Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Scott McMurren -- Dec. 2004
Alaska Travelgram | zoom@gci.net
There are many roads to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. What I mean
is there are many reasons which draw travelers to the nation's largest
national park.
Back in the 1890s, explorers looking for gold happened upon some rich
copper veins. The boom that resulted, bankrolled by East Coast
industrialists, changed the face of the land forever. The town of
Kennicott, in the heart of the park, became the site of the world's
richest copper mine in less than five years. When the mining company
pulled up stakes in the 1930s, they left behind an "instant" ghost
town. Visitors can walk back in time, exploring where the miners lived
and worked.
Today, travelers come to see the mix of history and adventure in the
park. From the lobby of the Copper River Princess, you can see a trio
of the huge peaks in the park: Mt. Sanford, Mt. Drum and 16,233-foot
Mt. Wrangell. It's a spectacular vista from the lodge, overlooking the
Klutina River as it runs into the Copper River. Big mountains. Big
rivers. Big country.
The best way to visit the town of McCarthy and the adjoining ghost town
of Kennicott is to fly with Wrangell Mountain Air. The husband-wife
team, Kelly and Natalie Bay, oversee a fleet of single-engine aircraft
that makes two scheduled flights per day between Chitina Airport and
McCarthy. Chitina is on the shores of the Copper River at the end of
the paved section of the McCarthy Road, also known as the Edgarton
Highway. Although the road is state-maintained, your rental car
contract specifically excludes the road from its roadside assistance
agreement. That means if your car breaks down, you'll be looking at an
expensive tow bill! I suppose that's what happens when you build a road
on top of an old railroad bed!
The flight from Chitina to McCarthy is a fabulous ride. After taking
off over the Copper River, your pilot probably will leave the road
behind and start climbing toward Fourth of July Pass. Along the way
you'll likely see some interesting "Rock Glaciers" and perhaps some
mountain goats grazing on the mountainsides. But the highlight of the
flight comes when your pilot emerges on the far side of the pass. Below
you is a sea of ice. Tumbling off of the south face of Mt. Wrangell is
a glacial ice fall--tumbling from 11,000 feet to form Kennicott
Glacier. Altogether, three glaciers converge in the valley below. Your
pilot will talk about how the huge piles of rock are glacial
sediment...not copper tailings from the mine. You should be able to
make out some tiny red specks on the far side of the valley up on the
mountain. As you get closer, you can see they are the remains of the
bunkhouses where the miners lived for up to a year at a time. Missing
are the miles-long cable which hauled the ore from the mine to the
central processing plant in town. But you'll have the opportunity to
learn more about the mines once you're on the ground.
On the ground in McCarthy, you can choose from several cool activities.
Don't miss the museum in town, which documents the development of the
Kennicott Mine and has a trove of great photos, maps and plottings
from around the area. You'll learn about how the town of Kennicott had
electricity, a movie theater, tennis courts and lots of high-end
amenities. You'll also learn about the conditions where the miners
worked, how much they earned and where they came from to mine the
copper.
Make plans to visit the town of Kennicott, located about five miles
from McCarthy. Stop in for lunch at the Kennicott Glacier Lodge. The
lodge sits on the site where the mine manager's office used to be, as
well as apartments for visiting VIPs. Across from the lodge, the folks
at St. Elias Alpine Guides can arrange for a tour of the main
processing areas in the mine building. This 14-story structure took the
ore at the top of the building. Then, the ore was sent through a
variety of crushers and shakers, emerging at the other end in 55-pound
bags to be loaded onto rail cars for the journey down the Copper River
Valley to Cordova. There, the ore was shipped to refineries in the
Seattle area.
St. Elias Alpine Guides also can arrange a guided glacier hike. This is
great fun and almost anyone can do it! Your guides are safety conscious
(EMT trained) and know their way around the country. Don't be surprised
if you see a bear on your way up to the glacier! Your guides will go
through bear safety tips as well as tips for walking on the glaciers.
Everybody gets a pair of crampons to strap on your boots. Then, you
hike a little more than a mile up to the face of the glacier. Depending
on what you want to do, your guide will show off some of the ice caves,
some "moulans" which are super-blue pools of water, some crevasses and
other features of the glaciers. Other options include ice-climbing
classes and multi-day hikes on the glaciers.
If you've had the chance to explore the glacier, seen the mine and
flown over the area in a plane, you can hike around the townsite and up
into the hills to one of the old mine bunkhouses, including the Bonanza
Mine. It's an all-day hike, but the bird's-eye view is spectacular.
Don't miss out on a visit to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. You'll
discover why this park is one of Alaska's best-kept secrets!
About Scott McMurren
Scott McMurren lives and works in Anchorage, Alaska,
with his wife Christy and their two boys, Drew and David. Traveling around
the big state of Alaska is a passion of Scott's: from Ketchikan to Barrow,
from Adak to Nome, from Cold Bay to Wrangell and lots of places in-between.
Scott produces the Alaska Travelgram Newsletter, visit
www.alaskatravelgram.com website.
The Alaska Travelgram is designed to give you some "News you can Use" about air fares,
adventures and destinations around the state. He also writes a weekly travel column
for a local newspaper, the Anchorage Daily News. It can be viewed online each Sunday.
It's in the "Life" section: http://www.adn.com
Or, tune in to KFQD each Saturday
morning between 9-10am. It's 750 on the AM dial here in Anchorage.
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