At 'The End of The World'- McCarthy and Kennicott

The End of The World

Yesterday we arrived at McCarthy (technically a footbridge and a half a mile across from Mcarthy). It took us 4 hours on a gravel road and, as we found out, majority of people who visit McCarthy and Kennecott fly in, as they are worried about the condition of the road (and their car insurance does not cover gravel roads). The views on the road were astonishing (you must all be quite surprised to read it, as I haven't mentioned 'beautiful' or 'breathtaking' views even once. The lodging conditions at our accomodation are pretty crude but the view makes up for it. (Once again, the only word suitable to be used here is indeed 'breahtaking). We can actually see glacier from our cosy wooden cabin.

Yesterday evening was pretty uneventful but we did manage to make some acquaintances with a couple from Israel and played scrabble, trying to keep warm. (Temperature fell to 5 degrees). We also went to McCarthy and felt thrill when walking through some gooseberry bushes. (Apparently, bears adore feasting on gooseberries and they can consume up to 250 thousands(!) gooseberries per day). McCarthy turned out to be slightly disappointing. We didn't manage to find a grocery store(which is pretty problematic considering we don't have breakfast here) and there wasn't much apart from two restaurants (and 'restaurant' is not a good word to use here). Food was way overpriced and its quality was nothing compared to wonderful halibut burgers we had in Talkeetna. We shouldn't have been surprised, however, considering the fact that McCarthy used to be a brothel set up for copper mine workers from Kennecott, who couldn't amuse themselves in Kennecott due to strict rules. Kennecott, which we saw today, turned out to be a charming town with old mill towering over it

and Mount Blackburn, the fifth highest mountain in the United States as well as impressive glaciers in the background.
Today we went on glacier hike. The whole hike lasted 4.5 hours and we did 12 kilometeres and every minute of it was absolutely worth it. About half an hour into the hike, our guide suddenly stopped and she pointed towards black bear devouring gooseberries. The bear was enormous and looked quite cute with its yellowish ears and beautiful smile-like expression. Apparently, one can tell grizzlies(also known as 'brown bears', as I've already mentioned in previous posts) apart from black bears by their looks. Grizzlies look 'mean', as if they were angry, whereas black bears look cute, just like the toys kids play with. Once again, nature shows that looks can be deceiving indeed.
We also learnt that the poohs of the bears (attached) say a lot about their diet- the red ones means that the bear is a veggie and prefers gooseberries over salmon, whereas normal ones point to a meat-eater. We saw many of those on our trail, a sign that bears were close. Apparently, at the moment there are over 60 black bears in tMcCarthy-Kennicott area and 8 grizzly bears.
After a two-mile hike through beautiful streams and forests with gooseberries we arrived at the glacier. We had to put 'crampons', which felt funny, especially at first. A little bit like walking in ice-skates but definitely more stable. When we reached the glacier we thought we understod what Neil Armstrong felt when he stepped on the Moon.(Of course, don't get me wrong, no one here is comparing themselves to Armstrong!) The landscape was moon-like, we were there alone and the crampons made a wonderful cracking sound beneath our feet. Every step was an adventure, especially when going downhill when one had to be very careful not to slide down the glacier. We spent over two hours hiking on the glacier, admiring lakes and holes made by sliding rocks (one was so dangerous that we had to approach it one by one, being closely supervised by the guide), it looked like something straight out of Dante's Nine Circles od Hell- if anyone was to fall down, nothing could be done to help the unlucky person. We drank water straight out of glacier, purer and tastier than even Evian and ate lunch being surrounded by ice rocks. Funnily enough, on our way back we bumped into an Israeli couple that we met few days ago while staying in Copper Moose Lodge. (that breakfast!!). They've also seen the bear but the bear must have had enough of gooseberries for one day and on our way back we didn't see it. (Although as our guide said, it's highly probable that it was very close, just lurking around in the bushes).
Kennicott with its good food was like bonanza. Far more exciting than copper or gold could be at that time of day for us.
Right now, we are sitting in our car, trying to catch Wifi which comes and goes with the wind and waiting for 'midnight shower' of comets.

Koniec Swiata.

