Wrangell St. Elias National Park

As with the previous mornings, I was up and around earlier than David.  The morning greeted us with bright sunny skies; the RV was a balmy 62F.  I say “balmy” because during our time in Denali National Park, we woke up to morning temps in the range of 50 to 54F.  While comfortable for sleeping (under mountains of blankets), we did have to turn on the heat in order to take showers and get dressed.   Our routine was basically that once I was up for a while, I would turn on the heat to knock the cold out of the air before David got up.  In Denali we couldn’t start the generator until 8am, which timed things pretty well in terms of starting the hot water heater.  Cooking didn’t require the generator, so we could have breakfast while the hot water heated up for showers.

One of the nice things about camping is that you don’t really have to take a full shower every day.  Cool days and nights, made it possible to go a couple of days between showers.  I know some people who feel they must fully bathe every day, but thankfully, growing up camping and enjoying it well into my adult life, I’m not one of those people.  I have also found as I have aged, that my hair is much better off when I only wash it every other day.

We pulled out of the Matanuska State Recreation Area heading east on the Glenn Highway, with plans for our next stop at the Wrangell-St Elias National Park visitor center on the Richardson Highway.  The drive east on the Richardson Highway was outstanding.  The sky was accented with puffy clouds off in the distance, framing the beautiful Wrangell Mountain Range   The snow-topped peaks could be seen for the entire length of the sky.

 

When we arrived, we took the obligatory photo with the park sign and our Timeshare Users Group – TUG banner.  We’ve been taking the TUG banner on timeshare related vacations for nearly ten years, and we’ve enjoyed the timeshare stories that come from bartering our timeshare in Hawaii for use of the Winnebago in Alaska. 

After spending some time checking out the cultural exhibits and viewing a short 22 minute video, we climbed back into the RV and continued on towards Chitina, our final destination for the evening.  The Edgerton Highway connects the Richardson to Chitina and beyond to McCarthy.   The Edgerton was under significant construction as they were completely repaving the road.  Our 2009 edition of “The Milepost” forewarned of severe road damage from heaves.  We had joked that hopefully by now they had fixed that.  Apparently not, as that seem to be the project in progress.  It took us a little over an hour to traverse the 33 miles to Chitina.

Boondocking near Chitina

We opted to not take the RV beyond Chitina, as the remaining 66 to McCarthy is along an old railroad trail.  Many vehicles have had tires ruined by railroad spike punctures, so that was a risk we were not willing to take with someone else’s vehicle.  In Chitina, we turned around and drove in front of the US Park Service’s ranger station for the Wrangell-St Elias National Park.  In the drive leading up to their rustic log cabin, was a large pile of what looked to be relatively fresh bear scat.

The following morning we were scheduled to take the 9:05am Wrangell Air flight from Chitina to McCarthy in order to visit the old mining town of Kennecott.  So rather than staying in town, we headed back towards the Chitina Airport with plans to boondock with the RV at the Three Mile Lake, located in the canyon.

Our view was serene as the winds whipped through the canyon.  I frequently glanced out the big window of the living around of the RV, in hopes of seeing some wildlife. We settled in for a dinner of turkey sandwiches and movies on the laptop.  By 9:00pm it was time for bed.  It was another great day in the Alaskan wilderness, with picture perfect weather, warm enough for shorts and a tee-shirt!

The canyon had an insulating effect, keeping the day’s warmth in its valley.  When we woke up on Saturday morning it was a very comfortable 62F.  We had been waking up around 6:30 to 7:00am and this day was no different.  We ate a light breakfast in preparation for our 9:00am flight from Chitina to McCarthy.  The skies were crystal blue, with very few clouds around the snow covered mountains in the distance.  It was going to be a perfect day for flightseeing over the glacier fields of Wrangell St. Elias National Park.

At the Chitina Airport we watched our Wrangell Mountain Air plane arrive with the day’s first passengers returning from their overnight stay in Kennicott/McCarthy.  Actually two planes arrived within minutes of one another.  The larger of the two, seating five passengers, arrive first, followed by a smaller four seater.  Awaiting flights into McCarthy there were eight of us, David & me; plus two groups of three.  We were easily divided up and ready to load.

David got to sit up front in the co-pilot’s chair.  His only instruction to David was “If it looks important, don’t touch it.”  I was seated on the opposite side of the plane, with a wonderful view of the mountains and glaciers.  Our pilot Bill did a nice narration of what we were seeing, and because of the extra nice flying conditions, provided a bit more in terms of flying time around the glaciers with a historical overview of the area and scientific explanation about the formation and current condition of the glaciers.  It was very interesting.  The scenery was spectacular as was the overall flying conditions.

