Panoramic shot from the middle of Root Glacier. Notice Linda in the middle of the picture.

A view of the Wrangell Mountains from Mirror Lake along the Richardson Highway.

We were headed to the town of McCarthy, which is located in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. To get to McCarthy, you have to drive 90 miles down a road that is dirt for the last 60 miles. It is about as far out as you can get in Alaska and still be on

Downtown McCarthy. The road ends about a mile from town and you have to cross a river on a footbridge and hike the final mile to town (or take a shuttle every half-hour). According to official stats, 37 people live in McCarthy year-round. The town has

Our first excursion was an overnight backpacking trip across the Root glacier. We took a shuttle bus to the 'town' of Kennicott (really just a collections of abandon mines, one active hotel, and some adventure guide outfitters) and began hiking. We wer

Linda steps onto the glacier. You don't really need crampons to hike the Root glacier. It is pretty safe if you are careful and have good traction on your boots. We walked with poles, in case we slipped (never did).

A stream of melted water runs down the glacier.

The two of us with the glacier behind us. The glacier crossing was about two miles as the crow flies. It took about an hour and a half.

Looking down into a narrow crevasse.

The water forms some amazing waterslides as it runs off the glacier.

The far side of the glacier. We camped on the rock out-cropping just to the left of the falls.

Our original goal was to hike to a couple of lakes at the base of Donoho Peak. One of the guides in Kennicott told us the best way to do this was to cross the moraine (rocky debris deposited by the glaciers) between the Root and Kennicott glaciers, then

This shot shows the distinct line between the glacier and the moraine. The moraine is mostly ice, but it is covered with a couple feet of rocks which have been carried down the mountain by the glacier. It was extremely tough to walk on the moraine becaus

Linda looks out at Root glacier from our campsite the next morning. Last night was the summer solstice, so it never got dark. Which can be annoying if your lovely new wife doesn't wear a watch and asks you every two hours whether it is time to get up ye

In the afternoon we hiked up to Bonanza Mine, which is at 6000 feet (the starting point is 2000 feet). This was a tough hike, mainly because of the heat. It was about 90 degrees when we started out and remained hot the whole way. This picture was half-

Linda (lower right) climbs the last stretch before the top.

If you look closely you can see Bonanza Mine perched near the top of the ridge. It is just amazing to me that they had large mining operations so far up the mountains like this.

Bonanza mine