Chitina: Strangers in a Strange Town
Unlike Valdez which has both a winter season and a summer season for tourists, Chitina is a distinctly summer place, a salmon fishing mecca on the Copper River, the season for which starts at the beginning of July. As such, things in Chitina were kind of eerily quiet. However, we were heartened to see that one bar in town was open: Uncle Tom’s Tavern.
The room fell silent as the Uncle Toms regulars tried to adjust their eyes to the apparition of strangers (think American Werewolf in London) through the haze of smoke at the bar. This is the type of place where they have jagermeister on tap but only one draught beer (albeit a good one: Alaska Icy Bay IPA). The type of place where the walls are adorned with license plates and bear skins, with a random assembly of carriage clocks and rifles behind the bar. And the beer served in mason jars. But it was actually the type of place that turned out to be quite friendly once the regulars got over their initial surprise at seeing us – we were congratulated with enthusiastic handshakes on officially being the first tourists of the year.
Copper River: Almost Back at Work
We were within spitting distance of the Princess Copper River Wilderness Lodge, and couldn’t pass by so close to ‘work’ without taking a sneaky peak. It hadn’t yet opened for the season but we wandered around the grounds, taking in the breathtaking views, pressing our noses up against the floor to ceiling windows – until we got told off. Turns out there were a few people there already, preparing for opening in a couple of weeks.
It didn’t seem like a good time to let them know that I was a fellow employee, so we just scuttled back to the campervan, trying to look inconspicuous. Shame, I might have been tempted to pull rank for a free brunch if they’d been open. Ended up going for a run instead.
We were able to get closer to the Matanuska glacier than any of the other glaciers on our trip. Luckily, this one didn’t entail any trekking through snow either. It did involve a hike over the gravelly moraine to get there, and it wasn’t until some way past the ‘do not go any further without a guide’ sign that we realized we were actually on the glacier itself. Pretty cool.
Probably the most dangerous aspect of getting to the glacier was the rickety wooden bridge we had to cross in the campervan!