Upon arrival in McCarthy, we were met by the Kennecott-McCarthy Shuttle who would get us down into the town of McCarthy.  There we were able to get a short orientation of the two towns, Kennecott and McCarthy plus pick up our shuttle tickets for the van service that would get it over to the neighboring ghost town of Kennecott and the Kennecott Copper Mill and at the end of the day, down to the footbridge across the river where we’d pick up our 4:30pm scheduled van shuttle back to Chitina.

McCarthy was a small place with about as many friendly dogs seen around town as people.  There was a hotel in the center of town, a saloon and art gallery.  On the way into town, we passed the McCarthy-Kennicott Historical Museum which looked interesting so we walked the quarter-mile to the town entrance and the museum.

Located in the restored train depot, many artifacts from the early 20^th century were on display.  Also preserved for visitors were a number of historical photographs telling the story of life in this small mining community.  It was amazing to me that so many people simply abandoned their homes and belonging when the Kennecott Mill closed in 1938.

There was a very neat “Milwaukee connection” to McCarthy and the copper mining industry in the area.  Industrial giant Allis Chalmers manufactured all sorts of equipment used in the mill processing the copper ore.  In front of the McCarthy-Kennicott Historial Museum was a large “Fine Reduction Gyrotory Crusher” which was used to build canals through rock.  The one on display had a US Patent issued in 1900, with a production date stamp of January 14, 1902.

Inside the museum, the curator had a mint condition “1928 Keystone Catalogue”; the equipment sales catalogue that was produced as a compilation equipment catalogues available from a number of different heavy machinery manufacturers from around the United States.  In addition to Allis-Chalmers, several other Wisconsin companies were represented.  Given the state of Wisconsin’s manufacturing industry today, it is easy to forget her place in history and the industrialization of America.

 

After spending around an hour in the museum, we headed to the meeting point to take the five mile shuttle ride up to Kennecott Town, the abandoned mill town that was built just to harvest the copper ore from the mountains and then left when the main ore vein was believed to be tapped out in 1938.

When you think of it, it’s unbelievable that a company would be formed for just one purpose in one location and then left as it was.  At the US National Park Service Visitor Center, there is a short 12 minute video that tells the history of the mill and its process.  Prominent industrialists Rockefeller and Guggenheim founded the Kennecott Mill Company in 1906 and made millions harvesting the copper ore which was transported to Tacoma, Washington for smelting and sale.

When the company ceased operations in Kennecott, they left behind nearly everything as did the citizens who also departed the mill town when their work disappeared.  As we walked the abandoned town, many remnants of their life was left for future generations to find.  Many of the buildings fell in disrepair, but some had been restored by private citizens prior to the area becoming a national park in 1986.

Tours are available inside the 14 story mill building from St. Elias Alpine Guides, the only concessionaire authorized access inside the old mill. Due to my asthma and gimpy knees we took a pass on the actually tour, instead opting for the self-guided walking tour of the town that included several restored buildings.

During our visit to Kennecott, we enjoyed lunch at the Kennicott Glacier Lodge, the 25 room hotel located in the center of town.  We had the chef’s special, homemade meat loaf with potatoes au gratin, vegetables and accompanied by our choice of soup or salad.  At $15, we it was a good value for a hearty home-cooked meal.

As good as our meal was, I enjoyed wandering the first floor of the hotel, checking out some of the old documents and artifacts of the area.  Invoices from companies like Sears, Roebuck & Company; National Biscuit Company (later to become Nabisco) and Hills Bros Coffee were on display for visitors to see.  In the family sitting area were the personal belongings of some of the town’s residents back in the day.

With our day in Kennecott complete, we took the shuttle to the footbridge to meet our van service back to Chitina.  Our driver was Anika who was a lovely Swedish lady who have moved to the United States many years ago, but had settled into a life in Alaska some 30 years ago.

The ride to town over the 66 miles of old railroad trail was bumpy and slow.  There were a number of waysides with vault toilets which made the two and a half hour trip a little more bearable.  Stopping to stretch our legs or to take a photo or two was a welcomed break along our journey.  For much of the trip, the view was of thick spruce forest.  In some areas we crossed pretty alpine meadows with small ponds and lakes, or along the silty glacier rivers that provided opportunities for recreation (rafting) and fishing.  We were told silver salmon were running at near Chitina we could see locals out dip net fishing or operating large fishing wheels on the river.  (Only residents fishing for sustenance can fish using these two techniques.)

Once back in Chitina, Anika returned us to our parked RV at the airport.  It had been a bright, sunny day and the inside of the motorhome was a sweltering 86F.  We decided to boondock back at the Three Mile Lake again, since we found it to be convenient and comfortable.  Having had a large lunch earlier in the afternoon, we settled back in the RV with some microwave popcorn and beer.