Page 55 - eatg

Chistochina began as an Ahtna Athabaskan fish
camp and a stopover place for traders and trappers. SPARKS GENERAL STORE
The village access road later became part of the
Valdez-Eagle Trail, constructed by miners during Alaska’s One-Stop Shop for Everything—and Then Some
the gold rush to the Eagle area in 1897. Chistochina
Lodge was built as a roadhouse for prospectors. The Women in Business she’s the first to admit that running a store is a welcome
Trail was used for construction of U.S. Army Signal change of pace. “Let’s just say, you don’t have to deal with
Corps telegraph lines from Valdez to Eagle between Alice other people’s kids anymore,” she jokes.
A Little Bit of Everything
1901 and 1904. What exactly does Sparks General Store carry? The
better question might be—what doesn’t it? With inventory
ranging from electronics and groceries to toys, towels,
AT SLANA housewares, blankets, sleeping bags, and even fishing
JCT. TOK CUT OFF 1 & NABESNA ROAD gear, it’s a place where locals and visitors alike can find
exactly what they didn’t know they needed. In the summer
TO WRANGELL-ST. ELIAS months, the store becomes a pit stop for tourists heading
out to fish, camp, or explore the Alaskan wilderness.
“We’ve got what you need for the outdoors: sleeping
Slana bags, fishing gear, snacks—you name it.”
And despite the wild and remote setting, the most
Location: At the head of the Nabesna Road on popular item? “Cell phone chargers,” Cherie laughs.
Glenn Highway #1/Tok Cut-off; 65 miles south “People are out in the wilds of Alaska, but they want to
of Tok and 60 miles north of Glennallen. charge their phones.”
From reindeer sausage pizza to cell phone chargers, Pizza, Ice Cream, and Homemade Love
this family-run general store in Glennallen, Alaska has been But Sparks General Store is perhaps best known for
The area along the Nabesna Road offers good serving the community with heart and resourcefulness its made-to-order pizza—featuring toppings like Alaskan
fishing and hiking and provides access to Wrangell-St since 1997. reindeer sausage—and its ice cream sandwiches, lovingly
Elias National Park. Information is available from the When you walk into Sparks General Store, it’s not crafted by Cherie. “I bake all the cookies—chocolate chip,
National Park Service Ranger Station at Slana. just the aroma of fresh pizza or the sight of homemade molasses, lemon, blueberry cheesecake—and fill them
with soft-serve vanilla or chocolate ice cream,” she says.
ice cream sandwiches that grabs your attention—it’s the
sheer range of things you can find. Nestled in a small The combination of savory and sweet keeps customers
Wrangell-St. Elias Alaskan town, the store isn’t just a retail space. It’s a local coming back—and lingering. “People will say, ‘I stopped in
landmark, a traveler’s haven, and a beloved community
to grab something, and now I’ve been here for two hours.’
National Park and Preserve hub all rolled into one. And I just say, ‘Yep, that happens!’”
Owned and operated by Cherie and her husband Jim,
Steady and Strong in Small-Town Alaska
In a world of big-box stores and online shopping,
Wrangell-St. Elias is located in the extreme the store has been in business for nearly 30 years. What Sparks General Store remains rooted in community and
began as a small operation in the corner of her parents’
southeast corner of the state along the Alaska/Yukon former hobby and Radio Shack shop has since grown into the store is exactly the right size for what it needs to be:
boundary and is bordered in part on the west by a 50,000-square-foot treasure trove. accessible, inviting, and full of surprises.
Richardson Hwy #4, Edgerton Hwy #10 and Tok A Store Born from a Need When asked what it takes to keep a business going for
“We started the store because there was a need,”
Cutoff/Glenn Hwy #1. The region is characterized by says Cherie. “We didn’t want people to have to drive all 30 years, Cherie replied, “Well, you got to work, you got
to do something, so you just work hard and keep going.”
remote mountains and valleys, gigantic glaciers, wild the way to Anchorage just to get something basic. So we That simple but powerful attitude is part of what makes
rivers, and an abundant variety of wildlife. Together became that in-between place—if you forgot something Sparks General Store more than a place to shop. It’s a local
with the three contiguous preserves of Glacier Bay or left it somewhere, we’ve got you covered.” legacy—fueled by home-baked cookies, small-town heart,
Before opening the store, Cherie drove a school bus
and the kind of everything-you-need spirit that defines
National Park, Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park, for 17 years. While that job came with its own rewards, Alaska.
and Kluane National Park, this United Nations
designated World Heritage Site encompasses over
24 million acres, the largest internationally protected
terrestrial ecosystem on the planet.
The Chugach, Wrangell, and St. Elias mountain
ranges converge here with the eastern end of the Alaska
Range in what is often referred to as the “mountain
kingdom of North America.” A day’s drive from
Anchorage, the biggest National Park in the country
encompasses the continent’s largest assemblage of
glaciers and nine of the sixteen highest peaks in the
US. At over 18,000 feet, Mount St. Elias is second in
height only to Denali, while Mt. Wrangell is one of
the largest active volcanoes in North America. One of
many, the Malaspina Glacier flows out of the St. Elias
range in a mass larger than Rhode Island; trees sprout
and grow to maturity in the silt on top of the glacier.
Only two roads lead directly into the park: Nabesna
Road, a 45-mile gravel road that begins at Slana, and
the Edgerton Hwy/McCarthy Road, which is accessed
from the Richardson Hwy, 81 miles north of Valdez.
The Park has six visitor contact points staffed by
professional interpretive rangers who can assist with a
variety of services. The Wrangell-St. Elias NP Visitor Station is located at Mile 33 of the Edgerton Hwy; Richardson Highway #4
Center is located at Mile 106.8 on the Richardson phone: (907) 823-2205. The Slana Ranger Station is The first major road built in Alaska, the 360-mile
Hwy #4 between Glennallen and Copper Center; located at start of the Nabesna Road near Slana on long Richardson Highway runs as Alaska Route 4
phone: (907) 822-7440. Open year round, the Center Hwy 1; phone: (907) 822-5238. from Valdez to Delta Junction and as Alaska Route
has a theater, exhibits, a nature walk, and bookstore. The Yakutat Ranger Station is located in the 2 from there to Fairbanks. In 1898, to provide an
In the town of McCarthy at the end of the McCarthy town of Yakutat, accessible only by boat or plane, in “all-American” route to the Klondike gold fields, the
Road leading east from Chitina on the Edgerton Hwy, Tongass National Forest to the southeast of the Park; US Army constructed a 409-mile pack trail from the
a National Park Service kiosk is open daily in the phone: (907) 784-3295. port of Old Valdez (which lay about 4 miles east of
summer. Five miles beyond McCarthy, the Kennecott present-day Valdez prior to being destroyed in the
Visitor Center is located in the historic general store at AT GLENNALLEN 1964 Good Friday Earthquake) to Eagle near the
the site of the Kennecott National Historic Landmark. JCT. GLENN HWY 1 / TOK CUT OFF & Yukon border. After the rush ended, the Army kept
Kennecott includes the land, mining claims, and mill RICHARDSON HWY 4 SOUTH TO VALDEZ & the trail open in order to connect its posts near the
town that formed the foundation of Kennecott Copper PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND two towns.
until 1938 when the site closed. The Chitina Ranger The 1902 Fairbanks gold rush and the construction
157