Kenny Lake

July 25, 2012  Kenny Lake

Woo hoo!   The sun was shining and it got to about 70 degrees today!   I got my wish to see the mountains around Valdez, and they were awesome!  I said goodbye to my new friend, Nancy, and we headed north for Kenny Lake.  The thing is, these mountains were beautiful in the fog and rain and they are beautiful in the sunlight.  Pictures cannot do them justice.

We stopped at the Tsaina River Bridge to admire the deep scenic gorge called "The Devil's Elbow," before turning onto the Edgerton Highway.

Devil's Elbow Gorge

We are camped at the Kenny Lake Mercantile and RV Park.  It isn't much, but it is good enough for two days, and as an added bonus, Jim and Lana are also here.

After lunch we decided to drive the 26 miles to Chitina (pronounced Chitna).  There were some beautiful views of the Copper River, the Wrangell Mountains, and the Chugach Mountains on the way.   We stopped at Liberty Falls to stretch our legs and saw a couple of young guys actually swimming in the icy water below the falls!   They didn't stay in long, but we were impressed anyway.

Gary and Barb hiking at Liberty Falls.

Crazy kid swimming in Liberty Creek

 Interestingly enough, we also passed a farm that had yaks grazing in a field.

Chitina isn't much of a town.  Just a few buildings and the O'Brian Lake.

We visited the Ranger Station for the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park www.nps.gov/wrst/ which begins here and is the largest in our National Park system.  It is bigger than Switzerland and has taller mountains!   Six Yellowstone Parks would fit inside this one and it contains 6 of the 10 tallest mountains in North America.  It has the largest concentration of glaciers on the continent, and one of them is bigger than Rhode Island!  They are very proud of the size of the park here, and it is indeed impressive.

The Copper River

We drove across the Copper River and out on the mud flats to see the fish wheels catching salmon.   Only Alaskan citizens can do this type of fishing legally, and they can take 300 or more salmon each year for their family use.  While we were here, Jim and Lana showed up, having turned back from trying the McCarthy Highway to Kennicott because it was too rough.  We also met a couple from Holland who were traveling Alaska in a rented RV.

International group meeting on the mud flats. 

Salmon fish wheel

Fish wheels on the Copper River. 

 After leaving there, we drove about 6 miles up the McCarthy Highway and decided that the Jeep could handle it tomorrow.

Corky drinking beer...a habit our daughters taught her and Gary continues. 

Back at the campground we had happy hour and dinner outside.  Gary grilled some great burgers and they tasted even better because we could enjoy the warm weather while we ate!