Wrangell-St Elias National Park - Alaska

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I stayed in Valdez the night of July 9. Next day, I had a flight seeing tour scheduled with Wrangell Mountain Air from a remote town McCarthy in Wrangell-St Elias park. Wrangell-St Elias park is the largest national park in US and is totally wilderness. I had to take a flight from a small town Chitina to McCarthy. At Valdez, I stayed in Lou and Laura's Bed & Breakfast. Nice place for a cheap price. It was the only night I did not stay in a hostel.

Next morning, I drove from Valdez to Chitina on the scenic Richardson highway. The last 25 miles were bumpy and my car did bump a few times as I did not see the bump in time! I did manage to reach the airstrip at 9am. The airstrip was gravel meant only for small planes. I was the only passenger. My pilot and I took off in a 6 seater plane. It was drizzling a bit. The 30 min flight from Chitina to McCarthy provided some scenic views of the glaciers. I had to wait at McCarthy airstrip for about 45 min for the rescheduled flight. There were two other guys who had come there for flightseeing Wrangell Mountains. The plane was refuelled and we took off. It was not drizzling any more.

I got to see those awesome views again that I had seen in Denali national park. Snow capped peaks, Glacier rivers, rock glaciers. Photographs don't always do justice to such breathtaking views. I have attached a few to give a glimpse of spectacular mountains of the Wrangell-St Elias park.

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Photos

River of glacier
the brown area has several feet of glacier ice beneath it

Bald Eagles
This was near the Valdez oil pipeline terminal

Scenic views along Glenn Highway
Anchorage to Valdez drive