Mines & Mountains

     We reached Anchorage with the warm rays of the sun beaming down on us. Since the last time we were here it was pouring rain outside we decided to go see some of the sights we saw last time, but now with a little sunlight. We also made a quick stop at the mall where we decided to buy some new clothes. A very interesting designed mall if you ask us. Five stories high filled with escalators and an open center to see the shops above. I got a new sweater and a shirt while Ricki excitedly bought some comic tee shirts. Apparently these shirts can’t be bought in Canada so she decided to stock up. She got a smelly shirt that is similar to a scratch and sniff sticker that smells like Tootsie Roll…. Who knew.

     Amidst our wealth of travel info of Anchorage area we saw a picture of a burger joint that had lots of pictures mounted to the ceiling and looked like a cool place to check out. We put it into the GPS and arrived a few minutes later. It turned out to be something different, or had changed since the picture was taken because it was not beautiful. At all.. We did buy some American cheeseburgers, which ended up being fairly good, while they went down easily we felt like we were going to be sick after so we walked it off in town. After having all our shopping completed we headed north towards the The Independence Mine.

     Driving through the down town area of Anchorage, I remembered why I hate city driving. It didn’t help that the Land Cruiser is excessively large. Reaching the outskirts we hit a traffic jam, here we sat for many minutes as the skies grew dark and the rain starting to dump on us once again. We figured we would be smart and after maneuvering the truck through the lanes we snuck onto an exit ramp that was supposed to take us off the highway. The first turnoff on that exit was towards a military base where a sign told us that we could get randomly searched. Trying to avoid that hassle we took the only other road possible. This lead us away from the highway and in the completely wrong direction. Along this road there was a small black bear that crossed the road, but it was too shy and ran away before we could grab the cameras. After going in the wrong direction for a while we decided to cut our losses and head back to the traffic jam. After sitting for a little while longer the traffic jam cleared and we started making good time again. The jam was caused by a pickup truck that has snapped its wheel clean off and his U-haul trailer was slumped in the ditch below .

     Arriving in Palmer the sun started to shine again and it became increasingly hotter. We stopped at the local gas station for fuel and fresh drinking water then we headed into the boonies along the Hatcher Pass. Along the way the road started to wind up into a beautiful forest and ran parallel to a massive river that was spectacular to watch as it tumbled around massive boulders. We started to climb out of the valley and were awestruck by the view of the sun setting behind the mountains.

     We made a quick detour along a gravel road into the Archangel Valley and we ended up traveling deep into another mountain valley. While the snow covered peaks climbed hundreds of feet above us on either side, the valleys were covered with green grass, ponds and babbling brooks. After getting some pictures we decided it was getting late and we should go find our home. We bypassed the Independence Mine since we could not camp there and would check it out the following day. After climbing the Hatcher Pass summit we once again were struck by the awesome view of the setting sun and the clear blue sky hovering above the picturesque mountains. We found our campsite in a valley between two snow peaked mountains along the Cragie Greek Road that lead to the historic Lucky Shot and War Baby abandoned gold mines. Here we found out that there were actually multiple mine sites hidden on the mountain side and we ended up being camped right below one with old debris and wood structures littering the ground around us.

     While Ricki made some hearty chicken noodle soup I checked out the mine, it seemed like a crack in the side of the mountain that opened up into a low tunnel running deep into the heart of the mountain. I decided to wait until morning to check it out further. As the sun disappeared behind the mountains the temperatures started to drop. Crawling into bed I had on a pair of long johns under sweatpants and wore a t-shirt under a fleece long sleeve and my new sweater over top. Topping this off with a toque I was prepared to battle the freezing temperatures that come along with clear skies and high altitude tundra. When we were back in Anchorage we had overheard people talking about having seen the Aurora Borealis, so our hopes were high that we might see them as well. We decided the best time would be around 3 am but since neither of us had an alarm clock, or better yet either, wanted to crawl out of the warm tent to get on we left it to chance to wake us up in the middle of the night.

     We never ended up waking up at 3 am but we did wakeup in the late morning to the sun baking us alive in our tent. By 10 pm the sun had peaked over the mountains and was warming up the valley. We quickly got out of the bed and soaked in the warm rays not rushing to go anywhere or do much at any speed. Breakfast consisted of blueberry & white chocolate french toast, which a lady passing by said smelled like chocolate chip cookies. We ended up eating a whole plate full while sitting on a bolder amdist the green grass and curious ground squirrels, soaking up the sunshine.

