Alaskan Back Road

The McCarthy Rd. is a one lane dirt/gravel road leading from Chitina to Kennecott, AK and was originally the path of the railway constructed to support the Kennecott Copper Mines. We dropped the car where the pavement ends past Chitina and rode about 66 miles in. We camped outside Kennecott and had a chance to tour the mill, hike to one of the mines and enjoy multiple views of the confluence of the Kennecott and Root glaciers. (The Kennecott Glacier is on the left covered in rocks while the Root Glacier is the white one on the right.) The mill and its mines were abandoned in 1938 after the company picked the nearby mountainsides clean and touring it makes OSHA seem like less of a hassle and more of a godsend. In a typical year with a revolving employee population of about 500 it was just business to lose as many as 25 of them. Of course the slogans haven't changed much. "Safety First!" was Kennecott's catch phrase.












The bridge Martha is riding across was built in 1910. It spans the Kuskulana River and was built during the winter. High steel in AK winters. Sounds like fun. Mining operations were started by hand before the railway was complete. By hand meaning one guy turning the drill bit a quarter turn between alternating sledge strikes of two other guys. They promised investors a full trainload of premium copper waiting before the rails made it to the mill. On April 8, 1911, the first ore train hauled $250,000 of 70% copper ore.












Martha and I just hauled our B.O.B.'s in and out along the road and now have to haul ourselves back to Moose Pass. More to come...