Alaska Trip - 2007 - Week 4

Along the Sterling Highway below Portage	Dome painting in the Saint John Orthodox Cathedral, Eagle River, AK	Front of St. John Orthodox Cathedral	One of many beautiful Icons at St. John Orthodox Cathedral
Front view of altar area of St. John Orthodox Cathedral	Matanunska River along Glenn Highway	A common sight - highway repair delays	Matanunska Glacier - through the windshield
Matanunska Glacier	Matanunska Glacier heading back into the Chugach Range	Mom and Jeanne at the Princess Wilderness Lodge	The Wrangel Range from the Princess Wilderness Lodge at Copper Center

 Day 25 - July 21  - McCarthy and Kennecott Mines - 240 miles ridden

Today was to be a fulfillment of a dream started during our 1994 trip. At that time while visiting the Wrangel-St.Elias NP headquarters we learned about the mining towns of McCarthy and Kennecott that were within park boundaries. At that time we didn't have the time or the vehicle to make the trip so we put it off until the next time. While Ken didn't want to drive the road, I found a tour service that does the deed. Backcountry Connections picked me up at 7:20 AM at the Copper Center Princess and we were off. After making a few more stops to pick up other travelers we were off to McCarthy with 9 people in the van. Twenty miles down the road from Princess the sign for a left turn read - Chitina 32 Miles McCarthy 93 miles. What is significant about this is that the road is only paved to Chitina and thus the other 61 miles are unpaved and occupies the old railroad bed that lead to McCarthy from Cordova on the Prince William sound.

At Chitina on the Copper River we saw about six fish wheels in operation - turning in the sun and catching fish for subsistence living. A resident family can catch 500 salmon for subsistence purposes per year. We also saw dip netters working in the water. A dip net is a huge net attached to a 16 foot handle and is used while wading in the rapidly running waters. The guide explained that dip netting is a very dangerous pursuit as the salmon are big, the footing is uncertain and the current is swift. If two fish get into the net at the same time then there could be disaster. But enough fishing. This is a McCarthy/Kennecott adventure.

After 17 miles of riding on the bumpy washboard road we came upon the Kuskulna Railway Trestle that has been re-planked and is now used as a road bridge. Up until a few years ago there were no side rails on this bridge and it was considered as a white knuckle ride. A couple of years ago a near tragedy convinced the DOT that side rails are necessary. The bridge structure is original to the 1911 construction and spans 585 feet above the Kuskulna River 283 feet below. The driver guide gave us an option of walking the narrow one lane bridge and we accepted the offer. The river below was raging in a steep canyon. The rest of the trip was uneventful for the most part except for one pit stop at an outhouse in the woods. Nearby was the cabin of George Flowers who as a black man was denied passage to Alaska from Seattle during the goldrush. Undeterred he walked to Alaska and eventually settled in the McCarthy area and lived in a cabin. Some say he worked for the railroad as a trackwalker. His cabin now is empty and in a sad state of disrepair.

We arrived at the Kennecott River footbridge at around 11;00 am in time for the shuttle to take us to downtown McCarthy. At the time of our 1994 visit the footbridge wasn't there and to cross the raging glacier melt river a person had to climb into a cable tram and pull themselves and their luggage across. Then it was a half mile walk to McCarthy. Getting off in McCarthy I wandered around the town for about a half hour and then visited the museum. During the operation of the copper mines in Kennecott, McCarthy was a booming mining town with several thousand residents. It was the sporting town for the miners as Kennecott was a dry town. During prohibition, the town was wide open and it is said that the train engineer blew a special whistle if any marshals were on the train. Unless you visit the museum and read about the history, you would never suspect its past from what you see now.

I had signed up for a 1:30 tour of the Kennecott Mill Complex and took the shuttle to Kennecott. During the ride I found out that there is a road bridge to McCarthy that is privately owned and controlled by a local resident. For local residents he charges $230 dollars per year and for businesses the fee is $1500 per year. There is no per trip class of charges. The fee is $230. Since the roads in town are not meant for heavy traffic, the use of the bridge is not widely encouraged or advertised.

