Why We Live Here
Photo by Hannah Rowland
Hannah Rowland - CRR Staff
This fall, CBS Saturday Morning did a special news spotlight on Wrangell St. Elias National Park and the town of McCarthy/Kennecott. They stated that those who live in the area as their main residence “Are convinced the best way to live is far away from everyone else.”
As I watched the rest of the news clip and after I couldn’t shake off the remark that was completely inaccurate. I know this is definitely not the reason why I live in McCarthy, and I believe there are others here who would say the same. So I decided to share some of the reasons why we live here.
McCarthy certainly is not far away from “everyone else”; it’s just far away from the city. Many people come to McCarthy in the summer, filling the town with loud music throughout the long nights and packing hiking trails and buses full of groups from around the world.
And even though McCarthy and Kennecott are a popular tourist attraction, the streets are thankfully not filled with people trying to sell you cheap trinkets or expensive sketches of you as a cartoon in front of the Mill Building (our version of the Eiffel Tower). Over 300 people live in the area for summer work, but the “full time” population for McCarthy is supposedly anywhere from 45 people to 100.
I first moved to McCarthy as a “full time” resident after my husband David and I graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) with our civil engineering degrees. David grew up in McCarthy with his family, working on local construction jobs in the area.
David had the opportunity to apply for an engineering job with the state in Juneau, but he wasn’t really looking forward to working at a desk for most of the day. In McCarthy, he had a logging business to go back to and he wanted to take over the main family construction business as well. David had also purchased property in McCarthy and we had built a small cabin on it together, so we already had a place to live.
For me, I like to be a part of a community. I like to get together with others, whether it’s playing a board game, eating good food, or going on a workout together. I also like to exercise outside. Skiing is my favorite outdoor activity. In high school and college, I competed as a Nordic Skier, and I like the feeling of satisfaction after a good workout.
Photo by Hannah Rowland
Even though Juneau was a city that offered a larger community, I had heard that the weather is mostly rainy in the winter and not as snowy. A wet, sloppy winter was not something I really longed for. On the other hand, McCarthy has a fair amount of snow in the winter. I would be miserable in the winter if I couldn’t go skiing.
Since we decided to move here “full time” (and I say it in quotes because in order to live here you need to leave to go to another city for groceries, appointments, medical needs, etc...), I have come to realize there are other reasons why I live here as well.
I have family in Eagle River, and we mostly go there for our trips. I enjoy having the space of our own, away from family pressures, but it is also fun to go visit with them when we go to “town.” We see them more often than we would if we had moved to another town that had those things we go to Anchorage for.
Some of the other reasons I live here is because I enjoy having a couple acres to ourselves, instead of just a small little plot in a neighborhood with a house and fenced in backyard. When I was a child, my sister and I would play outside in the snow in our yard and make snow forts, but when the snow plow came it would sometimes knock it down. Here, we ironically are the ones who snowplow when people hire us to. But we also have a lot more places on our property where we can play in the snow.
I have also found that willow bushes make great snow fort supports and when they get covered in snow all you must do is make a hole for the door. We have quite the winter wonderland when it comes to snow willow forts and snow slides. Leah and I have lots of fun together in the snow.
Winter transportation is fun! The roads in McCarthy are not plowed down to the dirt in the winter, and many people use a snow machine to get around instead of a truck or car. This is nice because you always have your warm winter gear on if you get stuck and it also works great because not everyone gets their driveway plowed. This also means that I don’t need to drive to go skiing. I can just put on my skis on our driveway and go. I also enjoy driving a snow machine and I like to be towed on my downhill skis as well.
It is beautiful! When I go outside and get to a lookout spot, I see more of what God made and hear more of what God made, and less of what man has made. I get to discover things about His character through what He has made around us.
The glacier is a massive expanse, filled with mysteries and wonder, and in the winter it shows its inner beauty through unique ice crystals on a cave ceiling or a huge layer of rock in the middle of the ice. There is a lot to discover out here. You just have to open your eyes and listen.
Photo by Hannah Rowland
The community is “unplugged.” A lot of people who live out here don’t live life based on how many likes or dislikes they have on their social media posts. Most people don’t even have a social media account. Out here, people are meeting their physical needs and want to get away from the chaos of the internet.
For some visitors it is a pain that not all phone carriers have service out here. Others enjoy the relief from receiving all the notifications they constantly get. For those of us who live here, we mostly have a phone service that works because it is important to communicate with others, but I think most of us use our phones as tools and aren’t on them constantly.
If I went into detail about the other reasons I enjoy living in McCarthy, this would be a very long article, so I’ll try to just list some other reasons: I like to garden, and it’s important when you can’t always get fresh veggies from a local store. I appreciate harvesting wild game and berries. I don’t need to wear makeup to be respected as a qualified worker.
I enjoy watching the wildlife as it lives among us, the lynx, foxes, owls, wolves. Even bears can be fun to watch when you are safe inside your house. We have potlucks every Sunday we get together for church service. I meet people from all over the world. We don’t have light pollution to block out the view of the Aurora. And life is mostly always an adventure when you put down your office work and housework and get outside.
Photo by Hannah Rowland
I have asked a few other people about their highlights to life out here as well. Greg Runyan said putting his skis on right outside his front door and going for a ski is a key highlight to his life in McCarthy.
Megan and Matt Seifert shared, “For us the quiet solitude is really important and one of the things we value most. We like living with the seasons and building our life here with our own hands: dreaming up a system and creating it, growing food, providing for ourselves. Good access to the mountains for skiing, hiking, and climbing is one of the most important for sure.” Matty said: “I don’t think I have, the best way to live” because that’s not a thing that exists. We all have different needs and desires for our lives.”
Laurie Rowland said, “Contrary to the CBS stereotype, I think it’s ALL about the people!!”
Life in McCarthy is life on the frontier. While the small community of McCarthy lives through the winter months, there are many tasks that need to get done to stay warm and healthy in the cold. Of course, these tasks can be done in the summer too, but most of us must set aside our own physical needs and earn a living during the “work season.” Our chores take most of our time and energy, leaving not too much time or energy left to socialize. Life in the winter here is hard, but it is also rewarding.
It is especially hard when lots of people who earn a living out here leave for the winter and spend their money elsewhere, investing in another economy instead of our own. I enjoy the ruggedness of our town, but it could benefit from a more stable community as well.
The times I think it would be better to live in town are when I long for a regular children’s learning group to get together during the week and the ability to have a more regular workout time. Mentally and physically I would improve with the availability for me to get an hour away from the children each day to get a good workout in, but currently my opportunities allow for a half hour once or twice a week outside and maybe some indoor bikes with the children while they play inside. In the past I was able to ski pulling Leah when she was a baby, but it is harder to work out while pulling 2 or more with you. ( I also really miss how a piston bully can groom the trail so the snow is fast to ski on).
Currently lots of families leave in order to educate their children. When I start homeschooling Leah I would like to encourage others to join us, and hopefully we can start a homeschool co-op. As for the workouts, I need to make it a priority to take my chances when I have them and “seize the hour” (or half hour) I get to go on a run or ski.
And even though the community might seem lacking, you usually can find help when you need it. Plugging a leaky tire, cutting a tree out of the road, and having a warm place to stay while waiting for a mudslide to be cleared, etc... While it may be hard to realize that there is a community in McCarthy, when you consider what the community does to look out for each other, you really start to feel at home.
