Alaska - Day 15

The best thing about turning our 5 day kayaking trip into a long 3 day trip was that we were able to get to Wrangell St. Elias National Park.  Most people haven't even heard of this national park or most of the other national parks in Alaska.  However, it is kind of a big deal.  This national park is the largest national park, it is larger than 9 states, and it has 9 of the 16 tallest peaks in North America within its borders. Its grandeur is impossible tocomprehend.  We've decided a great plan for our next Alaska trip would just be a couple weeks in the park taking a bush plane from area to area throughout the weeks.  

There are only two roads into the park.  The Nabesna Road goes in 42 miles on dirt in the North. The McCarthy Road goes in 60 miles to McCarthy and Kennecott and is a dirt road that used to be the old railroad.  We took the rental Hyndai down a pretty beat up McCarthy road so that we could get to Kennecott.  Along the way there were such great views and amazing history.

I'll post more pictures specifically of Kennecott tomorrow but some history is good to know.  The Kennecott copper mines operated from 1911 to 1938. In order to get the copper from Kennecott to Cordova, crews worked non stop through temperatures as low as 40 below to build the railroad over 196 miles of rugged territory.  This is the Kuskulana Bridge, built in the winter of 1910 and is 238 feet above the river below. It is still only as wide as the railroad was so only one car can go at a time.

This is the Gilahina Trestle.  About 35 miles of the 196 miles of railroad from Kennecott to Cordova was bridges and trestles.  

Once you get to the end of the McCarthy Road, the only way into McCarthy and Kennecott is to walk across a foot bridge over the river. No vehicles are allowed. McCarthy is a little town across the river that really only consists of one main dirt road, a museum that was awesome, some outfitters, and some hotels (and by hotels I mean the main street buildings that were hotels and lodging places back in the day, not the Ritz Carleton or anything).  Many of the buildings there are original and you really kind of get an idea of what it may have been like in the past.