Jersey Boy June 2013 | Page 28

Just before reaching the town, I had to drive over a very old and rundown wooden train bridge. My tires just fit on the planks over this bridge and it was very scary. We then had to then get into a large bucket from a front end loader and winch ourselves across a fast flowing white glacial river. We were surprised to see the the merchandise that was still in the store windows, preserved after all these years because of the extreme isolation of the town.
The fall colors were out in full bloom, the glaciers and mountains were incredibly beautiful, the weather was favorable and the experience was phenomenal.
They say that the Wrangell-St. Elias National park allows you to see 9 of the 16 tallest peaks in North America and there are over 150 glaciers that can be seen from the center of this world heritage location called McCarthy.
We then hiked near the beautiful glaciers and set up camp. I was told that we were now in one of the most densely populated area for
Old Glassware, McCarthy Alaska, Photo by Barry Epstein
grizzly bears and I was designated to stay up most of the night and keep guard with the 30-06 rifle we had with us. I understand that now there are some very upscale boutique bed and breakfast facilities and the McCarthy Lodge
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