Jul 23, 2011 - McCarthy & Kennicott

Sorry about this late addendum but there was a breakdown in communications between the Editor (me) and the reporter (Doris). Go figure. The Ballad of Alyssa Bench. . This is about a boys day out without the girls. It was decided by vote that we boys, John, John and Tony would take a rugged road trip to a copper mining area called McCarthy/ Kennicott. The girls opted out to literally save their butts from a pounding on 60 miles of really bad road each way. We guys were picked up at 8 am by our intrepid driver and guide Alyssa Bench (a...

Jul 21, 2011 - McCarthy and Kennicott - 20 July entry

On Wednesday we drove from Copper Center to McCarthy And Kennicott. This is a drive of about 110 miles each way, 60 miles each way on a gravel road. At the end of the road is are the town of McCarthy and the Kennicott copper mine. The mine is no longer functioning and is the site of a backcountry lodge. The town of McCarthy has a year round population of 25-30 people. It is a neat little town that would look right at home at the turn of the century (19th to 20th). The scenery along the road is spectacular. We crossed the Kuskulana River...

Jun 29, 2011 - Kenny Lake

We traveled the 60 Gravel miles of the Edgerton Highway to the historic copper mining area of McCarthy. The road was on an abandoned railroad bed that connected McCarthy with the sea port of Cordova, Alaska. Te railroad was built in 4 years and traversing 196 miles of Alaska wilderness. There were over 30 miles of trestles and many miles of tunnels. The Kennicott Mine was In operation from 1910 to 1938 closed when the ore vein ran out and the price of copper dropped. The mine is part of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The...

Jul 2, 2008 - Kennicott & Kennecott

The sky was clear when we left Kenny Lake on the 92 mile trip to Kennicott. Our 1st stop was an overlook of the Copper River where we could also take some pictures of the peaks (Mts Drum, Sanford and Wrangell) at the western end of the Wrangell Range. We stopped at the Athna village of Chitina which is the start of the gravel road to Kennicott. It follows an old railroad grade that was abandoned when the Kennecott mine closed and was later deeded to the US Park Service when they purchased the mine property to become a part of the...

Jun 24, 2008 - Kennicott, AK - Root Glacier Hike

Today we did a hike on the Root Glacier. We did the tour with St Elias Guides. We had to meet the shuttle at 8:30am at the footbridge to take us to the guides’ office. We ran across the street to the Glacier Lodge to pick up our bagged lunches. We started the hike with 7 people in our group. We had two guides, Johann and Nidal. The hike began with an easy 2 mile walk to the base of the glacier. About ¼ of the way into the hike, it was evident that Bob, Rick and I were hiking much faster than the rest of the group. Our guides were smart...

Jun 23, 2008 - Kennicott & McCarthy, AK

Today we headed to Kennicott, which is a town in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Kennicott is out there! The closest town (if you want to call it that) is Chitna. There were only a few buildings in Chitna, including an old hotel & restaurant, a gas station and a small store. Chitna is only 60 miles from Kennicott, but via dirt road, it is 2 hours away. Another complicating factor is that Kennicott and McCarthy are located across the Kennicott River. There is a footbridge that only pedestrian traffic can cross. McCarthy is 1 mile from...

Jun 30, 2007 - Day 19: In every life a little rain must fall

It never got all the way dark last night, but it was darker than the past several nights as there were thick gray clouds and they produced intermittent showers. This morning we left the trailer, driving east for the last 5 miles of pavement and then the 59 miles of dirt road to the end of the line. "Dip net" and fish-wheel fishing for king and red salmon is allowed in the Copper River (only by Alaska residents). We saw a huge number of people doing both as we crossed the Copper River. Some of the people were standing in waist to chest-deep...

Jun 20, 2007 - Kennicott Copper Mines

I have read so much about this "side trip" but until you travel it . . . We are driven to Chitina on normal roads. Next, 60 miles on a gravel road crossing a one lane bridge to a footbridge. After crossing the footbridge it's a gravel road into McCarthy and another gravel road to the Kennicott Copper Mines. Total time: Four and one-half hours. The mine was in business from 1912 to 1938. It was then abandoned and it is amazing that these wooden buildings have survived. It is now part of and near the center of Wrangell-St. Elias National...