The town of Chitina boomed from 1908 to 1915. It once boasted it had the finest accomodations north of Seattle, Hotel Chitina. The town was then a transportation hub for the copper mine at Kennicott. That hotel has been newly restored and renovated, and has the charm of a small rural hotel, and the comfort of a larger one. The hotel is all polished woodwork. The rooms are small, but clean and comfortable with a private bath. We ate dinner last night and breakfast this morning in the restaurant. Servings are huge, and the quality is awesome.
After breakfast, we set off for our flight into Wrangell St Elias National Park and the Kennicott
We landed in the town of McCarthy, 5 miles south of Kennicott where we will stay for 2 nights. A lodge van was waiting for us when we landed, and transported us to the hotel. Kennicott Glacier Lodge was built in 1987 on the site of and is a replica of a former mine worker residence. Kennicott was a mining town surrounded by the Wrangell St Elias National Park. The hotel sits front and center on the glacier. It has a 190 foot front porch that enjoys a panoramic view of the Chugach and Wrangell
mountains. The hotel owners have made an effort to make the hotel homey and luxurious at the same time. There are several shared bathrooms in our wing, and a cozy family room (where I am writing this). Our bedroom is clean and very comfortable, and, like the rest of the hotel, decorated with old mining artifacts and photos. There is a sink in the room with cold (ICE cold) water for teeth brushing.
After we settled into our room, we set out to discover Kennicott. The National Park service has restored many of the old Mill buildings and is in the process of major restoration of others. Kennecott sprang up in the early 1900s when it was discovered that this area was a particularly rich source of unusually high quality copper. The difficulty came with the fact that this area is incredibly remote. Even now, the only drivable road here is from Chitina 64 gravel miles and 4-5 hours of bumpy travel. The mine was built, and also a railroad that connected it to Cordova on the coast 169 miles south of here. Today's equivalent cost to build it? $6 billion! The mine operated until 1938 when the price of copper dropped, and the supply was depleted. The National Park service has explained the history of the many restored buildings that we toured. At its peak operation, (and it operated year-round), almost 500 people lived and worked here. There are still private homes here, and less than 20 live here year round, all off the grid.
After our walking tour of Kennicott, we headed to lunch. Our package here is for the flights in and out of Chitina, transfers, our room, and 3 meals a day. Otherwise, meal options are, to say the least, limited. Lunch was awesome-- fresh copper river salmon on a caesar salad. with home made beef barley soup. All is prepared fresh and is sooo good.
After lunch, we headed out on the trail the leads to the Root Glacier. We got halfway there, and then decided to turn back. Later, dinner was served family style at tables of 8. Filet mignon was the main course. It was a great opportunity to meet others and share experiences. We met an Israeli couple who were traveling a similar route to ours in Alaska, and 2 other couples from Florida!
More photos of the day here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dJi6rxCGWJfM269a6
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