Wczoraj dotarlismy do McCarthy (zeby byc bardziej precyzyjnym- znajdujemy sie pol mili od McCarthy, oddziela nas takze most dla pieszych). Dojazd zajal nam cztery godziny, mimo iz odleglosc wynosila zaledwie 64 mile. Wynika to z tego, ze do McCarthy prowadzi tylko zwirkowa droga z wieloma wybojami (takich drog nie obejmuje ubezpieczenie), wiec wiekszosc ludzi (tych, ktorzy moga sobie na to pozwolic) przylatuje awionetka. Widoki byly powalajace (moznaby uznac, iz naduzywam tego slowa ale naprawde inaczej sie ich opisac nie da). Warunki w naszej 'kabinie' sa bardzo surowe ale widoki na lodowiec (zaprawde POWALAJACE!) wynagradzaja wszystkie niewygody (nawet brak sniadania). Z naszej drewnianej, przytulnej kabiny mozemy podziwiac najprawdziwszy lodowiec!
Wczoraj wieczor byl bez wiekszych przygod- wybralismy sie na spacer do McCarthy (i prawde mowiac bardzo rozgladalismy sie po drodze zarosnietej krzakami z ich ulubionymi poziomka- gooseberries, czy nie grasuja w okolicy. Podobno misie potrafia zjesc dziennie(!) 2500 tysiecy tych owocow. Nic dziwnego, ze sa takie potezne. McCarthy troche nas rozczarowal- nie udalo nam sie znalezc skelpu spozywczego, a oprocz dwoch chatek na krzyz znalezlismy tylko dwie restauracje, a slowo 'restauracja' takze uzyte tu jest na wyrost. Jedzenie bylo niedobre i bardzo drogie. Ale nie ma co sie dziwic. McCarthy bylo kiedys, brzydko mowiac, burdelem, w ktorym zmeczeni pracownicy kopalni miedzi z Kennicott mogli na chwile zapomniec o codziennych troskach. Miejsc takich w

Kennicott nie bylo ze wzgledu na wyzsze standardy moralnosci, jakie rzadzily tym miasteczkiem. Kennicott, ktore zobaczylismy dzisiaj, bardzo nam sie spodobalo. Drewniane domki z wielkim mlynem gorujacym nad miastem i lodowcami w tle oraz piata co do wysokosci gorac w Ameryce Polnocnej, Mt Blackburn, robi niesamowite wrazenie.
Dzis wybralismy sie na hike po lodowcu. Cala wyprawa trwala 4.5 godziny i przemierzylismy 12 km ale kazda minuta byla tego warta. Okolo pol godziny po rozpoczeciu marszu, nasza przewodnik zatrzymala sie i wskazala na buszujacego w krzakach gooseberries misia. Powiedziala, ze jest to black bear i ze latwo mozna go odroznic od grizzly'ego patrzac na ich mordki- black bear ma zoltawe uszka i 'slodka' mordke, podczas gdy grizzly wyglada 'wrednie'. I cos w tym jest. Mis, ktorego widzielismy przypominal wlasnie...misia, pluszaka, ktorym chetnie kazdy by sie pobawil. Wygladal zupelnie inaczej niz grizzly, ktore widzielismy pare dni temu. Kolejny raz natura pokazuje, ze wyglad moze byc bardzo zludny. Pani przewodnik pokazala nam takze niedzwiedzie odchodzy i wyjasnila, ze czerwone sa zostawiane przez misi wegetarian - tych, ktore zywia sie glownie gooseberries, podczas, gdy normalne naleza do miesozercow. Odchodow na sciezce bylo wiele, co swiadczy o tym, ze jest to terytorium niedzwiedzi. Podobno w okolicy Kennicott i McCarthy grasuje 60 czarnych niedzwiedzi i 8 grizzly.
Po dwumilowym hike'u przez piekne gory, strumienie i lasy pelne pysznych dla misiow poziomek, dotralismy do lodowca. Przed wejsciem musielismy nalozyc kolczaste 'crampons', czyli metalowe kolce, ktore pozwalaja na wspinaczke po lodowcu. Gdy  juz tam dotarlismy, zrozumielismy co musial czuc Neil Armstrong (a raczej wydaje nam sie, ze zrozumielismy). Krajobraz byl zupelnie ksiezycowy, nie z tej ziemi, a wokol nas nie bylo nikogo, tylko czubki lodowcow. Nasze buty wydawaly wesole trzeszczace dzwieki i przez nastepne dwie godziny cieszylismy sie pieknym sloncem i wspaniala wedrowka po lodowcu. Zobaczylismy zrodelka, z ktorych pilismy czystsza i lepsza wode od Eviana oraz dziury, ktore przypominaly dziewiec kregow z Piekla Dantego. Do jednej z nich moglismy sie tylko zblizac pojedynczo. Gdyby ktokolwiek wpadl, nie moznaby go w zaden sposocb ratowac. Gdy pochylilismy sie nad ta przepascia zrozumielismy dlaczego- nie bylo nawet  widac dna.Zjedlismy takze uroczy lunch w otoczeniu lodowych skal. Co ciekawe, w drodze powrotnej, wpadlismy na pare z Izraela, ktora poznalismy dwa dni temu przy sniadaniu w Copper Moose Lodge (ach to sniadanie!). Opowiedzieli nam, ze takze widzieli 'naszego' niedzwiedzia. Jednak w drodze powrotnej juz go nie bylo i pani przewodnik powiedziala, zebysmy sie trzymali razem, bo nie wiadomo gdzie sie teraz znajduje, a mzoe byc tak, ze czai sie gdzies blisko w krzakach. Dodala jednak, ze niedzwiadki nie przepadaja za duzymi grupami (bylo nas osiem osob) i raczej zejda nam z drogi, choc nigdy nic nie wiadomo. ( to ostatnie nie bylo zbyt pocieszajace). Kennicott ze swoim dobrym jedzeniem wydal nam sie bonanza i byl znacznie bardziej ekscytujacy niz zloto czy miedz (oczywiscie w tamym momencie).
Teraz siedzimy w samochodzie, probujac zlapac wifi, zeby opublikowac tego posta i czekamy na 'deszcz komet', ktory ma nastapic tuz po polnocy.

