Finally a trip this past July to McCarthy and the Kennicott Copper Mines

 We took a second trip in July, renting out our townhome and taking off in our Chinook with Kira. We've been wanting to go to McCarthy almost since we moved here more than 10 years ago. We made one stop on the way at the Copper River to camp - McCarthy is about 307 miles, the last 61 of which are on a road that is just as bad as advertised on what I've seen portrayed as a "historic gravel road." Slow going - lots of washboard effect, and if we ever did it again, we'd let a lot more air out of the tires to lessen the being shaken to death! 

McCarthy is at the foot of the Wrangell Mountains with a population of 28 in the last census - a population which increases in the summer - but this was the summer of the pandemic, so few people were around. It's pretty charming though, and we stopped and had a glass of wine and an appetizer coming back from a tour of the Kennicott Mine and a hike on the nearby glacier. The wine and appetizer were both excellent, and unusually so,  leading me to believe the summer residents are pretty upscale. I'd like to go again when we're freer to hang out in McCarthy and to socialize - without masking up! 

Athabascan Natives with Chief Nikolai hunted in the area near where McCarthy is now and had a summer camp close by. McCarthy itself came into existence because of the Kennicott Copper Mine, established in 1903 with J.P. Morgan, the Havemayers and the Guggenheims who formed the Alaska Syndicate for this purpose. A railroad was built by 1911 to transport the ore. Copper was no longer feasible and had been largely mined out by 1938, and we were told that the men and the few families that lived there were given 3 hours to pack their bags and leave on the last train once the decision had been made to pull out. The buildings went through a couple of sales and were abandoned at different times before becoming a National Historic Landmark District. 

The National Park Service is in the process of restoring the buildings, and tours were abbreviated because of Covid-19.  That might be a reason to go back! See The Kennecott Story https://www.nps.gov/wrst/learn/historyculture/upload/Kennecottbulletin.pdf. 

We had a wonderful three days and also want to go back hiking on the glacier, with pretty much limitless space for spending the day and unbelievable views, of course!