Well, here it is part III of III, the end of summer.
Over Labor Day we went to the town of McCarthy which is located at the foot of the Wrangell Mountains and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The area was originally seasonally inhabited by Athabascans, but copper was discovered in 1900 and soon the Kennicott mine was established about 5 miles from McCarthy. McCarthy came into existence due to the strict rules against drinking, gambling and prostitution in the company town of Kennicott. These rules did not apply in McCarthy.
There is a road to the town now, though originally you could only access it by railroad. The public road only goes to the river, then you have to walk or ride your bike across a bridge. There is a private bridge for vehicles, but a pass is $300, so most everyone walks or bikes.
This was our cabin located about 1 mile from McCarthy on the road side. It is advertised as the only establishment in McCarthy that has full facilities and showers in all their rooms and cabins. The cabin had propane heat and electricity from a generator.
Not a lot of options in McCarthy. This is where we had breakfast all three mornings. It's a structure built around a van. They had great coffee and excellent breakfast burritos.
We went to McCarthy to do a run and mountain bike. Jeremy did the 1/2 Marathon and I did the 10k. The finish was Main Street McCarthy. It's a great little town. I think it has about 50 people that stay through the winter.
It was an absolutely beautiful weekend with fall colors and wonderful weather. We definitely felt as if we were back in Colorado. This is the road up to the mine that we biked up the second day.
This is the mill at the mine. It has some serious structural issues, so you couldn't go into it. There are plans, however, to renovate it. The railroad arrived in Kennicott in 1911. The mine was abandoned in 1938. Abandoned in place. Because the railroad was also abandoned there was no way later mining ventures could bring the copper to market, so eventually the land was sold to private individuals. What land did not sell was eventually bought by the National Park Service.
The old hospital is on the left and the buildings on the right are the bunk houses. These buildings are also due to be renovated. We got to tour some smaller buildings that had been renovated and it was a pretty impressive process. Very interesting.
After touring the company town of Kennicott we hiked up to the glacier.
Jeremy and I in a self portrait on the glacier. We didn't have our crampons, so couldn't explore it much.
Once back from the glacier we biked back to McCarthy on a road they call the "wagon road." It was a great trail and a lot of fun going down.
Along the wagon road was an old cemetery. I love looking at old graves. I like to read the names and dates and try to imagine their lives back then. Most of these graves were, as would be expected, from the early 1900's.
On the third day we headed back to Fairbanks. On the way out we got to see everything we missed on the way in because it was dark. While this bridge is a road bridge, it was originally for the railroad.
Here is evidence of the old railroad line. We also often saw railroad rails coming out of the road bed because the road for the most part was built right over the old railroad bed.
We had a great time in McCarthy and will most certainly return next year. Maybe next year I'll even run the 1/2 marathon. Maybe.
Over Labor Day we went to the town of McCarthy which is located at the foot of the Wrangell Mountains and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The area was originally seasonally inhabited by Athabascans, but copper was discovered in 1900 and soon the Kennicott mine was established about 5 miles from McCarthy. McCarthy came into existence due to the strict rules against drinking, gambling and prostitution in the company town of Kennicott. These rules did not apply in McCarthy.
There is a road to the town now, though originally you could only access it by railroad. The public road only goes to the river, then you have to walk or ride your bike across a bridge. There is a private bridge for vehicles, but a pass is $300, so most everyone walks or bikes.
This was our cabin located about 1 mile from McCarthy on the road side. It is advertised as the only establishment in McCarthy that has full facilities and showers in all their rooms and cabins. The cabin had propane heat and electricity from a generator.
Not a lot of options in McCarthy. This is where we had breakfast all three mornings. It's a structure built around a van. They had great coffee and excellent breakfast burritos.
We went to McCarthy to do a run and mountain bike. Jeremy did the 1/2 Marathon and I did the 10k. The finish was Main Street McCarthy. It's a great little town. I think it has about 50 people that stay through the winter.
It was an absolutely beautiful weekend with fall colors and wonderful weather. We definitely felt as if we were back in Colorado. This is the road up to the mine that we biked up the second day.
This is the mill at the mine. It has some serious structural issues, so you couldn't go into it. There are plans, however, to renovate it. The railroad arrived in Kennicott in 1911. The mine was abandoned in 1938. Abandoned in place. Because the railroad was also abandoned there was no way later mining ventures could bring the copper to market, so eventually the land was sold to private individuals. What land did not sell was eventually bought by the National Park Service.
The old hospital is on the left and the buildings on the right are the bunk houses. These buildings are also due to be renovated. We got to tour some smaller buildings that had been renovated and it was a pretty impressive process. Very interesting.
After touring the company town of Kennicott we hiked up to the glacier.
Jeremy and I in a self portrait on the glacier. We didn't have our crampons, so couldn't explore it much.
Once back from the glacier we biked back to McCarthy on a road they call the "wagon road." It was a great trail and a lot of fun going down.
Along the wagon road was an old cemetery. I love looking at old graves. I like to read the names and dates and try to imagine their lives back then. Most of these graves were, as would be expected, from the early 1900's.
On the third day we headed back to Fairbanks. On the way out we got to see everything we missed on the way in because it was dark. While this bridge is a road bridge, it was originally for the railroad.
Here is evidence of the old railroad line. We also often saw railroad rails coming out of the road bed because the road for the most part was built right over the old railroad bed.We had a great time in McCarthy and will most certainly return next year. Maybe next year I'll even run the 1/2 marathon. Maybe.
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