     Before we set of to explore the mines we decided to Scotch Guard our tent, which we had been wanting to do for a week or so and now had the opportune moment. After completing the tricky procedure we grabbed our cameras and headed out on our adventure. Our route was straight up a giant mountain face as we followed an old mining trolley cable that was lying on the ground. As the trail got steeper and steeper it became increasingly difficult to find our footing on the loose moss and jagged rocks. At one point Ricki slid backwards and hit her camera on a rock, her lens now has a little rock chip in it, which understandably she was not impressed with.

     Reaching the top we saw a spectacular river flowing through the grass from the melting snow just a few feet above us. Since this seemed to be as clean as the water could get we decided to drink from the refreshing stream and so far we have not gotten sick. The Land cruiser looked like a tiny spec in the bottom of this spectacular valley and we realized how far we had actually climbed. We made our way across the mountain face and reached another mine. This one had a lot of wooden structures stabilizing it at the entrance, so we decided to not go inside.

     It was easy to imagine what this all would have looked like when it was first built, and the effort that was put into these mines. Along the road there were massive boulders, some of which were supported by wood reinforcements to stop them from rolling onto the road.

     After stumbling across yet another mine shaft and being curious enough to go a few yards inside we decided to explore the main station. This decrepit building held our attention for quite a while. Ricki decided to explore the main office building. As she entered she tip toed around the corner into the main room. Here a ground squirrel chirped loudly and ran across the room making Ricki jump and scream.

     Since the floor seemed too rotten for my weight I waited outside and explored the many machines that were sitting in the yard. Most of these machines still moved and I entertained myself by spinning wheels, turning cranks, and trying to figure out what each one did. Taking many pictures of everything we made our way back to our tent. Having a quick lunch of vegetarian quesadillas we headed back towards Independence Mine.

     The mine has been restored into a museum and we spent hours walking through the old gold mine. The elaborate systems amazed us both, with elevated rail tracks, water tunnels, and tramways that were used to haul as much gold as possible. The tramways were used to go high into the surrounding hills and bring back the ore from the different shafts into the mountain. We learned that there was 8 to ten miles of tunnels in this mountain valley. What also astonished us was the old buildings. Many of them had fallen down and were rotting away but the shelves were still standing and you could see old drilling bits and tools still lying in their original location amidst the rubble. A real step back in time. After walking around the site we made our way down the other side towards civilization.

     We reached the Parks highway and headed north towards Denali. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Figuring today would be a good day to see Mount McKinley, we kept our eyes peeled but were not entirely sure which mountain on the horizon it was. Then it became obvious, there it was, towering over all the others and it was spectacular to see the snow covered mountain rising up on the horizon. We decided to stop and take pictures; since our luck on this trip wasn’t that great we thought it would be best to take some while we could. As we pulled over we met one of the locals who also snapping a few shots. He told us it was very rare to see the mountain without any clouds and in its glory as we saw it. Since he was also amazed by the sight and had been living in the shadows of the mountain for many years we felt honored to see it in the light that we did.

     Continuing on the road we decided to head into Denali State Park since the weather was good and could change at any moment. Stopping along the way to take more pictures we ended up grabbing a late dinner at the local Subway. The sandwiches were enormous and there were toppings that could not be had in Canada. Ricki decided that since I could finish a massive foot long sandwich, she could as well. Little did she know that her sandwich was equal to half her body weight and she would regret her decision shortly down the road. As we headed towards Denali State Park she started feeling sick. We pulled over on the side of the road and she got out to take a breather and tried not to vomit. As I cheered her on from the car, I’m sure I didn’t make the situation much better. After a few dry heaves she got back in the car and we kept driving. While each burp resulted in me getting ready to dart of the road she ended up winning the battle against her sandwich.

