Bremner Mining District
This entry is going to be really long, and it’s going to include many photos. You might want to grab a cup of tea or something to snack on before you settle in to read.
We went *offline* Friday the 15th, after leaving Fairbanks for Valdez. I began journaling longhand that evening.
Here are my words…
FRIDAY, July 15 2011
Steve and I left Fairbanks at 9am for the trip to Valdez. We needed to stop by the Wrangell St Elias Visitor Center at mile 83 Richardson Hwy to sign some papers, pick up bear containers, and pick up a bag of food and other items.
When we got there, the ranger at the front desk sent us to the admin building. Unfortunately, no one at the admin building had any idea where this bag or box of food was, what time we were supposed to meet up with the ranger at McCarthy. In fact, they couldn’t answer any of our questions. I have to admit, Steve and I were becoming quite concerned about this adventure, because we were as clueless as everyone else and we were facing a week in the wilderness!
They finally got in touch with Luke Hodgson, the McCarthy Ranger who would get things organized and send us on our way. We found out through all of the confusion, that our initial contact was on vacation and not everyone had been notified as to what we needed or what preliminary steps had to be taken to prepare for this trip. Initially, Steve and I were fairly agitated by what appeared to be gross miscommunication between park employees, but later learned that we were the first volunteers going up to Bremner. Up until us, one woman spent the entire summer up there. I can only imagine the planning and organization that went into making it possible for Steve and I to volunteer up at Bremner.
At that time, a phone call came through that there was a black bag waiting for us back at the Visitor Center. We picked it up, as well as three bear cans, and hurried to Valdez so that we could at least enjoy some of our time there.
We had dinner at Mike’s Pizza Place (pricey, but very good) and then returned to the camper to look through the contents of the black bag and adjust our backpacks accordingly.
When we unzipped the bag, we were a little shocked to see such things as a 5lb bag of sugar, a 5lb bag of flour, 32oz of cooking oil, and some freeze dried meals. There was also cookware (we had our own), camp stove fuel (we had our own), paper towels and trash bags (we needed), bear spray (we needed), and other things we had no use for. The bag weighs about 70lbs!
Our packs weigh about 45lbs each and our food/misc bag weighs another 30lbs. There is no way we can carry that bag the mile and a half from the airstrip to camp, without making more than one trip. So we took the few items we needed and made arrangements to give the bag to Luke when we saw him.
Our meeting with Luke is scheduled for tomorrow at 1pm at the McCarthy Bridge.
SATURDAY, July 16 2011
It’s 85 miles to the Chitina turn-off (Edgerton Hwy), and another 93 miles to McCarthy. Sixty of those miles are on an unimproved road of gravel and dirt. The road is rutted and washboard, and there’s always the risk of getting a flat. Safe estimates say that you should allow as much as 3 hours to drive those 60 miles. It took us about 2 hours - which indicates how slow we had to travel to avoid shaking the fillings out of our teeth.
Our day started very early. The alarm went off at 5:30am and Steve got the coffee pot brewing. We were dressed and had the trailer packed up by 6:15am. We had to move it from a full hook-up site to a storage site to avoid paying $35/night when we weren’t even going to be here. Bayside RV Park (our park of choice when we visit Valdez) is awesome, and only charged us $5/day to park on their lot, where our camper would be secure. Our plan is to return to Valdez on Saturday after our week at Bremner is over. We had breakfast at Totem Inn (good breakfast) and were on the road out of Valdez at 7:30am.
Luke met us at the McCarthy Visitor Center parking lot. The Center is unmanned due to a staffing shortage and budget cuts. You can still pick up pamphlets about Wrangell, Kennecott and bear encounters there. There are clean restrooms, and you’re able to park there for free if you plan to do some day hiking. This is nice, as it’s $5/day to park in the lots on the West side of the river. (You can’t drive over the bridge into McCarthy itself; there is a pedestrian bridge)
Luke is quite personable and thorough. He just started working here at McCarthy/Kennecott in March. His wife came with him. She is working at Wrangell Air (who we are flying with). They are from Utah and his last assignment was at Yosemite.
Luke had us follow him in our truck to a parking lot used by park service folks, where it would be secure for the week.
We transferred our packs to his truck and he drove us across another bridge into McCarthy. This bridge was installed by one of the major property owners who lives in McCarthy. The bridge enables residents of McCarthy and Kennecott to drive their own vehicles across the river. There is a gate - with a lock so that no one else can drive over. Those residents who wish to have a car and use the bridge, pay somewhere around $300/year for the key. If they don’t want to use the bridge, they can walk across the pedestrian bridge like tourists do.
