I was off to a late start after garnering all the RV resources (eg: shower, water, dump) to give myself the longest timetable before needing to find them again; and, having a coffee with some new friends I had made. (I’m hoping to run into them again on the trip.) Leaving Valdez required me to take the same route I had taken into it. There is only one road. It is always interesting to me how things look different in the other direction.
Spending the night
As you can probably tell, I’m in love with the mountains. Since I had such a late start and did not really want to leave the mountains, I found the nicest little pull off right next to a stream and spend the rest of the afternoon and night listening to the stream and enjoying the beauty around me. It was a mile south of Worthington Glacier recreation area and all of 33 miles from Valdez. Traffic is light to begin with, and by 5-6pm it is non-existent. We had a lovely peaceful night in this spot.
Worthington Glacier
I had not gotten out of the RV at Worthington Glacier as it was really busy when we were on our way to Valdez so I was planning to stop on the way back. The next morning, we had the place to ourselves since it was 8:30am when we drove the mile down the road. Unfortunately, the trails were all closed as they had a landslide, so we were only able to see it from the viewing area.
Edgerton Highway and Chitina
We decided to take a side trip and drive out the Edgerton highway to Chitina. I was planning to spend a night at a pullout along the Obrien Creek road.
The Edgerton highway ends after 33 miles where a one lane pass is cut through the rock. At this point, when you pass through, the highway becomes the McCarthy road which goes another 59 miles to McCarthy. Here are some quotes from the Milepost about the road:
“The McCarthy road is recommended for those who like adventurous driving.”
“The McCarthy road is NOT recommended for large RV’s or trailers beyond the Chitina-McCarthy bridge across the Copper River.”
“We recommend slow speeds (5-10 mph) on sections of rough road.”
“Watch for sharp rocks, railroad spikes, no shoulders, narrow sections of road, soft spots, washboard, potholes, and a few “roller-coaster” curves.”
“Flat tires are not uncommon….”
Milepost 2022 edition
We did drive through the pass and down to the bridge that crosses the Copper River where people were dip netting salmon. The campground on the far side of the bridge was full of people, and thus with the above warnings and no spare, we turned around and headed back to the Richardson highway.
Wrangell Mountains-St Elias National Park
You may recall that when we stayed at Rufus Creek, we were driving along this National Park. We have been driving along this National Park for so many miles, I forget where it started and ended. This is the largest national park in the system; and if you recall from an earlier post, along with three other parks this area makes up the largest internationally protected area on earth .
“Wrangell-St. Elias is a vast national park that rises from the ocean all the way up to 18,008 ft. At 13.2 million acres, the park is the same size as Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Switzerland combined! Within this wild landscape, people continue to live off the land as they have done for centuries.”
National Park Website
I was planning to stop at the visitors center to see the film, but was able to find it online, so I did not need to backtrack to see it. Here is the link to the film. Nine of the highest sixteen peaks in the US are in this park. It is a spectacular park that I did not feel like I really ever entered. There are no roads into the park. I wish I had taken up backpacking in my younger days. Below shots are from the Richardson highway overlook just north of the Glenn highway junction.
Tanzina River Overnight
I debated on spending my night at the above overlook, but it would have been a busier and more traffic ridden spot. Since iOverlander showed a pull out that had a tree barrier between it and the highway sitting on the Tanzina river to the north, I decided to spend the night there. I scored the best spot with the river in front and along side the van as it curves. Shortly after we arrived, we had two other RVers join us for the night.
So glad you are having a good time, sounds so exciting! Brian and I are heading for Iceland next Wednesday, doing some exploring of our own!
Karen- beautiful mountains! What a wilderness! Looks like you’re having fun 😀
So vast and so beautiful! Thank you for sharing the mountains!
I love that you were able to be in Chitina during the salmon run and see people dip netting in the Copper River. That’s iconic Alaska! Wrangell-Elias is impressive too. Love the pic of you and Dottie having a great time together.