McCarthy Trip, Part 1: Thompson Pass and Worthington Glacier

Plants: Alder, Mountain Heather, Narcissus Anemone, Bog Blueberry, Caribou Lichen, Dwarf/Arctic Willow, Nagoonberry, Geranium, Roseroot, Fireweed

We went to McCarthy and Kennicott last weekend. What a weekend indeed! There was so much awesome stuff that I have this whole trip divided into 4 parts. Parts 1 through 3 are rather short due to the brief times spent at those areas, while we spent the better part of the day at Kennicott, which will be Part 4. This first part is about Thompson Pass and Worthington Glacier.
We made our first stop on top of Thompson Pass. The view is UNBELIEVABLE up here! This is a big skiing area in the winter time, and from what we found here, it also is a good spot for nice and hardy plants braving the high climate in the summer. The only ‘tree’ found here was the very familiar willow. I remember the Arctic Willow’s ‘fearless’ position directly in front the Valdez Glacier, and now here it is standing with defiance on the mountaintops with it’s Common and Dwarf relatives. The ever so common Alder was here too. Little flies started bothering me, and the shoes I had on started taking on water. A ton of tourists came to enjoy the spectacular view.
We made our next stop at Worthington Glacier. There are lots of glaciers around these mountains, in fact, if you’re standing in the middle of a mountainous area here in Alaska, you should be able to spot 1 or 2 if not more glaciers. Worthington Glacier creeps very close to the visitors center set up for it, and if we had more time we would’ve probably walked right up to it. The glacier feeds a creek, which is apparently a mosquito breeding ground. Besides that, we found alders and fireweed, as well as a place to take a restroom break before we headed toward Chitna, which would be our next stop.