The annual fee to use the bridge, and making it only accessible to residents of the two towns, is to keep tourists from driving over there, further damaging their already damaged roads.
(The rain is falling gently as I write in this journal. The sun is moving across the sky behind storm clouds and a ray of light is shooting into a valley where it appears to be raining harder. I have the Kennicott Glacier moraine right out my window.)
Getting back to the community bridge… Because there are some tourists who want special privileges (the right to drive their vehicle in McCarthy/Kennecott), there are daily bridge passes available for purchase for $250.00! Some folks have no problem paying it.
If you’re a non-wealthy tourist, the only way to explore McCarthy and Kennecott is to park in a lot ($5), walk across the river footbridge, and then hike into McCarthy (1 mile) or up to the old Kennecott Mine (about 5 miles). Or you can pay $5 each way to take a 15-20 minute shuttle ride from the footbridge to the old mine.
If you don’t mind a little exercise, and want to save a few bucks, pay to ride the shuttle up to the mine (uphill) and walk the 5 miles back. At least it’s all downhill!
Luke drove us up here to Kennecott (I love Kennecott Mine!) to show us our overnight quarters, as we didn’t fly out today (weather) and would fly as originally planned tomorrow (Sunday).
(The corporation and company town were named after Kennicott Glacier, which was situated in the valley below the town. The glacier was named after Robert Kennicott, a naturalist who explored in Alaska in the mid-19th century. Due to a clerical error, the corporation and town used the spelling of “Kennecott” instead of “Kennicott.”)
We are staying in a “cabana”. Basically, it’s an 8′x10′ storage shed with a set of bunk beds, a writing desk and chair, and a night stand. The outside of these cabanas (there are four), are painted red and white to coordinate with the rest of Kennecott. The building has a plywood floor, unfinished walls (studs), a window and a door. There is a fire extinguisher, a propane fueled camp light mounted on the wall, and a propane fueled heating unit. There is also a broom to sweep out the building and mini blinds on the window and door. The beds have mattresses, but no linens. We’re using our sleeping bags, so it really doesn’t matter. Two of the four units have long-term residents in them. We peeped in the window of one of them, and it was decorated really cute with a futon, wall art, area rug, etc. It might not be a 4-star hotel, but it is a comfortable shelter and we’re appreciative for the lodging.
After showing us to our cabana, Luke took us to the service building. The service building has 1 full bathroom (toilet, shower, sink), one bathroom with just a shower and sink, and one bathroom with just a toilet, but with a washer/dryer set. There is also a full kitchen with stove, fridge, upright freezer, shelves for food, and a huge table with benches. Steve and I will go up there to make coffee tomorrow morning before our flight, and I plan to take (and savor) my last shower for a week.
We dropped our gear into our cabana, and then followed Luke up to the Kennecott Ranger Station (just up the hill and down the road a bit). While there, we were briefed on Satellite Phone and SPOT usage. We filled out our paperwork regarding our back country itinerary and then walked over to the Visitor Center to watch a video on Bear Safety (40 minutes long, and quite informative). It set our minds even more at ease about being in the wilderness with bears. Of course the bear spray helps too.
When our time with Luke was over, Steve and I were famished. Unfortunately, the Glacier Lodge Hotel didn’t open for dinner until 7pm (It’s a Princess run operation - I think - catering mostly to tourists on a regimented schedule.)
The only place available to grab a bite to eat was “The Potato” down in McCarthy - which meant a roundtrip shuttle ride at $10/each from Kennecott to McCarthy. Luke went in search of shuttle passes that the park service keeps on hand for volunteers, but there weren’t any left.
We really didn’t mind paying for the ride. We could have stayed in our cabana and prepared a meal - we have enough food - but I wanted to walk around in McCarthy a little bit, and I was craving a burger and fries: comfort food!
Two roundtrip shuttle tickets, a burrito, a burger and fries, and two cans of soda was $48. That was one pricey meal, but I savored it knowing it would be my last burger. (It was good too)
When we got back to Kennecott, Steve and I went walking through town so I could photograph the historic buildings. They’ve made quite a few improvements since we were here last (2009). I really want to come back with a few gal pals for a weekend. I need to get that planned. The drive is gorgeous!
It started to rain so we came back to our little room. We were so warm from walking, that we immediately peeled out of our fleece tops and heavy hiking boots and socks to cool off. Steve laid our sleeping bags out on the beds and climbed up onto the top bunk, while I sat down at the desk to write. In less than 20 minutes, I heard him snoring - and it wasn’t even 7pm!
