KENNECOTT

The National Park Service acquired most of the ghost town of Kennecott in 1998. It had been designated a National Historical Landmark in 1986. The Park Service immediately starting stabilizing the deteriorating buildings. Most damage was due to the shifting of the permafrost. Because the climate in Alaska does not support the organisms that cause wood to rot, the buildings were/are in amazing condition 100 years plus after being built and 90 years of neglect.

The area can be visited for free but the Park Service has contracted with a private company to provide tours. They have exclusive rights to get into the mill and several other buildings. St. Elias Alpine Guides definitely did not act like the typical monopoly government contractor. They were wonderful. When I booked our tour I was concerned about getting up and out after our long day traveling from MacLaren River to McCarthy so I booked a 3:30 tour. The day of travel turned out easier than I had thought so we got up and out early. After a great breakfast we took the shuttle to Kennecott and I asked the young lady at the tour desk if we could possibly change our tour from 3:30pm to 9:30am. I was very surprised when she said, "That won't be a problem. Just go next door and wait on the deck for your tour guide. She'll be there in about 10 minutes." They only have 4 tours a day and their contract very clearly says that there are no cancellations or changes allowed.

The tour starts on a deck overlooking the huge moraine of the Root Glacier.

I understood that a terminal moraine was a wide swath of dirt and rocks left behind by a retreating glacier. This one is several miles long and wide.
When the town was abandoned the glacier was several hundred feet above the town. Now this moraine is left. 

But I misunderstood what exactly it is. What appears to be piles of dirt is actually a thin layer of dirt and silt on top of close to 1000 ft of ice. This picture shows a place where the dirt has fallen and the ice is visible.

 Several years ago the Park Service was able to bring several of the original residents back to the town. They had been children when they left. All had the same two comments. "It is so quiet." and "Where is the glacier?"

The ore had been brought to the mill by aerial trams from the mines that were several miles up into the mountains. The sole purpose of the mill was to turn basketball sized pieces of ore into powder which could be taken by rail to Cordova and then shipped to the smelter in Tacoma, WA. It was a fourteen story building containing a series of hammers, grinders and other methods of pulverizing the ore. According to the memories of the residents, the noise was beyond comprehension and it went on 24/7. They shut down on two days a year, Christmas and the 4th of July.

The tour included the mill. Most days visitors walk a circuitous route up to the top and walk the stairs down. Since the ore entered at the top and came out the bottom, the tour always starts at the top.

BUT, NPS workers were assessing work to be done to the upper entrance so we walked UP the  14 stories of stairs. Here are just a few of them.

A view from the top.

I've been saying that the size of Alaska just can't be shown in pictures but I'll try again.  Look at the mountains WAY OFF in the distance in the picture above. They top out at about 8000 ft.

Then look at this picture of Mt. Blackburn looking the opposite direction from the same place at the top of the mill building. It's the one covered in ice. It's the same distance away as the ones in the upper picture. It just looks closer because it's twice as tall, over 16,000 ft.

This is the walkway to the upper entrance.

Our tour down the mill took us past massive crushers.

Sorting Tables that literally shook heavier stone away from the copper ore.

As the particles got smaller, the methods got almost delicate. Including a system which suspended ore in a solution of ammonia. Bubbles sent up through the tanks attracted the tiny particles of copper and they were separated from the ore.

One of the ammonia leaching tanks.

The mill was powered by steam, which was also used to generate electricity as well as heating the entire town.







One of the three furnaces, set up to burn wood, coal or oil.

All three of them.

The Park Service is working to stabilize the buildings. Here is the attempt to shore up the lower level of the mill.

Supplies to support the entire town came from Cordova via train. As many as 300 people lived in town with another 300 miners living full time at the mines. The company store provided for all of them. It h as been recreated by the Park Service.

Just three of 15 or so rooms of the store. These are the front with food products.

The back rooms had room after room of bins and shelves with hundreds of sizes and varieties of bolts and nuts, screws, mine hardware, etc. etc. etc.  And no computers to keep inventory.

Thanks to the kindness of the tour company, we finished the tour with lots of time to hike to the face of the Root Glacier. The short version took us along the moraine to a view of an area where the glacier was overriding the moraine.

Through the woods past crystal clear streams from which we collected bottles for later.

