The Odds are Good but the Goods are Odd

Our first day in AK we drove to the Copper Moose Lodge in Kenny Lake before flying into
McCarthy. (A note about driving in AK: If there is any radio station at all, it is NPR. After listening to a story on the first day about the underwear of astronauts on the ISS combusting in space, we stopped tuning in.)

It was great stay with owners CD & Kathy. Yummy breakfast, with great egg dish and muffins (so i'm told). Turns out CD is a runner, taking it up at 50, has run 11 marathons, including Boston twice, setting a personal best of 3:14 at the age of 56. Kathy was telling us a bit about life in Kenny Lake. People are independent but also interdependent. She told a story about a fundraiser for a local woman's medical expenses that was a cake sale, and they paid $150 for a pumpkin cheesecake! They also complained about a new guy coming in and building a "Philadelphia style subdivision without hiring a single local contractor."

We left for the Chitina airstrip (the inner city w/ drug and alcohol problems and no high school graduates) in the morning fog. Turns out the plane to McCarthy couldn't fly in the fog, so we waited for 3 hrs for our flight. It was worth the wait. Even with some low clouds, the scenery was spectacular and smoother than the ride into Anchorage.

Once in McCarthy, we met up w/John Adams ( the real thing), owner of the B&B we stayed at, who kindly gave us a ride on his 4-wheeler to town for lunch at "The Potato," a trip to the general store, and the McCarthy Museum. I had to ask how to sit on the thing, but by the end he had me driving it for him so he could pick up his truck. I think he got a kick out of a teaching a city girl to drive a 4-wheeler. He was super nice and full of good local insight and clearly knew everyone in town and they new him.

After getting our groceries home, we headed to Kennicott to get the lay of the land and do short hike. Wrangell St. Elias (WSE) is the largest park in the U.S. Six times the size of Yellowstone and equal to the size of Switzerland. It receives fewer visitors in a year than Yosemite receives in a day.



Then it was to the McCarthy Saloon for a drink and dinner. And finally met some people our age! Seems to be and older crowd, surprisingly. I guess the younger people are off in the wilderness camping. We did meet a nice girl on the walk back to the b&b who shared a beer w/ Marj and joked with us about how when it comes to men in AK, " the odds are good but the goods are odd!"