Kennecott, AK

Today we are driving the Haines Highway, heading toward Tok. We are driving through mountain passes...it is overcast today and the views are obscured. I know there is beautiful snow capped mountains out there, but we cannot enjoy them. Later in the day we get into the "boreal forest". Which Don says is just a swamp. The "forest" is made up of stunted black spruce trees...you would be stunted too, if you had to live here. The winters are gnarly with major sub-zero temperatures. The trees are quite short and look more dead than alive.

This is where we got into the "frost heaves", road degradation, and lots of gravel. Frost heaves happen due to the freezing and thawing of the ground under the asphalt. When the ground freezes it expands and then does the opposite when it thaws. Makes for a very unstable road. There are signs warning you they are coming up, and sometimes flagging out for the really bad parts. This makes for slow going and we only did about 300 miles today. Both Canada and Alaska have tried different things to try to overcome this condition. They conduct experimental solutions which we saw at different places along the drive. Canada does a better job at trying to let you know you are approaching a frost heave area than Alaska. Pulling a trailer makes it very imperative that you take it slow.

Our drive today took us back into Canada. We stopped in Haines Junction for lunch at the Village Bakery. It was late in the afternoon and the choices were slim. We split the remaining soup of the day and had some wraps. Not a bad little place tucked away out in the middle of nowhere. Why would anyone live out here? We ask ourselves that question quite a bit as we drive through this vast wilderness.

There are lots of ponds next to the road on this part is the drive and we saw a pair of swans with a signet in one of them. We can't see the mountains around us, but we can see swans!!

We keep driving and decide to keep going until we get too tired. We get back into the USA and after driving a bit longer pull off the road to a turn out. There is vegetation between us and the road, so we feel safe. There is lots of construction vehicles parked around, so we will get up early and get out of there before work on the road begins in the morning.

Thursday, July 15.

We wake up to the sound of a dorsal engine idling...oops. We slept through the alarm and there's a workman outside warming up one of the trucks. We quickly pull it together and take off. Same ol', same ol'...lots more crummy road slowing progress and crummy weather obscuring views. After about an hour we pull into Tok. Drive through town to see what is there (takes about 30 seconds) and decide to eat breakfast at the "Grumpy Grizz". This is a true "Mom and Pop" place. Mom, the only waitress and Pop, the only cook. Food was fair, very limited menu...eggs, hash browns, cheese, bacon or ham. Veggies? No. Egg whites? No. Bummer. This is the first place I have been in a very long time that still had a smoking section. It took me until after "Mom" had brought us menus that I figured out what that smell was that was irritating me. I didn't want to embarrass "Mom", so we stayed. That won't happen again.

After breakfast we went into the Tok Visitor Center. The big talk was that the road was closed to Dawson, a big tourist area, because of all the rain. Hit the grocery store next and filled up with gas and we were on our way again!

We hadn't gone all that far when we saw our first moose!! Stopped to take pics. Then not that much further along we saw our 2nd moose!! She was standing beside a creek and we were able to watch her for quite a while. Fun!!

Driving, driving, driving...still maneuvering around the frost heaves. Boy, if you hit on of those without being ready for it, the car goes up and the trailer goes down and it throws you all over the place! Those things are nasty! We enter Wrangell-St.Elias Nat'l Park and stop at the Visitor's Center. This is the largest national park in the US...6 times the size of Yellowstone. It is dominated by the volcanic Wrangell Mountains and the glaciated St. Elias Range. This park has 9 of the 16 highest mountains in the US. This park contains remnants of historic mining sites (which is why we are stopping) and harbors a wealth of wildlife. Most of this park is accessed by plane (flight-seeing tours available) since roads are few...less than 120 miles of unpaved roads total. This visitor's center looks like a relatively new facility and is very nice. We enjoy walking through it and gathering free info for the rest of our journey in Alaska. It is getting to be late in the afternoon and Don is getting anxious about finding a campsite. He is hoping to get into a free campground for the next two nights while we are visiting McCarthy and Kennecott. We have a 50 plus mile drive on a dirt road to get to McCarthy. The Copper River Water Dept. Campground is at the end of the paved road which will be convenient for our drive tomorrow when we go see McCarthy and Kennecott. Don is happy when we pull into the campground and find a campsite! Being a free campground means no hookups, but there are pit toilets and water that is recommended to be boiled before using. Fortunately we planned ahead and had put water in our water tank in the trailer when we were in Haines. And I don't need to use the pit toilets...I love our Casita!!! Everyone in the campground except us are Alaskans. They are here to fish for salmon. They are allowed to use dip nets and fish traps...this is called "subsistence fishing". It is not done for sport, but for food...stocking the freezer with fish for the rest of the year. People actually bring propane powered freezers with them to the campground! These people are here not for partying but for purpose.

