix of blueberry, raspberry and crowberry). We spend quite a while chatting with the owner and her friends --- one and a half hours to be exact.
kennicot river hand-pulled tram
The rest of the day we have a slight downhill, even if it does not always feel like it. The few good sections of the road are being actively destroyed by grading.
Silver Lake Campground (PIC) offers a shower for $3 per person. It's based on an intricate system that heats the water on demand. We are advised not to waste water too much. It goes without saying.
silver lake
We fix Mountain house's Turkey Tetrazzini (with asparagus, mushrooms, peppers and spaghetti) for dinner. Tomi munches some mustard-string cheese-nut-sandwiches before we go to sleep.
Wednesday, July 20
weather getting better
pacman
The uphills do not turn out to be as bad as expected. The abundant sunshine makes the climbing more or less fun. After pedaling the last one --- the 8% grader for one mile --- we hit a significant head wind. We stop at Sapa Christian Center's unmanned garden vegetable stand to buy some tomatoes and broccoli (PIC). There are some interesting cracks in the highway, recently fixed.
peace
After riding 61.1 kilometers (in 5 hours) we decide to camp at Kenny Lake for $12 (PIC). Our neighbor in this secluded campground is a badly burnt motor home (PIC). Showers cost $4 per person for which we get 7.5 minutes of warm water. Kenny Lake diner offers --- guess what? --- burgers for $6.50. We have one with mushrooms and one with jalapenos (this one for an extra $1).
badly burnt
There is nothing to do. Kenny Lake is a dry place and our tent site is occupied by a bunch of angry mosquitoes. So, we take a short hike on the highway. Even there the mosquitoes don't leave us alone. We crawl into our tent at 9pm., ...
hike
Thursday, July 21
chilly morning on the road
four-mile 8%-grade climb
It is still relatively chilly when we hit the road at nine. After a four-mile and 8%-grade climb we are again on the Richardson highway and on our way to Valdez or Valdezease, as some locals call the city infamous for the Exxon Valdez Oil spill on March 24, 1989, and the earth quake that completely destroyed the town on Good Friday, 1964.