 

 

11-13/08/2015 middle of nowhere, USA

To be  continued... 

Day 3 and 4: On the Road:Talkeetna to Fairbanks and Fairbanks to Old Copper

Yesterday we drove from Talkeetna to Fairbanks through Denali Park. Months ago we decided not to enter Denali Park due to the fact that one has to share a bus with 80 other people (it is not possible to drive through Denali in one's own car) and it was a good decision. Although the park is undeniably breathtaking, the crowds in the buses are more frightening than a possibility of one-on-one black bear encounter. (It has to be emphasized here  that black bears are much more dangerous than grizzly bears (also less glamorously known as 'brown' bears). Not only is it possible to buy ice-cream 5 miles from the entrance to Denali National Park, but a hungry tourist can also devour a hot dog with a huge portion of chips. There is also a dozen of tasteful gift shops to complete the picture. Besides, the weather was not as good as it could have been (quite rainy) and Mount McKinley did not think it appropriate to try to scare away the fog that was wrapped tightly around it.
We did see a lot of Denali State Park, though, including wilderness, where a traveler known from 'Into The Wild' lost his life.
Fairbanks turned out to be much bigger than we had expected. It has malls, Starbucks and McDonalds. We even visited Antique Automobile Museum, which was very interesting.
Majority of the city, however, is devoted to military. Military airport covers the area, which is almost half as big as whole Fairbanks( and it is only one of the four military airports in the area).
Today we drove from Fairbanks to a beautiful place 'in the middle of nowhere' but not far from Copper Town. The drive was beautiful- wild lakes, surrounded by majestatic mountains, peaceful streams becoming angry, wide rivers with rocks scattered around their beds, fields of heathers suddenly becoming high forests...and the abundance of colours- dark grey sky turning ocean blue then suddenly graphite in stark contrast to green forests and golden fields.  True wilderness, which makes one understand why it is true what people living in Alaska say 'One hasn't experienced wilderness until one visits Alaska'. We spotted two moose but did not see any grizzly bears. Perhaps luckily, considering we experienced thrunderstorm and had some car issues ( warning that pressure in our rear tyre was too low)
After many hours of drive, we arrived in Copper Moose Bed and Breakfast, where we have an RV. The owner is incredibly nice. He told us to come over to the main house for a fresh cake with ice cream (which we are about to do) and imparted some knowledge about animals in Alaska. Apparently, when one encounters a bear it's good to give it as much space as possible and back away, but most surprisingly, the most dangerous animal in Alaska is ...our old friend...moose! Moose tend to be very aggressive and they won't give their way to human. What's even worse, they are known to attack humans, just out of spite (or so, we, humans, think).
He also added that there are not as many mosquitos as there normally are, because of extremely dry season and many fires (second in the whole hostory- 5 million acres got burnt this year). There is a downside to this, however, dry season is very good for hornets! Tomorrow, we are hoping that the sky will clear up and we will be able to get to McCarthy  (only a gravel road leads there).


