B & D's USA Hideout: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

My love affair with Alaska started back in the spring of 2009 when I landed my first job out of college as a fisheries technician for the Native Village of Eyak in Cordova. I lived and worked at a remote cabin along the Copper River tagging Chinook and sockeye salmon using fish wheels that we maintained. I fell in love with the tall fireweed, the fish, the icy water that dripped from glaciers and the lifestyle narrated by mother earth. The elements were sometimes brutal. Mosquitos swarmed by the thousands. The swift, frigid waters of the Copper could take you and swallow you up. The constant awareness that running into a bear was more likely to happen than not. But ever since, I've been enchanted by Alaska and always trying to find my way back. And I have been back, several times actually, but this is the first time I can share these wonders with the man who captured the other piece of my heart.

The first place we revisited was Glennallen. It's a small town but has all major amenities minus any kind of chain restaurant or shopping mall, another reason why Alaska is so great.
You can buy coffee from a trailer and a gun from the grocery store or your fishing license at a sporting good place that also sells pizza, beer and firewood. We spent a night at Dry Creek campground after running some errands and a getting a few supplies. We packed for a tent trip and left the camper in town.

From Glennallen we drove down to the tiny town of Chitina. The first thing I had to do was go down to the boat ramp, where all the dipnetters were doing their best to net a fish, and touch that beautiful, silty water of the Copper River. When working for Eyak, there were two camps set up, one at the lower end of the River called Baird, where I worked, and one on the upper part of the river named Canyon Creek. At the end of the summer, I was able to go up to Canyon Creek and help close up shop for the season. These guys were able to take the boat into town to get their own groceries and supplies but down at Baird, we had to have everything brought in to us by boat or plane. Anyway, Brian and I wandered around town for a bit and had lunch at the Chitina Hotel and then continued on our venture out the McCarthy road. It is a 60 mile dirt road that is only open in the summer and leads to the old mill town of McCarthy and the infamous Kennecott Mine. You can't quite drive all the way to McCarthy, though. There is a foot bridge to cross the river and from there you can take a shuttle into town and all the way to see the mine.

Copper was discovered at the Kennicott Glacier (I know the spelling is different, but not sure why) in 1900. By 1911 the mine was in full swing including the operation of a railroad that was built in 4 years and moved copper from the mine all the way to the town of Cordova, 196 miles. The mine was in operation for 27 years. In it's peak, around 300 people worked in the mine and another 200 or so in McCarthy. The mine closed in 1938 due to the diminishing source and the high costs of operation and railroad repairs. The NPS took over many of the historic yet dilapidated buildings in 1998 and have put in some great efforts to restore this amazing landmark.

Brian and I marveled at the mine. The craftsmanship of the buildings and the engineering of the boilers is brilliant. How people were able to bring in such equipment and lumber is baffling. Things were built so well and so specifically for the job needed and absolutely made to last. I strongly recommend a visit to this area or to at least do some more reading about the history of the Kennecott Mine and the Copper River and Northwestern Railway. It is truly fascinating.

We had a cold beer at the local saloon in McCarthy and then camped at Glacier View campground on the other side of the footbridge. We went to sleep in our yellow tent, still in awe of the gorgeous day we had and magnificence of the mine.