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Thought I'd post some photos of the last trip of the year. This was back in mid September, after the "tourist season" was over at Kennicott. Shuttles have stopped. No tour guides. Just some friends and the mine. We had the whole place to ourselves.
To get to Kennicott you have to drive the Mcarthy Rd, which is a 60 mile largely unmaintained dirt road. It can take well over 2 hours to do that 60 miles. We went in in the middle of the night, in the rain, and it made for an interesting but rather fun experience. Crossing the single lane, 238' high, 112 year old Kuskulana River Bridge is rather eerie at midnight, and truly spectacular in the daylight.
Once there you camp at Base Camp Kennicott. Busy in the summer, but we were the only ones there at this time of year. The views from base camp are stunning, especially the wall of ice in the distance.
From base camp you cross a foot bridge to get in to Mcarthy proper. In the summer, shuttles take you the 5 miles to to the mine. In the off season though, you hike - OR bring a real skinny 4 wheeler and a trailer light enough to carry across the bridge on its side
The mine has been undergoing restoration and preservation so there's a mix of anywhere from ruins to fully restored buildings. We spent a full day exploring just the mine, and you could easily spend 2-3 days in the area and not get bored. If you're driving from any reasonably sized city in Alaska, plan a 3 day trip here with drive times.
Anyway, enough rambling, hope some of you will enjoy these random photos from the trip.
To get to Kennicott you have to drive the Mcarthy Rd, which is a 60 mile largely unmaintained dirt road. It can take well over 2 hours to do that 60 miles. We went in in the middle of the night, in the rain, and it made for an interesting but rather fun experience. Crossing the single lane, 238' high, 112 year old Kuskulana River Bridge is rather eerie at midnight, and truly spectacular in the daylight.
Once there you camp at Base Camp Kennicott. Busy in the summer, but we were the only ones there at this time of year. The views from base camp are stunning, especially the wall of ice in the distance.
From base camp you cross a foot bridge to get in to Mcarthy proper. In the summer, shuttles take you the 5 miles to to the mine. In the off season though, you hike - OR bring a real skinny 4 wheeler and a trailer light enough to carry across the bridge on its side
The mine has been undergoing restoration and preservation so there's a mix of anywhere from ruins to fully restored buildings. We spent a full day exploring just the mine, and you could easily spend 2-3 days in the area and not get bored. If you're driving from any reasonably sized city in Alaska, plan a 3 day trip here with drive times.
Anyway, enough rambling, hope some of you will enjoy these random photos from the trip.
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