McCarthy Mudslide Mayhem
A trapped vehicle and heavy equipment in one of many McCarthy Road mudslides.
Photo by Jubal Rowland
Hannah Rowland - CRR Staff
The people of McCarthy will be relieved when the ground freezes this winter. Frozen ground might mean that the potholes won’t go away for the rest of the year, but it should mean that the mudslides will slow down. Copper Valley Department of Transportation (DOT) crews have been busy working on clearing mudslides on the McCarthy Road since the first week of October.
Both sides of the road experienced major damage from extensive rain. And just when a mudslide was cleared, another one soon occurred. I personally experienced this when returning to McCarthy this past Wednesday.
I had driven into Eagle River to take my daughter Ida to an appointment. We had just had about 17 inches of snow in one day on Wednesday - the day before I was supposed to drive to town. On Thursday morning I decided I would wait until the storm passed to head in. As I waited to make my decision, I put chains on the tires. I have an all wheel drive vehicle so I put one on a front tire and one on a rear tire, not sure of where I need the grip the most.
While I was doing this I heard a lot of birds so I looked up and I saw a huge flock flying south for the winter. From the sounds of it, the 17 inches of snow gave them a scare and they were probably having a discussion that went: “Oh man, we gotta get out of here before we get stuck in this cold!” I don’t know bird calls that well, so I am not exactly sure what they were, probably geese. It was beautiful.
By noon time the skies had cleared up and it was clear that the only obstacle in the way of getting to town was getting out of our driveway. Other people on the private McCarthy Road Facebook page had already noted they drove in late Wednesday night as we were getting the snow, so I knew there were tracks already. If I could make it out of the driveway, I could drive through the snow on the road.
“When I was leaving McCarthy, there were two other vehicles with me. The snow was deep and it was coming up on my windshield. ”
I gathered together the few items I still needed to pack in the car, strapped Ida in her car seat and off we went. My older daughter Leah was already in Eagle River with my parents for the week. It took about five takes up our driveway hill to make it to the top, but we made it and I just kept going. It was clear by then though that I should probably have both chains in the front, so I decided to stop and bring the other one to the front of the car after I crossed the Kennecott River.
When I was leaving McCarthy, there were two other vehicles with me. The snow was deep and it was coming up on my windshield. Thankfully that stopped when the other truck got in front. Just before getting to Long Lake, about 15 miles from McCarthy, there was a downed tree in the road.
Thankfully, Matt Vial and a crew man in the truck behind us had a chainsaw. While they and Chris Chester (who was in front of me) got the tree out of the way, Julie and I both stayed in our vehicles and fed our babies and changed their diapers. Just before everyone was about ready to go I realized that I accidentally locked myself in the back seat because I had forgotten my husband David turned the child lock on that door. I was able to pry the front door and ask for help and Chris came to open the door so I could get out.
While driving the rest of the McCarthy Road, I had to be on alert at all times to not get sucked into the snow ditches. I was very thankful that I had a great car to drive. I almost felt like I was living in a Subaru commercial.
“I thought my trip might be delayed by icy road conditions. Instead, it was delayed by mudslides.”
The Weltys had offered that we could stay with them in Copper Center if we needed to. By the time we got there it was around 5. Even though it wasn’t too late in the day I decided that it probably was safer to drive in the daylight. I knew I had at least 4 hours more and I didn’t want to drive in the dark and rush on the snowy roads.
We arrived at Eagle River on Friday, with the rest of the drive being not too eventful, aside from driving about 20 miles under the speed limit. There was plenty of snow and ice all along the highway through the mountain pass. I was thankful I could make it in so we would not miss Ida’s appointment that we had scheduled about three months ago. I was planning on heading back to McCarthy on Tuesday, but I knew there was supposed to be some rain in the forecast.
I thought my trip might be delayed by icy road conditions. Instead, it was delayed by mudslides. Meanwhile, the McCarthy Road Facebook page was “blowing up” with pictures of the snow and plans made for people to leave and come into McCarthy Monday after the snow “cleared” due to the warmer weather and rain. Everyone’s plans were about to be spoiled.
The rain came over the weekend and I glanced at the Facebook page on Monday, not to find icy roads, but to find a road closure due to a mudslide at mile 0.5. David had also told me that there was a mudslide at mile 58 on their end of the bluffs, so I anticipated needing to stay another day. This actually helped me because there was a store David wanted me to go to that wasn’t open on Mondays.
Tuesday morning came and the McCarthy Road closure was still up, this time at mile 44 of the road. So, there had been not two but three mudslides along the road. We were able to go to the store that was now open and we even got to ride the elevator at the 5th Avenue Mall. Leah thought that was pretty cool. We also visited with friends and went swimming that afternoon at a local pool, getting the swim practice in while we could.
On Wednesday morning, I checked the road to see that it was closed at mile 58 but was forecast to be open by 6 p.m. I figured that I would be able to get through by the time I got there. David called me while I was headed toward Palmer and I told him my plan. He said the DOT hired his family to clear the mudslide so it would be clear soon.
David also said one of our neighbors got stuck in the mudslide and they had to dig his car out of the mud. I was so focused on the conversation and driving safely that I forgot to take the turn to Palmer and ended up heading in the direction of Wasilla. I decided not all was lost and took the Trunk Road to get back on route.