 Beautiful wildflowers

Another view of Mt. Blackburn. Even with the peak in the clouds it's still impressive.

Views of the mill from the glacier trail.

Fourteen stories up, fourteen stories down, 2 mile hike. Finn was ready to chill.

The rest of us had built up quite an appetite. Back in McCarthy, to "The Bistro." You would not expect to find fine dining in a town of 32 full time residents, 100+ miles from the nearest store, The Bistro is listed as one, with many 5 star ratings inn Trip Advisor, Yelp and others. More than a little skeptical, we showed up when they opened for dinner and were one of three tables seated, A little surprised when THE waitress told us that she could seat us but it would be 15 minutes or so before she could help us. As we watched her, we understood why. The "menu" was a blackboard with very basic listings of selections. "halibut", "duck", "bison steak". We had seen this outside before they opened but now the waitress sits it on a chair and describes each item in excruciating detail. Then she answers questions until the patron decides. Unfortunately she was soft spoken so we could not eavesdrop on the other diners. Just as I was about to suggest we leave, someone from the kitchen placed this on our table.

Salmon cream puff on rye toast.

"With the compliments of the chef." 



As we finished the appetizer our waitress arrived with her chalkboard.

Halibut with gratin and roasted Brussels sprouts.

Duck breast with Alaskan barley couscous and beets.

Lamb chops with new red potatoes and carrots. And pansies which are edible of course.

  Jasmine Tea Creme Brulee

Orange flourless almond tart with chocolate sorbet and caramel sauce.

Trio of sorbet with fresh berries.

We did not partake of the extensive wine list or even longer list of specialty cocktails so our total bill, with tip was under $200.00.  Keeping in mind that we have been paying $15-$18 for burgers this was an extreme bargain. In the middle of the largest National Park in the country. A great ending for this part of our trip.

Tomorrow we head to what AirBnB calls an "Historic Alaskan Homestead Retreat." With our experiences so far, we're not sure what that means.

McCARTHY --- The REAL ALASKA

In 1900 two prospectors discovered the largest deposit of copper ever found. After a few years of negotiating, scheming and backroom plots the Kennecott Mining Company emerged and built the company town of Kennecott, AK. A railroad was built to take the ore to the port of Cordova. An engineering marvel, it covered 196 miles of virtually unexplored wilderness. It included over 1300 bridges, including the "Million Dollar Bridge".

A company town meant that no alcohol or unsavory recreation was allowed. So McCarthy, about 5 miles away, grew to provide bars and brothels. In 1938, facing a declining quality of ore, the mining company closed. Not wanting workers to slack off before the closing, management did not tell anyone that the mine was closing  until the last train was ready to leave. Given just a few hours to prepare, all the workers and their families got on the train with what they could carry. The company paid a couple of security guards and their families to stay.

"Discovered" by young adventurers after the area was made Wrangling-St Elias National Park, Kennecott became a tourist attraction while McCarthy grew to a town of 32 year round residents. Leaving the paved road at Chitina, which itself is out of the way, it's about 60 miles along the abandoned rail bed to a footbridge across the Kennicott River. I did not make a spelling error. The town - with an "e" was named after the glacier and river - with an "i" but was misspelled in an early record and the error became the name of record.

The end of the paved road.

Our first moose sighting since Mama and baby in Kris' back yard.

For two sisters who are afraid of heights, this sign was not reassuring.

Nor did the view off in the distance.

Confidence levels did not increase as we got closer.

Don't look down.

Oh wait - it gets better, that was just the first one.

False alarm. We do not have to drive over this one. Interesting, though - built in the winter of 1911, it spans 180 feet and is 90 feet high. It was built in 11 days.

Here is the Main Street of McCarthy.

The Upscale digs.

I didn't spring for luxury. Here's our home for the next two nights.

Our room is on the second floor. But the bathroom is on the first. Outdoors, down the stairs and back inside. But there are 9 rooms total and 2 lavatories and two shower rooms so usually no wait.

Two of the other 8 buildings in town.

From McCarthy's colorful past. I believe the brothel is gone (I didn't ask), but the saloon survived.

Although our tour of Kennecott is scheduled for 3:30 our plan is to get up and out early and hope to get a morning tour so we can walk the rest of the area during the afternoon.