At Kennecott Lodge I had a box lunch and then got ready for the tour. The tour basically included a strenuous walk up the hill to the top of the Concentration Mill and then walk down the inside of the mill building. It was an interesting tour. The ore deposits were discovered in 1900 and it took 7 years for the business venture to be organized with the backing of J. P. Morgan and the Guggenheim's when the Alaska Syndicate was formed. In 1907 the construction of the railroad began while the development of the mining claims was taking place in Kennecott. The train to Kennecott was completed in 1911 and 10 days after this the first trainload of ore left Kennecott with $250 K worth of copper. The ore was transported by rail to Cordova on the coast where it was loaded into ships and transported to Tacoma for smelting. It is estimated that in the 27 years that the mine operated, at least $200 million of copper was taken out of the 5 deposits found at Kennecott. 

The mines were located 5 miles up the side of the mountains behind the concentration mill. Most of the miners stayed at facilities at the mines 5 miles up and away from Kennecott and only rarely came to town. The ore was transported down the mountain on cable cars and one arrived at the concentrator building every 54 seconds. The first step in the process was manual. The ore was dumped at a thick metal screen with round holes and the workers "Grizzlies" had to pound the ore with sledge hammers to make sure it went through the screen into a mechanical crusher/grinder. 54 seconds later another ore bin arrived and there was no storage space for the ore coming down the mountain. The concentration mill is a 14 story wooden building that contains various crushers, separators and conveyor belts that moved the ore down the building to the vibrating wash tables that separated the metal ore from the tailings. At any point in the process the ore could be moved back up to the previous crusher if the crushing was incomplete. Another amazing fact given by the guide was that while 600 people were engaged in mining and other support activities, the Concentration building, all 14 floors was run by only 20 people per shift. At the lowest level of the building, the ore, now in slurry form was loaded into burlap bags and loaded at the same level on to a railroad flat car. This building was awesome. I asked how many forests the building consumed. There was no ready answer but it must be a staggering figure.

By 1938 the copper had played out and a decision was made to shut the plant down. When the time came, Kennecott ran a train into McCarthy/Kennecott and made an announcement that the last train out of the valley would be leaving the next day. Be there of be left behind. Most people abandoned their belonging in place and left the towns. Over the years some returned but so did vandals and scavengers. Of the two towns, Kennecott is the most intact. The place has been designated as a National Landmark and the Park Service is in the process of stabilizing some of the buildings. Others will crumble over the years. I am glad that I got to see this piece of history. The determination of the founders and those that worked here is hard to imagine. It is strange also to see private property mixed in with the park property. Some of the historical buildings are privately owned as residences and some property on the hill was for sale at $175 k for two acres. The sign said "Not for financial wimps". We finished the tour at 4:00 PM and headed via the shuttle to the footbridge where on the other side the van was waiting for us. I arrived back at the Princess at 8:00 PM - pooped but happy.

Chitina Hotel - This was a sporting town too in the early 1900's	Dip Netter in the Copper River	Kuskulana Railraod trestle - now an auto bridge	Kuskulana River- 283 feet below the bridge	Walking across the bridge
George Flowers Cabin - see text	The road to McCarthy - 63 miles of this	Glacier on Mt. Backburn and Kennecott River	Footbridge over the Kennecott River	Main Street McCarthy - no clues to past history here
View in Kennecott towards Glacier on Mt. Blackburn	Ore Concentration Building at Kennecott - all 14 stories	Bunkhouse for Kennecott workers	Hard to keep the eyes off the Glacier and the Moraine in front	View down from the inside of the concentration mill
The mining was up there in the peaks - five miles away	Stairway inside the Concentration Mill	Inside the Concentration Mill. Lots of trees gave their lives for this	Power Plant at Kennecott	Moose on McCarthy road seen on the way out.