Wczoraj opuscilismy nasza sliczna lodze w Talkeetnie i udalismy sie do Fairbanks przez Denali Park (State Park, a nie National Park). Juz pare miesiecy temu poedjelismy decyzje o tym, zeby ominac Denali ze wzgledu na to, ze nie mozna tam wjechac samochodem i jedynym rozwiazaniem jest wjazd ze zorganizowana grupa z 80cioma innymi turystami. Wczoraj upewnilismy sie, ze nasza decyzja okazala sie sluszna. Co prawda, widoki w Denali byly zapierajace dech w piersiach, jednak nieopodal wjazdu do parku, w samej dziczy, nagle wyroslo malutkie miasteczko oferujace hot dogi, frytki i bardzo gustowne (watpliwie oczywiscie) sklepiki sprzedajace mydlo, powidlo i kabanosy z losia.  Poza tym, pogoda nie byla taka dobra, jak powinna, zeby zobaczyc gore McKinley, ktora owinela sie cieplutko mgla i nie pokazala nawet kawalka siebie. (podobno tylko jeden dzien na piec jest wystarczajaco ladny, z na tyle dobra widocznoscia, zeby cieszyc sie tym wspanialym widokiem).
Mimo wszystko, po drodze, widzielismy wiele wspanialych widokow i nawet moglismy docenic dzikosc obszaru, w ktorym zginal znany podroznik z 'Into The Wild'.
Fairbanks okazal sie o wiele wiekszy, niz sie spodziewalismy. Przywitaly nas ogromne sklepy, Starbucks i McDonals(oraz mase kosciolow i kilka budynkow reklamujacych wystepy 'showgirls'). Jednak najbardziej zaskakujace bylo to, ze wiekszosc miasta jest zdominowana przez militaria. Lotnisko wojskowe zajmuje prawie polowe obszaru calego miasta, a jest tylko jednym z czterech lotnisk wojskowych w okolicy. Nieopodal znajduje sie tez wiele baz militarnych. Na ulicach zas widac zolnierzy lub bylych zolnierzy (ktorych mozna poznac po specyficznym sposobie zachowania). Wybralismy sie do muzeum ze starymi samochodami, w ktorym znajdowaly sie modele nawet z poczatku XXwieku.
Dzis wyruszylismy z Fairbanks do 'miejsca, gdzie diabel mowi dobranoc', polozonego dosc niedaleko Copper Town. Droga byla cudowna. Nigdy nie widzielismy tak dzikiego rejonu i prawda jest to co mowia mieszkancy Alascy: ' Nie wiesz co to dzikosc, dopoki nie przyjedziesz na Alaske'. Widoki byly przepiekne- dzikie jeziora, otoczone majestatycznymi gorami, spokojne strumyki nagle zmieniajace sie w wyjace, roszalale rzeki, tak szerokie, ze zdaja sie nie miescic w swoich korytach, pola wrzosow, ktore nagle staja sie zielonymi, strzelistymi lasami, surowa tundra przechodzaca niepostrzezenie w bujna tajge... i nasycone kolory- kontrast pomiedzy grafitowo-czarnym niebem oraz zlotymi polami i zielenia. Znowu udalo nam sie spotkac dwa losie, jednak nie widzielismy zadnego niedzwiedzia. Moze i dobrze, biorac pod uwage fakt, ze rozpetala sie straszna burza, a nasza kontrolka pokazala, ze w tylnej oponie jest za malo cisnienia (przez ponad 100 mil jechalismy z dusza na ramieniu).
Po wielu milach, dotarlismy do Copper Moose Bed amd Breakfast, gdzie mamy swoja, zadziwiajaco komfortowa, przyczepe. Bed and Breakfast prowadzi przemily starszy pan, ktory od 42 lat mieszka w tych opowiesciach i od razu zaoprosil nas na ciasto i lody do glownego domu( zaraz mamy zamiar z tego zaproszenia skorzystac). Opowiedzial nam tez bardzo duzo o zwierzetach zamieszkujacych Alaske. Podobno, gdy spotka sie niedzwiedzia, trzeba udawac, ze jest sie wiekszym niz w rzeczywistosci, wydawac duzo dzwiekow i cofac sie, dajac mu Lebensraum. Co najciekawsze, jednak, niedzwiedz nie jest najbardziej niebezpiecznym zwierzeciem na Alasce. Ten tytul przypada naszemu dobremu znajomemu...losiowi !Podobno losie sa nie tylko bardzo agresywne i nie schodza czlowiekowi z drogi, ale tez potrafia zaatakowac tak po prostu, bo maja taka fanaberie.
Pan powiedzial takze, ze w tym roku jest zaskakujaco malo komarow ze wzgledu na susze (przez to, ze jest tak sucho, jest to drugi rok w historii pod wzgledem pozarow- spalilo sie az dotad 5 milionow akrow). Jednak w naturze zawsze musi byc jakis balans- przez to, ze nie ma tak duzo komarow i jest tak sucho, stworzyly sie rajskie warunki dla szerszeni, ktorych podobno jest masa!
Jutro, jesli sie rozpogodzi wyruszymy do McCarthy (wiedzie tam zwirkowa droga, wiec musi byc troche mniej mokro)