 We pulled into the Byers Lake Campground with our sandwiches still in our stomachs and the sun still shining. We set up camp and had our first fire in a long time. After some Chai Baba tea we played a game of Risk on Ricki’s Ipod, since we are that cool, I should also mention that I easily won the game, and am now the ruler of the world… that is all. (Ricki says beginners luck)

Wicked & Wacky Whittier

     After happily packing the land cruiser with our fresh clean clothes we decided to visit the Exit Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park on our way out of Seward. We packed the backpack with sweaters, some trail mix, cameras and water and hit the 2.5 mile hike to the “Top of the Cliffs” viewing area. I had read that the trail climbs 1000 feet for every mile you hike, not thinking how difficult this might actually be. We went hard for an hour or so climbing damn near straight up until we were so out of breath and ready to die that we had to stop and take a break.

      An older couple coming down the rock staircase beside us informed us we were so very close to the viewing point and gave us some hope. So we stuffed our faces with some food and water and continued on the rocky path. As we zigzagged around another corner expecting maybe another, we finally saw it, the Exit Glacier. Bombarded with the sight of a remnant from the last ice age we took some pictures caught our breath and well with nowhere else to go headed the 2.5 miles back down. 2/3 of the way down I saw a penny on the ground (Sarah…stop laughing) I picked it up and put in my shoe for luck. Ten minutes later I rolled my ankle. I wasn’t impressed with my “lucky” penny and hobbled my way down the rest of the trail. We made it down in good time and well then Doctor Rob made me sit, take my shoes off, drink a beer and tensor wrap my ankle while poking fun of my swollen little sausage toes. I have to say it feels much better today, thank goodness!

     Today is our last day on the Kenai Peninsula after a handful of gorgeous days in Homer, Kenai, Seward and our most recent stop, Whittier. When I had researched old abandoned buildings and mines in Alaska before we left I stumbled upon this picture of a very eerie looking war era structure. I had told Robi it would be something worth seeing and as we came closer to the area I began reading more about this town. I found out it is only road accessible by the 2.5 mile long Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. Robi was so unbelievably excited to drive on this one lane tunnel deep within a enormous mountain, both of us just hoping to not have an earthquake ruin our moment of fun.

     After passing through this tunnel we came to the small harbor village of Whittier, it has been dubbed “Alaska’s Oddest Town” and for good reason. It almost felt as if we had been taken back to a completely different world. The mountains gaped into the sky and rivers flowed down them from glaciers suspended high above the clouds. The waters of the Prince William Sound were a spectacular shade of aquamarine and the was sun shining through brilliant white clouds.

      Then there standing silently in the center of it all is the most derelict and depressing building you could ever imagine, The Buckner Building. Built in the 1950’s it was the housing project for the entire community in World War Two and Alaska’s largest building at that time. We walked around the Buckner with goose bumps and chills while history past and curiosity got the best of me.

     I convinced Robi to climb a few flights of stairs and peer in to this abandoned relic. Stalagtites had formed on the roof and walls, the wind whipped through the windows and the constant sound of water dripping from the floors above sent chills down our spines. We scurried back down the rusty stairs and continued to peer in the open doors and windows until we were satisfied that this was the creepiest sight that either one of us had ever seen.

      There was another building in town, The Begich Tower; it had been rehabilitated into condominiums after the war. It was a sad soviet style high rise and dwarfed the Buckner. After driving around for a little while Robi and I realized that there were absolutely no houses in this little village and that everyone lived in this dauntingly depressing dormitory. Scary.

      We had a craving for seafood so we went to the Swiftwater Seafood Café on the boardwalk and had some fish and chips and a glass of cold beer. Halfway through our meal a couple sitting next to us started up some conversation, Robi started on the rooftop tent and they were hooked, they wanted to see the rig. We all finished and headed outside to continue swapping tales and trying to explain the Canadian term “Toque” to a New Yorker. We all decided to go to the local Inn for a drink and throw down some more stories and get to know our new acquaintances. We debated science, shared books and stories and Googled all life’s answers until last call and went our separate ways. It was the bee’s knees. =P 

     After Robi and I were both awaken out of a dead sleep at 7 am by what we both agreed was a “meow” we hid in the tent until we couldn’t play scared any longer. I made New York style bagels for breakfast and then we walked the boardwalk feeling extremely awake for the hour. We decided there wasn’t much more to see and then headed back through the tunnel and we are now headed back to Anchorage to see some of the sights we left for the way back through. The weather looks like it might hold up for us with breaks in the clouds on the horizon and well no rain, yet.