LB near Skookum Volcano
Thu August 9- We woke up to low level clouds and decided to have a relaxing morning. Around midday the sun came out a little bit - since it was not raining and the weather could turn a lot worse, we went for a hike. We drove further out on the Nabesna road and hiked up a river-bed to a pass at the Skookum Volcano. The mountains in Wrangell St Elias are a mixture of volcanic and tectonic mountains. We had lunch on top of the pass (whoops, forgot the knife to cut the cheese!) and enjoyed the cloudy scenery. On the way back to the car, while walking in the rain next to a rushing river, we saw a black bear! So much for our theory that you only see wildlife from the car... Due to the noise of the river we had to yell "HEY BEAR!!!" from the top of our lungs. He/she did finally notice us and ran off.
Eating cheese without a knife
Fri August 10- Same weather as the day before. Cloudy, rainy, but in the late-morning more sun. In the afternoon we backtracked a little on the Nabesna Road and hiked up the Caribou Creek Trail. This trail is also suited for ATV's (all terrain vehicle, sometimes known as a quad) and pretty easy going. At the end of the trail there is a public use cabin where we enjoyed an excellent view and had lunch. The weather was improving a little bit and we could see a glimpse of one of the high peaks. Very enjoyable hike. After dinner the weather cleared even more and by the time we went to bed the temperature was close to freezing.
LB with the high peaks in the background
Sat August 11- After a cold night we woke up to a clear morning! Beautiful views! We packed up the dewy tent and drove to Chitina where we would meet LB's parents. The drive out on the Nabesna road and on the main highway to Chitina was spectacular! Great views of mountains Sanford, Drum and Wrangell. Around noon we got to Chitina Airstrip where Peter and Shelley were already waiting for us. It was great to see them again! The plan was to drive with the four of us in our car to the town of Kennicott located at the the end of the McCarthey Road (the other unpaved access road into Wrangell St Elias that rental cars are not allowed on). We moved most of our stuff (food, cooler, chairs, etc.) from our Subaru to Peter & Shelley's rental car and set off on the 60 mile drive. The road used to be a railroad that was built in the early 1900's to ship copper from the Kennicott mines to the Gulf of Alaska. The mines were closed in 1938 and somebody at some point turned the railroad into an unpaved road. It took us about 2.5 hours to reach McCarthy where we got picked up by a hotel-shuttle that drove us to the Kennicott Lodge. The 5 mile road from McCarthy to Kennicott is not open to the public and shuttle buses drive people back and forth. The Kennicott Lodge is a beautifully restored old building that has an amazing view of the surrounding glaciers and mountains. A great place for some quality family time! After checking in, we dried our tent (since we would not be using it for three whole days!) and checked out the old mining town. The town was abandoned in 1938 and left to rot. But since the winters are so cold, the rotting process is slow. In the 1980's when Wrangell St Elias became a national park, Kennicott became a historical landmark. Since then quite a few buildings have been restored. All in all a really neat and interesting place. Back at the lodge we had a sublime dinner. Thanks Peter & Shelley! 
Family time!
Sun August 12- Another beautiful day! After breakfast we started our family day hike to the 'bonanza' mine. This old copper mine produced very high-grade copper and was the reason a railroad to Kennicott was economically feasible. Quite a strenuous hike with an elevation gain of almost 4,000 feet (and we lost some time looking for the trailhead). The views were excellent and the mine itself very interesting. Most of it has collapsed, but all the wood is in remarkable shape due to the cold climate. Many of the rocks are blue green- still plenty of copper ore lying around. In the early 1900's a 'cable car' was constructed to get the ore from the mine to the mill down in the town. Miners also used the cable to get from the town to the mine, but they had to sign a non-liability-agreement.. Quite a piece of engineering! You can still see the towers that once held the cable. Back at the lodge we enjoyed a nice cold beer, a hot shower, had another excellent dinner and enjoyed the comfortable bed.
On the glacier
Mon August 13- The beautiful days seem neverending, an even clearer day! Today we explored the Root Glacier, right next to town. This glacier has a huge 1 mile icefall, the largest icefall outside Antarctica! We hiked the first section of the trail with Peter & Shelley; they continued on the trail next to the glacier and we strapped on our crampons and went for a hike on the ice. As soon as we got to the middle of the glacier we had an outstanding view of the icefall and the mountains around us. After lunch and checking out some ice-climbers, we walked back to the dirt trail. We hiked the rest of the trail next to the glacier, but the views were not as good as when we were on the glacier. We did see a lot of beer poop though! But by continuously yelling and singing (e.g. classical Dutch bear-songs like "Berend Botje" and "Ik zag twee beren") we avoided any close encounter. Back at the lodge we enjoyed a nice cold beer on this very clear and warm Alaskan day! 
Kennicott
Tue August 14- So sad to leave Kennicott.. Right after breakfast we got shuttled back to our car and drove the 60 dirt miles back to the air-strip. We reorganized the cars and followed Peter & Shelley to a beautiful viewpoint (the weather was glorious!) where we had lunch. Since we had no time to stop at the main visitor center in Copper Center on the way in, we made a stop after lunch. We learned a thing or two about the volcanoes in the park and saw an excellent movie. Wrangell St Elias (together with Kluane and Glacier Bay) are definitely places we want to go back to! Then we had to say goodbye to Peter & Shelley :( but not after we let Peter pay for our gas (he insisted many times)! They were going to Girdwood ( South of Anchorage) and we were going back to Fairbanks. Our drive north was spectacular, great views! We happened upon a beautiful campsite with clear views of the mountains close to Denali State Park, great find as for some reason the campsite was free! 
Bonanza mine
Wed August 15- Beautiful drive back to Fairbanks. We saw some great mountains, some of them are in Denali State Park, others are not even part of any park. Surprisingly spectacular! In any other state these would be huge attractions- but we guess they cant compete with other Alaskan parks. We could not see any of these peaks on our previous drives to Fairbanks due to the clouds. We got back to Fairbanks and started the preparation for our next trip; the Gates of the Arctic. 
Day hiking with the Chamberlain family
Scenic drive back to Fairbanks
Posted with Blogsy 
No comments:
Post a Comment