Day 26 - July 22 - Copper River, AK-USA to Destruction Bay, YT - DA, Miles Driven 380

After McCarthy yesterday I was very tired and not much in a mood to take pictures of mountains that would look like any other mountains that we took along the way. Our goal for the day was to reach Destruction Bay in the Yukon Territory in Canada. After passing thru Tok and taking our last opportunity to shop in Alaska we headed south on the Alaska Highway for the Canadian Border. We reache Canadian Customs and Immigration in the early afternoon and promptly lost an hour due to time change. The border inspection was non-existent. He never looked at the passports and only asked how many were in the vehicle and how many days we would be in Canada. Ken's answer was ten and he said "Have a good trip and enjoy your stay in Canada". About 50 feet away in a small parking area a customs inspector was inspecting the contents of a u-haul trailer in minute detail. The contents of the trailer was stacked on the ground around the trailer and the woman owner was standing there holding an infant. We hope there was no problem.

Before reaching the Canadian Border we stopped at a roadhouse only to find that the restaurant was closed due to a softball tournament. A sandwich was available and served the purpose. We found this stretch of the Alaskan Highway to be terrible. Many gravel patches, tons of frost heaves and not a comfortable road at all. Tomorrow we feel will be the same. We checked into the motel at Destruction Bay and ate dinner at the truck stop restaurant out front. Only game in town. The waitress told us what the special was only to tell us later that the special was out of stock. There were two cooks and only one waitress/dishwasher for the whole thing. A very busy woman.

This is Canada - Eh	Kluane Lake at Destruction Bay	Kluane Lake at Destruction Bay	Kluane Lake at Destruction Bay

 Day 27 - July 23 - Destruction Bay, YT to Teslin, YT - Miles driven 270

We left Destruction Bay at 8:00 AM heading south on the Alaska Highway to Haines Junction and Whitehorse and then to Teslin, YT. We had passed thru Whitehorse and Teslin on the way up and the Whitehorse to Teslin was one of two portions of the Alaska Highway we were going to repeat. The other section will be between Teslin and the point where the Cassiar Highway cuts south.

We ran into construction at the southern end of Kluane Lake and took a 20 minute delay while the construction work carried on. This was the worst stretch of construction we have encountered on the trip. After the mile or so of construction we were free to go. The scenery between Kluane Lake and Haines Junction was through the snow topped mountains of the Kluane Range as well as the Elias Mountains in the Wrangel - St. Elias National Park in Alaska. Mom says that this is the one of two parks we share with the Canadians. The other one being Waterton Peace Park which is really an extension of our Glacier National Park in Montana. We really enjoy sharing with our northern neighbors. At Haines Junction we visited the Kluane National Park visitors center after having some delicious pastries from the Village bakery.

We also visited the most photographed church in the Yukon which is a converted US Army Quonset Hut left over from the building of the Alaska Highway. The church "Our Lady of the Way" was built in 1954 by Father Morriset, the first Catholic priest to preach in the area. It is an ingenious structure with a tiny interior but is still in use. From the bulletin we learned that the present priest serves other churches some of which are over 100 miles away from Haines Crossing.

Heading towards Whitehorse we were flagged down by a traveler on the side of the road. He had broken down and was looking for a ride to Whitehorse to seek help. As the van only had 4 seats, that mission was not going to be easy. I offered to sit on the floor and let him in but he said that others would be by. In Whitehorse we had lunch at Tim Horton's which has turned out to be Ken's favorite. We recognized some of the 13+ year olds behind the counter from the last time. Mom needed some more crochet thread which we picked up at the local Walmart.

We arrived at Teslin around 4:00 PM only to find out that our rooms weren't ready yet. That delay stretched into 45 minutes which we utilized to see the wildlife museum attached to the motel. After an in-room dinner we returned to Muckluck Annies for the boat ride on Teslin Lake. The deal was that if you eat at Muckluck's you can get a free evening boat ride led by Muckluck Chuck. We were passing thru the last time and asked at that time if we could take the boat ride on the return leg. They said no problem.

