Driving to Alaska {Wrangell St Elias National Park}

Day 12

Early morning we set out thru Wrangell St Elias National Park on the scenic, 46 mile Nebesna Road.  Only the first 13 miles or so is paved, after that it's just dirt roads and 3 streams you must drive thru.

We chose to hike the Skookum Trail up to the volcano. 

I spotted a nice moose antler along the trail. The kids were excited to see one up close, 

then we left it where we found it. We later learned that mice eat the antlers for calcium. 

Once we made it to the river, Daddy, DB and the kids relaxed there for awhile while Courtney and I headed to the top of the volcano.  This was the view shortly after we split up.

Here you can see Courtney ahead of me, for perspective.

This next section was a bit sketchy due to it's steepness and loose rock. When crossing the river earlier, I slipped and landed on my hand. It was still throbbing painfully and I was afraid of what would happen if I landed on it again. So I stayed here while Courtney went on ahead. You can just barely see him on the top third of the mountain here.

Not a bad place to sit and rest a bit.

Now we're headed back down. Courtney kindly carrying my jacket 

as I could no longer tie it around my waist with my injured hand.

The top section of the hike was thru tundra, a squishy, pillow-like ground covering. 

You never really knew if your next step would hold up or sink down in. A strange experience.

After we were exhausted from our hike, we camped in Glenallen at the Caribou RV park for two nights so that we could take a side trip without the RV to Valdez the next day.