COPPER NUGGETS...An antique jar with copper nuggets found at Dan Creek in Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
PHOTO AVAILABLE...https://fineartamerica.com/featured/1-copper-nuggets-fred-denner.html
MOUNT SAINT ELIAS...also designated Boundary Peak 186, is the second-highest mountain in both Canada and the United States, is situated on the Yukon and Alaska border. It lies about 26 miles southwest of Mount Logan, the highest mountain in Canada.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wrst/22260218939/in/album-72157637202117786/
NPS Photo- Bryan Petrtyl
FALL DIAMONDS...Backlit water drops on fall Fireweed at Dan Creek in Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
"Bridge to Nowhere" The Gilahina Trestle, which is 880 feet long and 90 feet high, was built in the Winter of 1911 by the Copper River Northwestern Railroad to carry ore from the Kennecott Mines. It was built in just 11 days with a half million board feet of timber. Today, it still stands, although crumbling at Mile 28.5 along the McCarthy Road, in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Preserve, Alaska.
Fly Alaska Lodge is located far from civilization, in the middle of Wrangell St. Elias National Park. On Monday we will pick you up personally in Chitina or Mc Carthy by plane (Cessna 172 or Pilatus Porter Turbine) and fly you to the lodge. Once there, you will move into one of the three guest yurts (double occupancy). With a welcome drink we will start getting to know the Lodge and its surroundings.
ROCKS SNOW and ICE Wrangell St. Elias National Park has some of the nations most rugged and inaccessible backcountry. Most of it has never seen a human footprint and the most practical way to see it is by airplane.
May Creek Mail Cabin, built along side the new May Creek airstrip in the mid 1900′s by the Chititu Creek miners. Cordova Air Service brought supplies and mail to May Creek and other mines throughout the Wrangell Mountains. Pilots such as the famous “Mudhole Smith” flew summer, winter and any conditions in airplanes such as the Stearman C2B biplane.
MAY CREEK PUBLIC USE CABIN
This cabin is located in a mixed spruce and aspen forest in the Nizina River valley near Young Creek, at an elevation of 1,650'. There is no running water or plumbing. The cabin is 14 ft by 16 ft in size and includes:
- one twin-sized wooden bunk and one double-sized wooden bunk (sleeps three people)
- a woodstove
- a table with bench
- an informational bulletin board
- outside picnic table
- a rustic pit toilet - Please bring your own toilet paper, as the toilet is not regularly stocked or maintained.
Kennecott Mine 5 miles up the road from McCarthy Alaska.
In 1907 construction of the 196-mile Copper River and Northwestern Railroad (jokingly called the Can't Run and Never Will ) from Kennecott to Cordova began. The railroad was to serve as a key link in the development of the mines; bringing much needed supplies in and copper ore out.
Kennicott was a classic company town. Most of the miners lived there in company housing and everything revolved around the mining operations. The town was a "dry" town and miners were not allowed to bring their families. Nearby, the town of Shushana Junction begain developing. This small town eventually changed its name to McCarthy, and became the site of a turnaround station for the railroad. McCarthy was quite a miners’ and railroaders’ town, with all the – ahem – “entertainment” a young man on the frontier might require. Restaurants, pool halls, hotels, saloons, a dress shop, shoe shop, garage, hardware store, and thriving red light district all popped up to provide services to more than 800 people in the area. The two towns coexisted for the 27 years that Kennecott was in operation. Traditions from those days, such as the 4th of July baseball game, are still carried out today.
By 1938, after shipping a staggering $200 million in ore, the rich copper deposits were depleted and the mines of Kennecott as well as the railroad, ceased operations.