 

 

 

 

On the road: Anchorage - Talkeetna

We thought that by 'saying good night' yesterday from our spot in McDonald's we were finishing our day. We couldn't have been more wrong.
We had a wonderful vision of observing  aurora borealis in the middle of the night, as the weather was beautiful. So we waited until it became dark enough (which took ages- dawn was there till 1 am in the morning) and set off on search of aurora. Yet, as soon as we got out of the city (and 'soon' is not the right word to be used here, it took us ages to actually find our way out of the city) it turned out that it wasn't dark enough for aurora to grace us with its presence. So we ended up driving around Anchorage and saw few spooky abandoned cars but no glittering green lights.
Resigned, we just wanted to be back in our  bed and breakfast. Yet, it wasn't meant to be so easy. We ended up driving around downtown and getting opportunity for more people-watching. Of course, as you may all imagine, this wasn't a safe people-watching spot.
We arrived back in our bed and breakfast at 3 am. Without having seen aurora. But a good adventure is what really counts!
Today, we drove to Talkeetna and have a lodge with a beautfiul view at Denali Park with Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in Northern America.
Our way here was interesting as well- we saw some more moose and maybe even more surprisingly...a double-decker! A red double-decker that looked as if it was straight from London! It was parked in an anbandoned, bizzare parking lot, which looked as if it could have been used for thriller movies. It even had some lockers that could have been used for hiding away some human remains.
Another interesting thing was a raffle in which one could win ten (TEN!) guns. For twenty bucks only.
We also had opportunity to taste some delicious crab sandwiches and halibut burgers in Talkeetna, which turned out to be a tourist trap with a dozen of gift shops and even banana shops (shops where one can eat stuffed bananas). Luckily, our lodge is located in a deserted place, in a beautiful lush forest.


Myslelismy, ze nasz dzien dobiegl konca kiedy opublikowalismy wczorajszego posta z naszej 'miejscowki'w McDonald's. Jednak pozniej, jak to my, wpadlismy na pomysl, zeby sprobowac zobaczyc aurore borealis. Jako ze aurora wystepuje tylko przy ladnej pogodzie i wymaga calkowitej ciemnosci, czekalismy do 1 nad ranem (az do 1 byl zmierzch!) i wyruszylismy poza miasto. Niestety, okazalo sie, ze nie bylo tak ciemno jak bysmy chcieli (nadal panowal zmierzch!), a wyjazd zajal nam duzo czasu. Jednak jeszcze gorszy byl powrot. Zgubilismy sie i wyladowalismy w centrum, gdzie mielismy jeszcze wiecej okazji do obserwowania ludzi. Jednak nie do konca mielismy na to ochote biorac pod uwage kogo spotkalismy.
Do naszego bed and breakfast dotarlismy o trzeciej nad ranem. Bez aurory ale z przygodami.

