Alaska 2004
July 2 - Day 4

Athabaskan woman

THE ADVENTURE TOUR! ON THE ROAD TO WRANGELL-ST ELIAS NP/CHITINA/McCARTHY/KENNICOTT
After a good night's sleep, the crew boarded the van and set out for tonight's destination - the ghost town of McCarthy. We had really great stops along the way - Alaska pipeline, Wrangell-St Elias NP, Chitina, McCarthy.











Click on thumbnails for larger view:
Deb - a portion of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) in background. The 800-mile-long TAPS is one of the largest pipeline systems in the world.

Denali - Lee and Loralie "holding up" the pipeline. It stretches from Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope, through rugged and beautiful terrain, to Valdez, the northernmost ice-free port in North America.

Since pipeline startup in 1977, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, the operator of TAPS, has successfully transported over 14 billion barrels of oil.

Typical home in Glenallen where we stopped for fuel and lunch. Glenallen is the chief town in the region. Essentially a crossroads for the Richardson and Glenn Highways, Glenallen offers a full range of highway and travel services, but little else.

Wrangell-St Elias NP and Preserve Visitors Center entrance.

A little outdoor lunch near visitors center. From left, Patrick, Debra, Loralie, Rose, Betsy, Lee (foreground), Ray (red jacket)and Verna.

Liberty Falls. Great place for a break on the road to McCarthy.

Chitina: population: 123. On the west bank of the Copper River at its confluence with the Chitina River, Mile 34 of the Edgerton Highway. Most residents in this village, which is half Alaska Native, engage in subsistence activities year-round. During the summer, dipnetting for salmon on the Copper River brings a large number of Alaskans from Fairbanks and Anchorage and other areas of the state.

The Kuskulana bridge is just around the corner.

The Kuskulana Bridge, 525 feet long, spans the Kuskulana River, 238 feet below. The historic railroad bridge was completed in 1910 and and upgraded in 1988.




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