Type 1 Travel

TYPE 1, 2 AND 3. Just when you were getting disillusioned that photos of moose t-shirts had replaced photos of actual moose, the "adventure" in The Alaska Adventure has returned in the form of our first summer road trip. Now I recently read a piece in Alaska Magazine which introduced me to the idea of Type 1, 2 and 3 travel experiences. Please see if you can relate:

Type 1 - On the trip, you have a blast and when you return home, you can't stop talking about how great it was.

Type 2 - On the trip, you face your fair share of challenges and it's not that fun... but upon return home, the value of the trip becomes clear and you reflect on it fondly.

Type 3 - On the trip, you have a terrible time. After the trip, you still wish you had never gone.

Now at least in our American casual interactions, Type 3s are hard to own up to. We have some friends who got married and headed off for a fancy honeymoon abroad; when the groom's expired passport prevented them from boarding the plane, they returned home, hid out, and didn't tell a soul until they were able to belatedly take the trip a week later. It's hard to admit when something that was supposed to be great, is simply not.

Our latest venture had some precarious moments (like our first night out tent camping in frigid Valdez in a snow-covered gravel parking lot amidst military RVers... or a 3 hour evac to a tribal clinic in what turned out to be a false-alarm UTI for Miss Indigo... or J's ski binding appearing to bust at the top of a mountain in the Hatcher Pass backcountry), but in the end, we had a certified Type 1 Alaska adventure tour in the midnight sun while gallivanting on foot, ferry, bikes, skis and of course, good old Ice Cream Newton.

WHITTIER TO VALDEZ. Our great friend Chris joined us early on a Thursday morning, transferring even more gear (plus salmon, halibut and good coffee) into Ice Cream Newton, and we hit the road to the five hour ferry across incredible Prince William Sound. Sea otters hauled out on ice bergs and mountain goats clung to cliffs as we slowly made our way between islands. Awesome.

THOMPSON PASS. A backcountry ski Mecca, Thompson Pass provided low visibility but high fun.

LIBERTY FALLS. In true Alaska style, this side-of-the-road campground had super sketchy unmarked (but no warning signs) scramble paths up to the cliffs above the rushing water that gave just the grownups (we're not that crazy) that wonderously giddy feeling of being oh-so-alive.

THE MCCARTHY ROAD. We wanted to experience a part of the massive area known as Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. To quote the NPS, this, the largest park in America is "13.2 million acres which is bigger than the country of Switzerland," not to mention that it has over 5000 square miles covered by glacier. Epic. Expectedly, getting in there was epic too! The remote towns of McCarthy and Kennicott can only be reached via the famed dirt McCarthy Road (whose sign warns of loose railroad spikes and no further services) followed by a series of pedestrian-only foot bridges. It also sports a spectacular one-way, 200 foot plus tall bridge over a river gorge that until recently had no side rails (but does have a vomit-inducing cat track beneath it... again, no warning signs), as well as many dilapidated railroad trellises, ripe for the climbing.

MCCARTHY. A short bike ride or hike over the river found us a hundred years back in time.  A town with a fascinating past, folks have worked hard to maintain its history and its charm. One story worth mentioning (as told to me by a kind museum volunteer): The big copper mill and mines five miles up the road in Kennicott are what fueled the McCarthy economy back in the early 1900's. Folks would come in on the train to work up at the mine and many established homes with their families in both little towns. Incredibly, when the copper began to run out in the late 1930's, the mining company didn't tell the workers for fear they would leave early to find new jobs. Instead, in November of 1938, the company told the community one hour before the very last train was to leave McCarthy and Kennicott forever. Families scrambled to get their children, extra clothes and a bit of food for the surprise journey. All other belongings like furniture, photographs, sewing machines, china, etc. were all left behind in the rush to catch the train. Wow.

Heading to McCarthy over the bridge

J and I scored a little date here (Thanks Chris!)

KENNICOTT. The spectacular structure of the copper mill still remains and is under renovation as a part of a Wrangell-St.Elias National Park and Preserve effort. The spectacular Root Glacier still remains too, with incredible trails to explore leading right onto the ice.

HATCHER PASS. Thanks to the aforementioned Indigo evac, we found ourselves back in civilization a day or two before we had planned and added an extra detour to our loop. Hatcher Pass, just outside and north of Palmer and Anchorage, was nothing short of an alpine heaven complete with a sweet lodge and heated cabins where we slept indoors for the first time in a week.

GIRDWOOD. Our last night camping on the road, we swung into beautiful Girdwood and promptly saw a black bear meandering down the road and lumbering into the lush forest. Following his lead, we too found a spot to nestle in the trees, fry some fiddleheads, and wake to one more sunny day on a top notch, Type 1 trip!

Note: Our friends Dan and Chelsea arrive tomorrow for their own Alaska adventure that will include our next road trip up to Denali. Stay tuned for another Guest Blogger feature from none other than Mr. B!