copper river cruise tour

[kennicott]

Thanks for pictures Bob. Yep, my place is in the middle distance, on that far ridge in the picture you took from the footbridge. Just got back it town last night because I have to take in a few playoff soccer games that I promised my granddaughters I would come in for. This year the 4th of July celebration was much nicer than the rain last year we see in your picture. Very sunny and warm. They called it the 100th anniversary of the town of McCarthy this year. We had a bunch come in with antique cars, like Model T Fords and so on, which they drove in the parade. This year we have been fortunate in the east central portion of Alaska. The last three weeks or so have been very nice and hot while the rest of the state has been a little wet. You are probably back by now from your trip, hope you got some good weather days in so your wife will want to return and then she will want to come to the Wrangell’s with you. On the 5th we had our annual glacier lake blowout but this year it really wreaked havoc. Took out 67 feet of the approach to the toll vehicle bridge.

[outdoorbob]

Kenny,

 

Good to hear from you again. We had a wonderful time in Alaska. We did two float plane excursions so I think my wife is ready for a Wrangell-St Elias flightseeing trip! The weather was great. Sunny in Juneau and Skagway and just a little rain in Ketchikan.

 

I was going to ask previously how the new private bridge was working out. Are you on the "good idea" side or the "bad idea" side?

 

If you would like to respond through e-mail instead of this forum you can send it to outdoorbob "at sign" comcast.net. I'd love to keep up to date with the 'goings on' in McCarthy.

 

Bob

[kennicott]

Hi Joe, The link below shows pictures of the parade this 4th and the washout off the east end of the toll vehicle bridge. The toll bridge, completed three seasons ago, seems to ease a lot of the controversy regarding access into the historic areas. It pretty much allows locals to get over and commercial access for supplies, garbage removal, and such while keeping Winnebago’s and most visitor vehicles from clogging the limited parking on the east side. I’m pretty much a moderate on access. I’m all for a decent access road into this Park/Preserve (the Nation‘s largest) as far as the west bank of the Kennicott. I’m also for ATV access across the footbridge as long as the ATV use is confined to transportation only, on Park designated vehicle roads only, on the east side. I’m against ATV use on hiking trails or for off road sport. I’m also against allowing unrestrained and unpermitted development of and on trails anywhere in the Park/Preserve. Currently, the Pacific Legal Foundation is in the 9th circuit attempting to force the Park Service to back off requiring permits for bulldozing across pristine park areas. They contend anybody with property inside the Park should be allowed to develop whatever type of access they want regardless of the status quo. In other words, if you have property in a wilderness setting where access has historically been by foot or even by air they contend you can go ahead and construct a full blown road without surveys, public review or permits. Hard to believe but if they prevail it will probably is the death knell for conservation status lands, as we have known it, in the US.

Case in point regarding this laissez-faire push is the current plight of the Kennicott River. A irresponsible developer has been storing heavy equipment, pretty much junk stuff brought in from Arizona, right on the bank of the river on a very tiny lot. Over the last few seasons that lot has been eroding away with each Hidden Lake blowout. Last year some of the junk went into the river and he made no attempt to move the debris. This year was really bad. The river took out perhaps 80% of the lot and equipment. 20 to 30 items of equipment spilled into the river on the 5th and 6th, .so today the full length of the river is strewn with this stuff. It is a terrible environmental situation. Much to the chagrin of the river rafters. So far federal agencies seem inept at doing anything about it. The developer continues to do nothing.

 

http://wsen.net/JA2006/free/index.html

[outdoorbob]

Hi Kenny,

 

Thanks for the updates. I basically thought (from an outsiders perspective) that the private bridge was the perfect solution to the problem. It keeps out the "tourist" traffic but allows land and business owners access for a variety of reasons.

 

It seemed like there was quite a bit of friction between the locals and the Park officials about just the foot bridge a few years ago. Just out of curiosity, do the Park folks use the new bridge?

 

Anything new with the Pilgrim family? That seemed to be another issue that polarized the town. Just wondering how that situation has evolved since the family patriarch is no longer around. I do usually check out the latest version of the WSEN but I hadn't seen the one you sent the link to yet. I noticed in a recent edition that there was a wedding between one of the Pilgrim boys and a local girl (at least I think she was local).

 

I really miss getting to the McCarthy area this summer. It was neat to see the changes just from 2004 to 2005. And from your posts I see there are even more changes. Hopefully I'll be able to get back there in the not to distant future.

 

This months Backpacker Magazine has an article about backpacking in Wrangell-St Elias. It's was nice to read about it. It was better to be there though....

 

Thanks,

Bob

[kennicott]

Hi Bob,

 

Where did I ever get the name Joe for that last post? Sorry. Also, glad to learn you and your wife had a nice cruise in Southeast. Looks like the general weather picture has improved somewhat over the rest of the state too so hopefully visitors from now on will find the rest of the season more inviting. Interesting, the other day Deadhorse was the warmest in the state, 74, and Pt. Barrow the coldest, I didn’t catch how cold though. The last few days in Anchorage here it has been pretty warm and McKinley has been out in all its splendor.

