The Traveling Lounsburys

AlCan- Part 5: Wrangell – St. Elias National Park

July 25 & 26: We took the Tok Cutoff from Tok to Glenallen and joined the Richardson Highway heading south to the the Edgerton Highway (every highway or road is named in this state) camping for 2 nights in Chitina, on the edge of Wrangell – St. Elias National Park (WSTNP). I probably would never have known about Wrangell – St. Elias NP if I wasn’t a National Park junkie, although it is the biggest national park, features 9 of the 16 highest peaks in the US and has the highest concentration of glaciers in the world. It also has a rich history of the native Ahtna people who have lived in the area more than 10,000 years.

WSTNP is challenging to visit or as usual, a long drive or a chunk of $$$ can solve most challenges here in Alaska. The main Visitor’s Center is in Copper Center, just south of Glenallen and you can get some great views of the tall mountains and glaciers in the distance, which we did. Then we moved on to Chitina to place us in a good spot to drive the 60 miles of dirt road to McCarthy and take a shuttle up to Kennicott, both former mining ghost towns from the mining era of the early 1900’s that are resurging with tourism.

The west border of WSTNP is the Copper River, which is famous for its amazing Copper Red Salmon. To get into the interior of WSTNP and McCarthy and Kennicott, you follow the Chitina River up to the Kennicott River that flows from the Kennicott Glacier.

  • View of Mount Drum and Mount Wrangell from Copper Center Visitor’s Center
  • Richardson Highway with Wrangell – St. Elias on the left. Those white puffs are not clouds, but mountains!

Drive from Chitina to McCarthy

  • WSTNP Mountains and glaciers in the background with the Chitina River in the foreground
  • Chitina River outside of Chitina
  • Subsistence fishing on the Chitina
  • Working our way up the 60 miles of mostly dirt roads to McCarthy
  • Trestles from the early 1900’s –the ones that are driven on are well maintained!
  • Driving across that trestle from the last photo

McCarthy

Even though my photos look like no one is there, the little town was bustling with many hikers, local guides, folks checking out the area, locals and the random dogs.

  • At least bumblebees survive in Alaska!
  • The main drag in McCarthy
  • McCarthy
  • Creative decor in McCarthy
  • Larkspur

Kennicott Glacier and Kennecott Mine

Alaska’s geology with the glaciers is amazing. It’s history in the making real-time. When we visited Glacier Bay National Park, we learned about the fact the John Hopkins glacier had receded over 50 miles over the past 300 years, significantly changing the geological area of the bay.

Major geological changes happened two days prior to our visit to Kennecott Mine and area. Hidden Lake further up the mountain apparently fills up with run off from the spring and early summer. There is a natural dam that keeps the water in the lake, until it doesn’t. The dam broke about two days ago and the water from the lake flowed down under the Kennicott Glacier, lifting parts of the glacier 3-feet and creating a number of smaller lakes with an iceberg in the middle of one of the lakes. Absolutely amazing!

The geology was just a side show to the Kennecott Mine Tour we took.

  • Kennicott Glacier is under all that rock debries. The lake/ponds you see on the left are recent from a few days ago that developed when a natural plug in Hidden Lake dam broke and the water all flowed down under the Kennicott glacier and created the lake. There’s actually an iceburg in the the closest lake that wasn’t there 2 days ago.
  • Proof we were there!
  • Recreated grocery store from early 1900’s -what is Mock Turtle Soup???
  • View from the mine looking up towards the Kennicott and Root glaciers
  • Views from the top of the Kennecott Mine processing building
  • Most of the mining equipement was abandoned in place
  • Stella in the middle with the red top provided amazing information about the history of the area and the mine

2 comments

  1. Jeanne you do a fantastic job with the photos and information. Bob & I traveled to Alaska by pickup when Ryan was 2 years old. Good thing, as he slept a lot in the car seat. Be sure to visit Chicken, Healy and Circle. Hot springs in many places, which sounds strange with all of the glaciers and tundra. Oh yes, the blue berries are great!

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