Dzis dojechalismy do Talkeetny. Po drodze widzielismy wiele pieknych widokow, jeszcze kilka losi, polow lososi (a moze na odwrot;)?) i , co najbardziej zaskakujace, londynski dwupoziomowy autobus! Stal smutny i opuszczony na dziwnym parkingu, ktory wygladal jak rodem wyjety z thrillerow. Znajdowaly sie na nim nawet skrytki, w ktorych mozna by chowac ciala.
W Talkeetnie zjedlismy przepyszne kanapki z krabem i burgery z halibutem, a potem szybko z tamtad wyjechalismy, gdyz miescinka okazala sie pulapka dla turysty z dziesiatkiem sklepikow z pamiatkami i nawet stoiskiem serwujacym 'banany na sto sposobow'.
Teraz znajdujemy sie w zielonym lesie, w przepieknej lodzy z widokiem na Denali Park z gora McKinley, ktora jest najwyzsza gora w Polnocnej Ameryce.

Planned trip:

 

Alaska - The Last Frontier

After many unexpected turns of events we arrived in Anchorage, Alaska.
Yesterday, even though slightly tired ( yet unstoppable) after our flight, we couldn't resist driving down Route No 1. The views were breathtaking and 'breathtaking ' doesn't even render justice to what we saw- lush green meeting ice cold water and glaciers diving into the ocean. On our way we also spotted some fishermen catching Alaskan salmon and realised that the bears must really be attracted to such places ( the smell around the stream was very intense indeed!)
Today, we went on an 'easy peasy' hike to Flattop Mountain. The hike, although indeed easy at first, turned out to be quite mischevious with rock climbing at its end. ( end which seemed to last forever, may I add). The views were, however, stunning and we even managed to spot a mother moose with two calves.
Exhausted, but pleased , we rewarded ourselves with a drive down route number 1 and visited Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Centre. Bears we saw there confirmed our suspicion that we really do not want to meet them eye to eye on out hikes. Although they did look comical, especially when lying on the log and lazily brushing their brown fur.
Interestingly, black bears, which are more dangerous and with which one does not even 'play dead', are much commoner than the larger brown ones.

Right now we are finishing our day using wifi in McDonald's and enjoying people - watching. Apparently, McDonald's is the place to be at 10 pm.

Alaska-Ostatnia Granica ( jak glosza tablice rejestracyjne)
Po wielu przeprawach wyladowalismy w Anchorage na Alasce I juz wczoraj, mimo zmeczenia, wyruszylismy w droge, zeby zobaczyc route 1. Widoki byly zapierajace dech w piersiach, a I to okreslenie nie do konca oddaje ich piekno. Zielen, zlote pola, przejrzysta, lodowata woda I surowe lodowce wpadajace do gladkiej tafli oceanu. ..
Po drodze mielismy takze okazje zaobserwowac polow lososi I zrozumielismy dlaczego misie tak chetnie grasuja w poblizu potokow-zapach byl niesamowicie intensywny!
Wieczorem mielismy jeszcze przygode ze zmiana bed and breakfast.
Dzis natomiast wyruszylismy na 'latwy jak bulka z maslem' szlak, ktory faktycznie na poczatku kusil swoja prostota, jednak pod koniec pokazal, ze daleko mu do jakiejs bulki- ostatni odcinek ( a wydawal sie trwac wiecznie) trzeba bylo pokonywac na czterech 'lapach'- wspinajac sie po skalach.
Widoki byly niesamowite I udalo nam sie ujrzec losice z dwoma malymi.
W nagrode, wykonczeni, wyruszylismy na droge numer 1 I odwiedzilismy schronisko Alaskan Wildlife Center gdzie obserwowalismy niedzwiedzie I doszlismy do wniosku, ze tyle obserwacji nam wystarczy I nie chcemy ich spotkac na swojej drodze.
Konczymy dzien korzystajac z wifi w McDonald's I obserwujac, kwtinace o tej Porze (10)zycie towarzyskie.