The fish traps were interesting to see. They are out in the river working like little water wheels with nets that scoop up the poor unsuspecting salmon. Very interesting!

Kennecott, July, 16

Our day starts early with a quick breakfast so that we can make the 60 mile drive on the dirt road to McCarthy. Homesteaded in 1906, McCarthy was a lively rest and supply town for workers at the Kennecott Mine in the early 1900s. During WWI, the rise in copper prices boosted McCarthy's economy. The town declined in 1938 when the mines and railway closed down, but it's fortunes revived in the 1980s with the creation of the Wrangell-St. Elias Nat'l Park. This scenic little town retains much of it's original flavor due to the well-preserved and restored buildings, some of which are still in use. This place reminded us of a throw back hippy hangout of the 60s.

This dirt road follows the old railroad bed of the rail system that was the only wheeled access to the Kennecott mine. We crossed over some really cool bridges that actually made me nervous since they were so high up.

After finding a parking spot in a free space (Don was happy) we walk about a half mile into McCarthy to catch a shuttle (which they charge for...Don was not happy) for the 5 mile ride to Kennecott. Since we got there early, we check out the town. Find Mr. Potatohead Espresso!! a snack shack attached to a roach wagon...with the owner's Mr. Potatohead Collection lining the window sills. Way fun!! We were served very good caps and had a nice early chat with the owner/barista. Then off we go to catch the shuttle.

Overlooking the spectacular Kennecott Glacier, Kennecott is a fascinating historical attraction. In 1900, while exploring the mountain east of the glacier, prospectors Clarence Warner and "Tarantula Jack" Smith discovered some of the richest deposits of copper ever found. Mining engineer Stephen Birch convinced wealthy East Coast families to finance the completion of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway to transport ore to Cordova. Over the years, nearly $200 million in copper was mined, but declining copper deposits and the high cost of railway maintenance led to the closure of the mine in 1938. Kennecott was left abandoned for many years. It is in a state of arrested decay. The Nat'l Park Service has purchased much of what is left and is doing a fabulous job of restoring many of the structures. The general store is the visitor's center so after securing tickets for the mill tour, we head there. This is one of the buildings that has been fully restored and is stocked with period items. Don enjoys talking to the docent who is very knowledgable. Off we go to watch a short movie about Kennecott, which was very informative. In the time we have before our tour we check out the town.

We were able to go into the power house building. Power for Kennecott was generated by the large power plant which overlooks Kennecott Glacier. In this now partially restored building, four coal-fired steam boilers and two diesel generators provided enough steam and electricity for the entire mining operation. Very interesting. The tour into the mill building was the highlight. The mill is the most striking building in town. It was around 14 stories tall working it's way up the side of the mountain. We started our tour from the top and worked our way down. The view from the top was incredible. Our tour guide,Julie, was doing her first tour...we were the guinea pigs. She did ok, but she still has a lot to learn. Don was disappointed...he was hoping that the guide would be able to explain all of the workings of the machinery in there, but poor Julie didn't know that kind of info. It was still great to be able to be in the building...kind of scary. It is a very old building with lots of incredibly heavy equipment and machinery in it. Very interesting!! We were very glad we took the time to go there.

Caught a very packed shuttle back to McCarthy and went in to the little museum there. The McCarthy-Kennecott Museum is housed in the old Railway Depot. It features historic photographs and artifacts from the two towns. The curator was very interesting and we talked with her for quite a long time. Learned quite a bit more about the area. Before walking back to the car we hit Mr. Potatohead for a bit to eat...good food, funky place...so McCarthy.

This was a great day. We really enjoyed this side trip and would recommend it to everyone!!