As we were getting to Palmer, I mentioned getting more for breakfast at a drive through. Leah wanted to make sure we got more food from the store to bring home. She said we needed to get vegetables and fruit and cheese and more mountains and also we needed to get more fireweed, because you can eat it. She knows that because she ate some with Grandma at her cabin.
I told Leah that while she was with Great Grandma, I went to Costco, but I did ask her how I was supposed to get more mountains. She just responded by telling me more about the fireweed.
We made it to Glennallen by 1:30 and we stopped by the Pregnancy Resource Center to look for clothing and other items. Even though our car was already packed full, we managed to pack even more in. I did see a pedal bike outside that would fit Leah, but there was no way I was going to get that into the car. Next we went to Upstream Learning to look at a few resources we could borrow to start some home pre-school and put even more into the car.
I needed to stop for lunch, but Leah wanted to visit our friends before they left for basketball practice. We didn’t have time to do another in and out of the car seat charade to get a sandwich at the store, so I figured we could get something in Kenny Lake instead. We also had some snacks and plenty of food type items in the car. I figured it would be OK if we didn’t stop, but maybe we should have. We finally got on the McCarthy Road at about 5 p.m. and made it past the Kotsina bluffs. We stopped after the bluffs because Leah needed a quick break and I remembered that I needed to check the tires because my tire sensor was broken and the light had been on since Monday.
I heard a back tire leaking and I grabbed my gauge to check the pressure. It hadn’t lost much air and there was no way I wanted to unload all the stuff in the back of the car to get to the jack and spare tire, so I decided I would try to make it to the Nelsons’. It was going to be a late night.
Mudslide on the McCarthy Road. Photo by Jubal Rowland
I was able to get to the Nelsons’ driveway just fine. Thankfully the leak was very slow and I hardly lost any pressure at all. When I got to their house, no one was there. I could hear dogs off in the distance, so I thought they might be out somewhere else on the property and I could call them, but I didn’t have their number. Tenley also writes for the CRR so I thought Allison might have her number and texted her to find out if she did. Allison did not have her number but said she could message her on Facebook for me.
A few minutes later I got a call from Tenley. She said they had driven out just a little while ago, but she could call someone on the homestead to help me. He also had asked about which direction I was going because the radio had just said something about the McCarthy Road being closed from the Chitina side. I explained I had just come through and it seemed fine to me.
Tim’s brother was there in a few minutes and we were able to back the car up so we didn’t have to jack it up. He got the rock out of the tire, put in a plug and pumped it back up. We got back on the road pretty quickly and were on our way again. We even saw Jubal pass by in the semi on his way back into Palmer after helping to clear the mudslide that morning.
Unfortunately, Ida was tired and didn’t want to fall asleep without a snack, so we had to stop again to feed her. It was getting dark by then and when I started driving I had to go slowly so we wouldn’t slide off the slippery road.
Leah told me to drive faster, but I told her that getting home late is better than sliding off the road and getting stuck in the ditch. Leah said it was probably too late and that we should just stay at a friend’s for the night. I thought we should make it back before nine so I said we wouldn’t need to.
Finally, we made it to the last few miles of the road. We were heading down the bluffs into McCarthy and the girls were both finally asleep in the back. It was just past 8:30 p.m. I passed by the parked excavator and saw where they dug out the mudslide that morning, and then I stopped. Right in front of me was another mudslide. We could not pass. (Insert your best Gandalf Impression here).
“Rick Thomas drove right into the sloppy mudslide and got stuck be- cause it was too dark to see that it was a mudslide. He was able to safely spend the night in his car. ”
Thankfully, the Frosts are on that side of the bluffs, so after not being to get a hold of David, I called them and they said we could come up. When David did call, I told him about the mudslide and he offered to shuttle us home. I told him that it was late, we were safe, and the frozen food was all taken care of. We did end up staying at the friend’s for the night, like Leah had suggested. Their house is now known as the “Mudslide Roadhouse.”
Dan told me that the night before, he had driven back to his house, and just a little while later Bill Lehman couldn’t get past a mudslide where Dan had just driven. Bill had to turn around and go back to Long Lake.
Next Jenny Rosenbaum got stopped by the mudslide, and she was able to stay at Current Ridge Cabins. Finally, Rick Thomas drove right into the sloppy mudslide and got stuck be- cause it was too dark to see that it was a mudslide. He was able to safely spend the night in his car.
Dan also told me that DOT called to ask him to post on the McCarthy Road Facebook page that the road would be closed at the Chokosna Bluffs after 6 p.m. for the night because they didn’t want anyone to get stuck in a bad situation in the dark. Apparently, Tenley had commented that it wasn’t closed. The confusion may have been because she had heard I had been able to get through, but that was before 6.
Finally, on Thursday morning, Keith cleared the mudslide, and we were able to drive through the slippery slush to get home. I had a lot of unpacking to do as well as clean the house. While I brought firewood into the house to fill up our indoor wood cart, I thought that the only positive thing about this half frozen slushy snow on the ground was that I could now use a sled to bring the firewood to the house instead of making lots of trips.
Even though it was a pain to have the delay from the flat tire, it was probably God’s timing because I might have been on the bluff right when the mudslide occurred. Maybe the mud came down slowly, maybe it came down fast, I don’t know. But we are safe at home now and I am thankful. We have lots of neighbors and friends to be thankful for as well.
