Our next destination is the very small town of McCarthy and the neighboring Kennecott mine situated in the center of Alaska’s Wrangell-St.Elias National Park and Preserve- the largest national park in the country. In fact, this area is proudly part of the planet’s largest protected area, and is also a World Heritage Site totaling an unbelievable 24 million acres! Glacier Bay National Park also here in Alaska, together with Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park in British Colombia all share this distinction.
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The red hash marks are my best guess of our flightpath from Chitina to McCarthy |
Wild landscapes and a fascinating history of Wrangell-St.Elias are deservedly renowned, hence the National Park was created to preserve these features, plus to honor the traditions of people who live among the park ( that own about a million of its acreage ) that depend on its local resources.
There are a few ways to get there with costs reflecting the ease of which you choose. Free- a foot power-hike the epic traverse for those extremely capable. Bicycling the 60 mile pot-holed gravel and dirt McCarthy road from Chitina is also a low/no cost possibility. Driving is somewhat easier, although 40 of its 59 miles are gravel. Bring a spare tire because flats are common as railroad spikes have been known to work their way up through the gravel from the old buried railroad bed. It is not as bad after 60 million dollars were spent in 2014, making improvements and paving 14 miles of it. Driving is limited to 35mph or slower, so plan on taking a couple of hours. Most car rental agencies,ours included, absolutely won't allow it Now, the easier, but pricey choices; take one of two van shuttle services that will bump you down this beautiful road of unrivaled scenery, or for the most costly yet body-friendly and time efficient, take a 30 minute scenic flight. My choice was to shuttle one-way and fly the other but considering other’s wishes and our schedule, we flew both ways.
Taking a scenic flight somewhere was certainly on our Alaskan bucket list, so we thought doing it here was a good choice.
Since archaeological evidence indicates humans entered this area in 1000 AD, its history is long and interesting. I won’t delve into it here, but will jump to the year 1899 when William Abercombie blazed a new trail from Valdez through the Chugach Mountains and Thompson Pass that made the area accessible.
A year later, prospectors Warner and Smith discovered Kennecott’s uber-rich Bonanza copper deposit. Jumping again over some interesting history, Kennecott became a company town. Most miners lived without their families ( and without booze ) in company housing.
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Internet photo of Kennicott Mines back in the day |
By 1938, after selling a whopping $200 million in ore, the copper deposits were depleted, and the mines as well as the railroad, ceased. Because of the high operation costs, the mill town was abandoned along with everything in it. Dishes on tables, as well as medical records in the hospital, and their mining equipment were left just where they were.
After that, a few people tried to resume mining with not much success, so things were pretty quiet until the 1970’s when tourism began to develop.
Today tourism fuels the majority of the economy in this remote area. People from all over the world visit Kennecott to experience some of the most pristine wilderness left in the world, with the town of McCarthy remaining small, but still the social hub of the area. (The popular bordellos are gone, sorry)
We noticed the majority of the people working there were athletic- looking 20 something year-olds.
We were told to be at the airstrip by 8am, so the campground, Wrangler Mountain RV Park, Dennis found was perfect. We drove a few hundred yards down the hill and parked the RV’s for the next couple of days, trusting they will be safe from theft or vandalism.
While we waited a young couple from Israel joined us. They were on their honeymoon and had flown into Anchorage a few days ago when they learned that the airline had lost all of their luggage! They went to Target and bought a few necessities; back pack, and a few clothes. The young bride could only find what I would describe as glorified “slippers” to wear on her feet as she headed out to a wilderness town surrounded by glaciers. They had pre-paid for a glacier hike that day, we were going the next.
Hmmm….. wow. It took me many months to find hiking shoes and boots that fit my difficult feet, and Norm teases me about how I guard them with my life. I won’t leave them outside the RV for fear someone ( either 2 or 4 legged ) might make off with them. My heavy-duty pair even had a $60 lift made into the sole to compensate for my very slightly shorter leg, which basically makes them (while on vacation) irreplaceable. My sneaker-type hiker had the lift inside the shoe, and could be removed.
So I took a leap of faith asked her what size shoe she wore. When she told me she was close to my size, I did something I thought I would never do – I offered to let this strange couple from a foreign country borrow them so she could do her glacier hike. They were staying in the hotel we were having dinner at that night, so we thought returning them wouldn’t be too difficult. I thought I would do my own little “international relations” good deed- to demonstrate Americans are in fact, a kind people, and that "The Donald" does not represent us! I must say, it felt really good. The newlyweds were so very thank-full.
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One of the two planes landing on this |
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The views were spectacular as we flew beside Mt.Blackburn and over glaciers as well as the Copper River. |
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Note the glacier in top center of picture with the clouds hovering over it. |
When we landed we were promptly met by a driver from the Kennecott Lodge where we had reservations for the next couple of nights.
Removing our hiking gear from the plane, the pilot noticed our bear spray ( don’t leave home without it in bear country ) and went a little crazy. He ranted “You should have told me you had bear spray!”” You can’t take that on-board! If any of it had gone off, we all would have died!” I told him calmly that it was HIS responsibility to ask- we were obviously hikers ( by our gear ) and in bear territory the probability of our carrying spray was probably pretty good! How would we ever know that? I suggested he might make that a question he ask each and every passenger. Anyway, we made it safely, and it was the most glorious of days! With temperatures in the high 70’s, it was a little hot for this part of the world, and the locals were complaining. Global warming, possibly?
We took the hotel’s van along a very narrow, bumpy road to the very lovely hotel, Kennecott Lodge where they held our bags in a side room until check-in time.
Norm and I hurried across the street to Kennicott Wilderness Guides for a pack rafting trip I have been looking forward to for months.( yes, the two spellings of “Kennicott” and “Kennecott” are correct.) Kennecott Mine for some reason spelled it differently from its namesake, Kennicott Glacier. “Kennecott” tends to indicate historic features, where “Kennicott” most often indicated natural features like the glacier, river and valley. It is confusing.
My next entry will detail my long-awaited Pack-raft trip.
