Wrangell - St. Elias: Across the Bridge

Still recovering from New Year's Eve hoopla and I'm sure there are other out there suffering from similar ailments. Since many of you probably want to read a long story as much as I feel like writing one right now, I'm going to try something new. I'm going to post the pictures with accompanying captions only. Yes, this will mean that much of the detail will be left out but again...I have to keep some surprises for later...

 

 Tower...Former place of Industry...it makes some sense.

On the other side of the bridge...with my pack awaiting my chariot into the park. And yes that is bear warning sign...

I met some McCarthy "locals" here...Through the art of eavesdropping, I've surmised that relationship problems exist even out in the middle of NOWHERE!

Pssh...no Balrog?

No turning back now...

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

Shadows of the past: Remnants of the Kennecott Copper mine.

Yay for composition

Somewhere in the distance I see the rusting of copper drums...

UNNECESSARY ZOOOOOMMM

Art of Art.

The top of the Copper mill in the town of Kennecott. The town is actually a historical part of this massive National Park.

And the bottom of the Copper mill

Mr. Kennecott sure picked a remote place to find copper. Classic "If you build it, they will come" scenario.

A river runs through it.

Smoke on the water (Did I use that line before?)

Green and red...no wonder I started to miss Christmas while I was here.

The entire copper operation in all its glory. So I had to hike through this town before I could venture out into the backcountry

Bill and Sharon! I think these two rockstars of kindness were the actual physical manifestations of "America." Passing through the town, we got to talking. They generously invited me to join them for pizza dinner. They said that as parents themselves, they would hope if their son was heading out alone into the unknown, that they would hope someone would help him out in some way. Additionally, they said that I will always have a place to stay in Iowa if I ever make it there. This short blurb about Bill and Sharon doesn't even hint at the impact they made on me or describe their robust character. I mean I can still hear Bill's homegrown accent to this day as if he was dictating this post to me right now. Mark my words...someday I will see them again. They wished luck and God's blessing onto me, and and I do the same for them now. Cheers, Bill and Sharon.

Copper, anyone?

Passing through this mostly abandoned down...

'Merica!

Pictures become stale if you limit yourself to only staying on the beaten path. Am I right, Robert Frost?

Something about abandoned buildings...

Perspective is cool, I guess.

Ghost town? I've never seen a place where its former residents just up and left. Frozen in time.

The raindrop is like adding another lens.

Alright...I even really like this one.

Well looks like I'm headed thata way

Fast forward...MADE IT! Ok so this grey rocky terrain is actually a glacier...but covered in sediment from the earth that it is essentially bulldozing through. Nature is one tough MFer.

Surreal. I may sound "la la laaaa" in my descriptions but this place (and everyone else I've been) had me completely dumbfounded in awe. I mean...my dreams have never even been this epic.

Looking out onto the rock covered glacier from my basecamp. Oh yeah, I think the next few shots are an unpatched together panorama of the glacier immediately in from of me from left to right. Someone please teach me how to stitch these together?

Out of order but I just really liked this one and wanted to save it for last.

There is much to say about this walk through the abandoned town of Kennecott and the subsequent hike into the WES backcountry. That story WILL be told. But at a later time.