Sights along the McCarthy Road
Thursday, January 10th, 2008
“McCarthy Road” an original pen and ink drawing montage by artist Gail Niebrugge, sold.
Back to the series about my early life as an artist living and painting in the Wrangell-St. Elias region of Alaska’s wilderness. Mc Carthy, one of my favorite places in the Wrangell mountains can be accessed by road, although it is not for travelers on a limited time schedule and certainly not for large RV’s. It can be done, but the cost to RV’s traversing the occasionally graded washboard, potholed, dirt surface is usually not worth the effort. Plus, after many hours of slow, bumpy driving the road ends at the Kennicott River where the bridge is washed out. Today, visitors can access Mc Carthy and Kennicott via a foot bridge, but that wasn’t the case until recently.
This pen and ink drawing depicts the journey along the McCarthy road, from the ancient gas pump in Chitina where the road begins, the bridge over the Copper River, a historic old vehicle and wagon along the way, the Kuskulana a famous old railroad bridge, the remains of a trestle from the Copper River and Northwestern Railway, and finally the old tram at the Kennicott River. Today the tram has been replaced with a footbridge for public access to McCarthy and the Kennicott copper mill.
More tomorrow,
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wilderness artist