 

Apparently the Pilgrim family is pretty much a closed chapter in the history of McCarthy. A very short but interesting chapter indeed. After Papa’s fall from grace they moved to Palmer where it appears most family members are going to get the education they should have had long ago. In addition, a few of them are paring up with spouses and the land they acquired in the Wrangells is either sold or on the market. The “local” girl Joshua married last winter was a Palmer girl.

 

The Park Service does use the new vehicle bridge, however, they have to use it in a round about way, as the owners require liability insurance that both the state and federal governments have a difficult time giving evidence of. But both the feds and the state are very supportive of the bridge.

 

The Park Service still refuses to take their ATVs across the footbridge though.

[outdoorbob]

Hi Kenny,

 

Actually, both time I've been to McCarthy I've been with my hiking buddy Joe. You must have gotten us confused...

 

I had to laugh when I read about the Park service not using the footbridge for ATV's. I remember reading how they kept installing bollards (I think that's the right word) so ATV's couldn't get across and then "someone" would cut them off after they left. I guess they gave in but never agreed with it.

 

I know Brad at the Kennicott River Lodge and Hostel was a bit nervous about last years plans by the Pilgrim family to build their new home on land abutting his. Are they still running any of the businesses they had going? The parking lot/campground or shuttle service?

 

The weather here is terribly hot and humid. 90's and expected to be pushing 100 by Wednesday. I'd much rateher be in Alaska.

 

Bob

[kennicott]

Hi Bob,

 

I thought that perhaps those not famiiar with the Wrangell St. Elias area may not be as interested in the local color, scandal and comings and goings of the area as you and I so I tried to no avail to give your email suggestion a go. It didn’t work. I return in about 48 hours, after that I am pretty much relegated to email only.

 

Brad has agreed to buy Lot 4, the one he was nervous about. However, the Pilgrim benefactors have to get a clean title for it before he will buy it, which they do not have now. So they are going through a quiet title action I hear. Brad told me he had tried and failed for years to find the owner, two years ago and somehow, the Pilgrim supporters came up with a “quit claim deed”. That type of deed means nothing so they may have simply been making a move on unrecorded property, rightful owner or owners unknown. Guess Brad has agreed to pay 100 K for it once a title is forthcoming. Wow.

 

The other and adjacent lot the Pilgrims have is clearly theirs. It is the lot they constructed the parking lot on, but nobody wants that one, at their price, so it is for still sale. Half the lot is loaded with junk that is worth almost nothing but will have to be transported out and gotten rid of by any new owner. Meanwhile, folks can use it for day parking free and five dollars per night camping. There is a locked container there you put your money in on the honor system. No locals apparently monitor the campground or collect the money and the Pilgrims haven’t been seen so far this summer.

 

The bollards? Guess the state was on the 15th set of bollards four years ago when the governor called a halt to putting more in. This wasn’t really satisfactory to those desiring unlimited access though, as they wanted the footbridge converted to full size vehicle access regardless of the pay to cross bridge about to be opened. However, a status quo degree of peace prevailed, which still holds today.

 

Actually, the state restricted the so called footbridge bridge illegally in the first place but it was still illegal destruction of state property by the person or persons who cut the bollards out. At first, the hard-core greenies were really miffed whenever bollards were cut, as they believed the state went through due process when they were originally installed. Arguments abound over all of this. In 1980 the Alaska Legislature and then the Alaska public voted approval on bond issues to construct full vehicle bridges across the Lakina and Kennicott Rivers. But then the Alaska Department of Transportation, as a result of pressure from the local and minority green community, illegally transferred those funds to other projects in the state, which resulted in a considerable scandal. Anyway, there has been much back and forth over who cheated and who didn’t with respect to the means of access into McCarthy over the years.

 

Currently, both warring factions appear to be somewhat satisfied although steely glances and caustic comments do emanate from time to time while opposing factions pass on the footbridge.

 

Take care Bob and keep working on your wife to come to our country. Hopefully we have the crap out of the Kennicott before she arrives.

 

Kenny

[outdoorbob]

Kenny,

 

I love reading all this! It's way more interesting than the Boston and "big dig" politics we get here.

 

It would be great if we could move this to e-mail. My e-mail is "outdoorbob$comcast.net". Just replace the $ with the "at sign" so it looks like a normal e-mail address and try again if you want.

 

I really enjoy all the info. I find it a fascinating area. And beautiful too!

 

Say hello to Brad if you see him. He should remember us. There was 4 of us in 2004 and 12 of us last year. I was the one who did all the planning with him. His place worked out great for us. It's a great place to start and end a backcountry trip. Hot showers, real beds, and real bathrooms. And he let us keep a car there while we were in the backcountry. It was a perfect location. We put our backpacks on at his place, walked over the bridge into town, and the air service took us to the airport. And after the trip we got dropped off at the bridge, walked across, and walked up Brad's driveway. And then made a beeline for the showers.

 

Thanks for all the great information.

 

Bob