Back in 2006 I wrote this post about the advantages of visiting Denali National Park in the shoulder seasons. I have to say that this is definitely the way to go when it comes to visiting Denali National Park – you can take your own vehicle, stop where you like, and really enjoy the park without the crowds. Short of winning the road lottery, there really isn’t a better way to see the park.

I usually make the trip to Denali once a year to go into the park – I have gone both in the spring and in the fall, and both are worth the trip. Both times of year have their advantages, but the weather can be iffy, too.

The National Park Service does not keep the road clear in the winter, so once the road gets snowed-in in the fall, it remains closed until spring. A friend of mine who works for the National Park Service alerted me to the fact that it is now time to start clearing the park road of snow.  This annual ritual, called “Spring Road Opening” or SRO, started a few days ago. I find it amusing that something as mundane as getting the heavy equipment out and plowing the road has an acronym.

This activity also has its own web page, so you can follow the progress. Fortunately for all of us, the page is actually rather entertaining – you get updates on the latest progress, see photos of the park and the snow removal effort, and reports of animal sightings are posted.

According to the latest update, there is a chance that the road will be open as far as the Savage River this weekend. It will take a few more weeks to get the road open to Teklanika, which is as far as they allow the public to go in the spring… but you can hike or take bicycles beyond that point, if you like.

If you get the chance, head up to Denali before the middle of May, and take the drive out to Teklanika. It is a great trip, and a great opportunity to see wildlife and experience Denali National Park without the crowds.

And if you can’t make it, follow the progress on the SRO web page!

I have always been a bit of a weather nut. Those of you who are also weather nuts know what I mean. At a point earlier in my life, I was destined to become a television weatherman, but alas, I was defeated by calculus. But before I suffered that defeat, I did get my feet wet in that field, and I even worked for NBC News in Washington, DC, where I was assistant to their longtime weatherman, Bob Ryan.

One of the main reasons I moved to Alaska was my love of winter weather. I moved from Washington, DC to Fairbanks in 1986, and to say that the winter weather in Fairbanks was different, well… that would be an understatement. But I fell in love with the Fairbanks winters, and when I got into the business of creating custom tours for clients, I always thought that there was room to do winter tours in Alaska – after all, the first thing that many people think of when it comes to Alaska is snow and cold.

No matter how much I love winter, I thought it was a bit of a stretch when I heard that The Weather Channel had declared that Fairbanks was among the top ten winter weather locations in 2009-10.

Wow.

Really, it isn’t that big a stretch to realize that winters in Fairbanks are pretty spectacular… but it is a little surprising that others would figure it out. It is true that Fairbanks gets modest amounts of snow, but the climate is otherwise dry, and late in the winter (like in February through April), the skies are clear and the sun is bright most days. The weather is just perfect for winter activities, and a lot is happening in Fairbanks in March, including the World Ice Art Championships, and the Open North American sled dog races. Many of our guests go to Fairbanks in the winter for dogsledding adventures and a visit to Chena Hot Springs. I even created a special website just for Alaska winter tours.

So, a hearty thank-you to The Weather Channel for recognizing something we here in Alaska already knew.

We do winter right!

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell traveled to Miami to attend the Cruise Shipping Conference in Miami Beach… where he was scolded by the cruise lines for Alaska’s tax and environmental policies. At issue are wastewater discharge standards, and a $50 head tax. The Miami Herald quotes Stein Kruse, President and CEO of Holland America Cruise Lines, who says the industry is, “faced with overzealous regulations” and without relief, “we [the cruise industry] can and will redeploy our ships.”

The cruise industry’s arguments are specious. While it may be true that the taxation and regulatory environment in Alaska is rather stringent, it isn’t punitive. The revenue from the head tax goes directly to infrastructure and services costs that are related to the industry itself. With regard to the wastewater standards, I think that it is fair to say that any community would enact standards to protect their local waters, especially when the use of those waters are shared with other sectors, most notably, commercial fishing.

In the same Miami Herald article, Governor Parnell is quoted as saying, “I heard clearly the need for some change to the head tax and the need to have environmental regulation based on good science. . . I’m going to try to work to reduce costs for the [cruise] industry,”

Back in December I wrote a piece detailing the cruise lines objections to the head tax. Their complaints are no more valid today.

The cruise lines have decided to punish Alaska by reducing the number of cruise passengers coming to Alaska by 140,000. In some Southeast Alaska communities, that will be a disasterous blow. But there are some (myself included) that believe that just because the cruise lines reduce the number of sailings to Alaska that does not necessarily mean that demand for Alaskan destinations is reduced. That isn’t the case.

