The McCarthy Road, from Chitina to Kennicott Mines

With a lot of 'liquid sun' we leave Haines and therefore the Inside Passage. No more lounging around, now we're driving! 😋

Our drive is interrupted at several construction sites. In Alaska, it often takes a little while (sometimes half an hour) for the 'lollipop' to turn from Stop to Slow and continue driving. Usually behind a 'pilot vehicle' because the construction sites are often very long and sometimes a giant Volvo truck passes by or comes towards us on the left lane. In Haines Junction, we refuel ourselves and Verny, and then we're off to the Alaska Highway, Yeah! 🤩.

Often all alone on these super long, endless straights, up and down through the wilderness, amazing!
The Visitor Center at Kluane Lake is already closed, it's already 6pm, so we continue through the sandstorm until a cozy spot right on the shore becomes visible. The day ends with beautiful sunshine!

From Kluane Lake, we continue via Beaver Creek (4 houses, 1 church, 1 gas station) towards Tok. Just before Tok, we set up our camp on a cozy parking lot at the Tanana River. At first, we were alone... in the morning we were joined by 6 RVs.

The drive continues to bring us luck! A moose crosses the road 😃

Thursday begins with a short drive to Tok, where Verny needs a little maintenance. scrubbing the car and the snail shell in the rain, emptying tanks, filling up with gasoline, fresh water, and the refrigerator. That makes us hungry! Off to Fast Eddy's, it's time for breakfast number two 🍳 🙃.

The broken handrail at the back of Verny's door cannot be repaired here either, well, sometime we will find someone who has the right parts and then it can be fixed.

Just before Chitina, we find another nice place, it was nice, and there can't be much traffic here. After all, from there it's only to McCarthy, a dead end. Think again, we thought we were sleeping on the A1 😳 what are all those people doing back there? And if they're all going to McCarthy, will there still be a free spot for Verny?

The drive solves the mystery. After stopping by the friendly ranger Vicky, we drive on the McCarthy Road towards our destination, Kennicott and the Kennecott Mines.

The salmon 🐟 are here! And with them all the fishermen who rush through the wilderness in the early morning!!

The drive through Wrangell & St. Elias National Park (bigger than Switzerland, Yellowstone, and another park combined) is totally idyllic and cozy. 61 miles, mostly gravel with many holes, a bit more demanding for the driver than for the passenger, but both do their job excellently 🤓. Except for squirrels and hares, we haven't spotted anything 🧐. But the most impressive were the old railroad bridges over which the copper ore from the Kennecott Mines was transported to Cordova.

The high-quality copper ore mined by 200-300 miners in various mines from 1911 onwards was crushed, sorted, crushed again on shaking tables, and finally packed in coffee bags in the 'mill town', where another 300 people worked in shifts under the harshest conditions. These bags were 'pickled' in salt to prevent the wet ore from freezing during rail transport to Cordova.
On the mill tour, we were able to inspect the individual installations from top to bottom inside the 'ore mill'. Completely crazy, historically questionable, at the same time fascinating and extremely lucrative. The operation was shut down in 1938, and Kennecott Mines is now part of the Rio Tinto Group.

https://www.nps.gov/wrst/learn/historyculture/kennecott-mines-national-historic-landmark.htm

After a very indulgent meal in McCarthy with a Barbera from California, we strolled back to the campsite by the river.

The next day, we head back to Kennicott to hike the Erie Mine Trail. Boldly, we pass a larger group only to be abruptly stopped by fresh bear scat about 1.5 kilometers later. A big bear business (lots of grass and small green berries) right in the middle of the trail, an invitation to retreat. Since we are already almost at our destination, we turn back. The leader of the large group, whom we will of course soon cross again, briefly looks at Nina's photo of the business and turns around with his group as well.