MONDAY,
JULY 29:
Another
bright, warm, gorgeous day. Made
breakfast in the kitchen when we could tear our eyes away from the intoxicating
view outside.
Another
party came in (mother & adult daughter, later joined by their respective
husbands). They were bemoaning the fact
that their vehicle had an entirely flat tire.
They deduced that they must have run over something on good ole’
McCarthy Road, and it caused a slow leak. Brad & Jamie were putting their heads
together, seeing if their generator could work.
We gave them our cell number and told them that if all else failed, we’d
be heading back to Glennallen tonight, and could give one or two of them a
ride. They were very appreciative.
This was our day to explore McCarthy’s sister town
of Kennecott (still within the National Park).
It’s 4 miles up the road, so we took the shuttle. Kennecott is an another old mining town – but
this time copper. The largest copper deposits
in the world were found here 1900. We
heard the fascinating story from a young, animated Ranger of a brash,
determined, visionary young mining engineer named Stephen Birch who found out
about the discovery, became convinced he could make his fortune off the copper
here, bought up all the existing dozen claims, and influenced financial
powerhouses Guggenheim and J. P. Morgan to finance him in building a mine and processing mill. He named the mining operation the
Kennecott Copper Corporation, after the nearby glacier. A railroad was built to transport the ore to
Cordova, on the coast, where it could be shipped to a smelter in Tacoma WA,
owned by one of his investors. The
railway was constructed by the same man who built the White River RR in Skagway. Over the next 35 years or so, nearly $300
million worth of copper (in early 1900 prices) was taken from here.
When the
mine closed in 1938 due to nearly all of the copper having been extracted, and
the price of copper falling, about 100 buildings were here. At its height, the mining operation and camp
employed and housed about 600 people. When it closed, nearly everything was just
left – from silverware and dining tables to mining equipment. So now we have an extraordinary relic of
early 1900 mining life, which help tell another chapter in Alaskan exploration
and westward expansion. The Kennecott
Mining Co went on to acquire mines all over Southwestern U.S. and South
America. It’s a public company which is
still going strong today, begun here in total wilderness. Fascinating story. Once again, kudos and thank you to the NPS
which is doing the necessary work to preserve these impressive structures & artifacts.
Close-up of how the mill structure was constructed to send the 1,200 tons of ore each day through a series of crushers and sorters, using gravity and water to move the rock from one process to the next. These sequential processes, plus the constant development of new mining technques, account for the tinker toy, haphazaard look of the mill. It's the tallest existing wooden building in the world:
Stopped on a big rock to eat our PB & J’s. We decided to not walk all the way down to the glacier itself, as we were getting tired, and had just been on a glacier 2 days before. And we knew we had that long drive home ahead of us. But stopped to smell the flowers on the way!
As we walked around the last bend in the trail on
the way back, first thing we saw was the iconic mill, this time from a
different angle.
By the
time we got back to Kennecott itself, we were very warm – and tired. Don’t’ know what the high temperature was,
but first time in a long time I’ve worked up a sweat! Collapsed by the pizza bus, got a couple of
cold sodas, and 2 Hagen-Dazs cream cups.
Only flavor they had left was strawberry, and it was the BEST strawberry
ice cream I’ve ever had!
In a few minutes, Jeremy and his mom came walking up
to the bus. We’d run into them twice
earlier – once at the Ranger talk, and once on the Root Glacier trail. Nice people.
Caught the shuttle down to the footbridge,
walked to the lodge, gave poor Pappy a big bowl of water, and headed home. We stopped a couple of times to take some
pictures of memorable moments along the Copper River and her tributaries.
Crossing some 250 feet over a rushing river:
Looking back on same:
But we wouldn’t have not gone on this side
excursion to Wrangell-St. Elias for anything. Got to see unparalleled wilderness majesty,
from on the ground and high up. Got to
see and learn more of Alaska’s and our country’s history. Got to experience another taste of the “true Alaska.” And we got to sense God’s protection and
lavish care for us . . . not just surviving McCarthy Road with no mishaps to
the truck. But also opening and
preparing the way for our little journey into the wilderness . . . giving us
perfectly clear sunny weather (as our pilot said, “It’s great to not have to
tell people, ‘Now, imagine that there’s a 12,000 ft mountain beside us, through
the clouds . . .’”) . . . mysteriously guiding us to the perfect place to stay
– out of all the places I called, this one had an unbeatable view, plus within
walking distance of the footbridge.
Otherwise, if we’d have stayed at a B&B or cottage further out of
town, we’d have had to drive the truck in and paid at the privately-owned parking
lot by the bridge to leave our vehicle for the day. So many undeserved blessings, big and little.
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