While the cruise lines scale back their sailings, the airlines have added 930 seats a day between the Lower 48 and Alaska. That is almost 100,000 additional passengers coming to Alaska by air. When you consider that many Alaska cruises are one-way — meaning that they originate in Vancouver, BC and end in Alaska (or the other way around), most cruise passengers use airlines to complete their cruises. If you estimate that half of the cruise passengers travel to or from Alaska by air, then the reduction in cruise-related air traffic might be around 70,000. So does it make sense that the airlines would add 100,000 seats to Alaska routes while there are 70,000 fewer cruise-related air passengers? Not unless there was going to be other demand for Alaska travel.

While the reduction in the number of cruise passengers will hurt port-call communities in Southeast Alaska, the rest of the state is going to benefit. In addition, the cruise lines stated at their conference in Miami that they plan to introduce 26 new ships between now and 2012, and these new ships represent an 18 percent increase in capacity. Clearly the cruise industry expects growth, and that would suggest that the demand for Alaska will remain strong. I doubt that $50 per passenger is going to make much difference at all in the demand for cruises in the long term.

Governor Parnell should stand firm against the cruise lines demands.

When people plan their Alaskan vacations, many come with a list of must-see and must-do destinations and activities. Unfortunately for most of them, they miss out on one of Alaska’s most spectacular destinations – Wrangell St. Elias National Park.

The park itself is the largest park in the National Park Service system, and is the home to numerous glaciers and powerful rivers, and nine of the 16 tallest peaks in the United States.

Mount Wrangell, seen from the Richardson Highway near Copper Center. Note steam plume in the background from the summit.

But like anywhere in Alaska, the scenery and landscape only tells part of the story. If you venture into the center of the park, you’ll experience one of the most interesting and beautiful places in Alaska – the towns of McCarthy and Kennicott.

Kennecott (sometimes spelled Kennicott) was born of the search for minerals and metals. Unlike many of the locations in Alaska, the draw here was copper, not gold. The Kennecott Copper Company built a mine and a company town to extract the rich copper ore. Along with the buildings and machinery for the mine, a railroad to the sea was built to haul supplies and copper back and forth.

The town of McCarthy sprung up next to Kennecott – and while the mine closed in 1938 and was abandoned, McCarthy continued on as the small, remote outpost in the middle of the Wrangell Mountains.

Visitors to McCarthy and Kennecott come for the exceptional beauty of the land. Kennicott Glacier flows past Kennecott and right to the edge of McCarthy. A short walk from town takes you to the toe of the glacier, where you can walk across the moraine, and sit at the edge of the lake as ice and rocks fall off the face of the glacier. From Kennecott, daily guided hikes head off up the valley and guides take you out onto Root Glacier (a tributary glacier of the Kennicott Glacier).

Hikers on Root Glacier, Wrangell St. Elias National Park

Hikers of all ages head out onto the ice with guides, and the more adventurous can head out for extended glacier hikes and ice climbing seminars. If you’re both adventurous and a history buff, you can take a guided hike to the mine entrance, over 3000 feet above the valley floor. If you’re a history buff but prefer to stay in the valley, you can take guided tours of the mill building, or just walk around and explore on your own.

Photographers will love McCarthy and Kennecott, because there are so many varied subjects. Whether you want to photograph the ghost town, or prefer landscapes and scenery, you could literally spend weeks there choosing interesting things to shoot.

When it comes to finding a place to stay in McCarthy and Kennecott, there are a number of great choices. The two main spots are Ma Johnson’s Hotel and Kennecott Glacier Lodge.

Ma Johnson's Hotel in McCarthy

Ma Johnson’s Hotel is in McCarthy. The building itself was a rooming house in the early 1900’s. It has been converted to a hotel. The rooms are rather small, but are decorated with period-authentic furniture. When one walks into Ma Johnson’s, you can’t help but feel that you’ve been transported back to 1920.

Kennecott Glacier Lodge is located among the old abandoned mine and mill buildings in Kennecott. The architecture is striking, as the building itself hugs the mountains, and overlooks the glacier.

McCarthy is what I call an “end of the road” town. What that means is that it is a place where people are drawn who prefer to avoid some of the trappings of modern life. As a result, the town is full of colorful and eclectic people – all of whom have interesting stories about how they ended up there at the end of the road.

Getting to McCarthy and Kennecott can be a bit of an adventure. The McCarthy Road is a 60 mile gravel road between Chitina (pronounced ‘Chit-na’) and McCarthy.

Kuskulana Bridge on the McCarthy Road

The road itself was built on the old railbed that ran to Cordova. The road is narrow, and drivers should take their time. But you’ll be rewarded with spectacular scenery and some thrills along the way. If the road seems a little too adventurous for you, there are companies that will either fly you in to McCarthy or take you by van. You could even combine the  two, and see the road, and also experience the park from the air.

We include McCarthy in many of our packages. It is a great destination for visitors that are looking for some adventure, some history, a great photo safari or just an amazing authentic Alaskan experience.