McCarthy-Kennicott

July 26, 2012  McCarthy-Kennicott

Gary and Barb decided to stay home and do chores today, so Steve and I set out on our Wrangell-St. Elias National National Park adventure without them.  The weather was spectacular--sunny and low 70's.  We headed back to Chitina,  and then  up the McCarthy Highway to the communities of McCarthy and Kennicott located within the Park.   What a trip it was!

It is 26 miles (paved road)  from our campground to Chitina, and another 60 miles of  narrow, unpaved, very rough road that once was a railroad track up to McCarthy. The bridges are all one lane.

Kuskalana Bridge over a 238 ft. deep gorge.

The drive was further complicated by road construction involving huge trucks and construction equipment.  In the first few miles we stopped to help a young couple whose car was stuck in mud having been forced to the side by a road grader. We did not have a tow strap, and although Steve tried to help push it out, the car was not moving.  We stopped and told the construction worker who (we hope) radioed for help for them.

Kennicott Glacier from the parking lot.

The pedestrian bridge.

The road ends at a $5.00 parking lot.  Then you walk across a pedestrian bridge over the river and up a 1 mile road to McCarthy.   As we paid our $5.00 parking fee, the attendant noted that our right rear tire was very low, as indeed it was.  This fact worried Steve the whole time we were in McCarthy and Kennicott, but more about that later. The attendant also told us that 3 days ago a rush of water from a lake above the Kennicott Glacier had wiped out 20 feet of the river bank!  Notice the restroom on the bank of the river!

After almost getting run down by an ATV on the pedestrian bridge, the 1 mile hike up to McCarthy was pleasant enough, and there were several amusing signs along the way.

We did not drink any of the local water.

Slow,  Saggitarians ahead?????

McCarthy is an old town that was established to support the  copper mine and it declined following  closure of the mine  in 1938.  Several of the buildings have been restored, and it is really quite charming in spite of the fact that there is no central electricity, water, or sewer in McCarthy or Kennicott.  Generators provide power and water is pumped from wells or hauled by hand from nearby streams.  Outhouses and septic systems are in use.

 We boarded a rickety shuttle van for the bumpy 5 mile ride up to Kennicott to learn about Copper Mining in the early days of the 20th century.  The discovery of high grade copper here in 1903 was followed by heavy investments in the development of the mine by Guggenheim and Morgan.  This mine led the world in the production of copper for 30 years and made a profit of over 100 million dollars.

Kennicott concentrator mill

At the mine's peak of production, the town had over 100 buildings serving over 600 mine employees, and a 196 mile long railroad connecting it to Cordova where the copper was transported for shipment.  The largest building was  the 14 story concentrator mill.   This town and copper production was an amazing feat because, except for ore and water, Kennicott had to bring in everything they used from the outside under incredibly harsh conditions.  It was very interesting to learn about this monumental human achievement.


We returned to McCarthy on the shuttle, then hiked back to the hot, gravel parking lot.  This is where Steve had to change to the tire which was very flat by this time.  This was not easy on the rocky surface, but he managed it.

We drove about a mile back up the road where we had seen a sign that said "tire repair."  This  place had several small airplanes in the yard and a sign that said "Keep off the runway" which seemed to BE the yard.

Tire repair/airport runway

 A sign on a shed instructed Steve to call a number, and a guy soon came out of the house to help us.  He had to start a generator to run his equipment, but he had everything he needed to remove the large concrete nail from the tire, repair the tire, and help  Steve to put it back on the Jeep.   For this he charged us only $25.00!  In addition, he gave me a old railroad spike from the Kennicott railroad.  I plan to tell people that the spike was what caused the flat tire!!!  LOL

On the long, hot, dusty drive back down the McCarthy Road, we had to navigate around many more large construction vehicles.  One big Peterbilt truck hauling a rock filled trailer had run off the side and was deeply embedded in the soft shoulder!

When we arrived back to the campground we were delighted to find that Barb and Gary had prepared a delicious dinner for us.