The boat ride is in a converted pontoon house boat with a cabin and plastic chairs. The ride is narrated by Chuck who explained his arrival from Minnesota some 40 years ago and building a business. Muckluck Annies specialty is a Salmon Bake and he winds up buying the salmon from the First Nation Peoples who are the only ones allowed to harvest salmon in the area. Quite different from Alaska where any resident of a subsistence fishing area can catch a certain amount of fish but not sell them. This was told to me by the guide that took me to Mccarthy. Obviously there is a commercial fishery for Salmon which winds up in the store shelves. Chuck led a spirited trip laced with his own humor. The highlight to him seemed to be the feeding of the herring gulls which gathered around the boat expecting his daily handout. 

What we shared the road with at Kluane lake	Some road - eh	Beautiful mountains at end of Kluane lake	Between Kluane lake and Haines Junction
From the Kluane NP visitors center	Possibly the "worlds largest composite animal sculpture"??	Our Lady of the Way church in Haines Junction	Interior of Our Lady of the Way church in Haines Junction
Paint Mountain between Haines Junction and Whitehorse	Canyon Creek Bridge once the most important bridge on the Alaska Highway - since rebuilt	At the wildlife museum in Teslin	At the wildlife museum in Tesling
Our Houseboat cruise ship	Muckluck Chuck holding court	Feeding the gulls thing	Mountains to the east on Teslin Lake

Day 28 - July 24 - Teslin, YT to Dease Lake, BC - 300 miles driven

The day started out overcast and soon turned to rain as we left Teslin bound for Dease Lake in British Columbia. It was perfect weather for a mostly boring day as for the first 150 miles we were covering ground we had driven before. When we got 150 miles down the road to the Cassiar Highway we were starting out on a new leg. At the junction of the Alaska Highway and the Cassiar Highway we stopped to freshen up our coffee and I took the opportunity to purchase $2.00 in pull tabs which are the Yukon's as well as Alaska's version of lottery tickets. You pull off the tabs in the back of the book and if you match three like symbols you get the prize indicated. Out of the four tickets I got for $2.00 I hit one line for a total winning of $5.00. So I wound up $3.00 to the good this time. In Alaska they gave us free tickets which will qualify you to be put into a drawing for more real tickets if you win. These freebies only qualify you for a weekly drawing. Of course the idea is for you to pull out some $$ and buy some real tickets. I did this in Soldotna and lost. I was a winner in Canada - Good Luck Eh.

Little did we know that there were no food services after the junction of the Alaska Highway and the Cassiar. Our intended stop for lunch and shopping was the town of Jade City which was supposed to have two jade shops. We assumed that there was food in town until we read the Milepost travel guide and found out that Jade City had a population of 12. We found out that there was only one Jade shop open and that the only food available was some candy bars and potato chips. They did however provide free coffee and free tea. The woman running the shop was a real loudmouth and couldn't stop talking about the 17 ton boulder of Jade that they had just found the day before. Supposedly worth $1 million. We asked her how long it would take us to get to Dease Lake where there is food and our lodging. Our maps indicated that we still had about 70 miles to go with at least 25 miles of dirt road versus paved. She bragged that she drives that distance in 48 minutes anytime she goes. Not only a loudmouth but a storyteller. After some purchases we were glad to get out from under her spell.

Along the highway which went thru some pretty mountains we spotted our lone wildlife - a black bear. It was next to the road. There were signs warning about all kinds of wildlife from cattle to moose but we only saw a bear. We arrived in Dease Lake at around 3:00 PM and satisfied our hunger with the food cache we had in the van which we prepared in the kitchenette room we had.

Jade City should be called Jaded City	Jade Saw in action	Wooden carving in store at Jaded City	Jade Saw	Arnold Lake at Dease Lake - the mosquitoes loved me.

Alaska Trip Summary

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