July 9

July 9
We headed for Glen Allen. On the way there we took pics of the Matanuska Glacier.
Drove to Kenny Lake cg and set up to stay 2 nights there because we were heading for McCarthy & Kennecott. Kennecott was the largerest copper mine and had the most pure copper every found. They found pieces as big as a desk. The ore was so rich it did not require processing. The mine operated from 1903 to 1938 and netted over One Hundred Million dollars worth of copper. The big guys from the east … J.P. Morgan & Guggenheims fronted the money. It is located in the largest national park in the USA. Four mountain ranges intersect the area. Got up at 5am. We drove to Chitina and then we had to drive 66 miles on a dirt road were the railroad tracks had been, but it was more than a spectacular day. A van takes you the 5 miles up to the old mining town. That is after you park your car and walk ¼ of a mile.
On the drive in we had to be careful not to hit the snow shoe hares, 100’s that were all over the road. We were told that every ten years they have a birthing boom and then the Owls, Eagles, wolf take over for the next years till the supplies run out. Then the boom starts all over again. Gene saw a bear cub but it was so quick and we could not stop quickly enough. We then saw Trumpeter Swans & moose.
Up in Kennecott we saw a film on the mine and how it worked then we took a 4 mile hike to Root Glacier. I have always been so afraid of height, but I am almost cured. I had to walk a narrow ridge near a waterfall. Then we hiked down and onto the glacier. It looks like dirt but there is ice under the dirt. The glacier moraine is 24 miles long and 3 miles wide. Picked up rocks on the glacier for some friends and great grandkids,
We then took a shuttle down to McCarthy. It is a really small town with dirt roads. Met and talked to a lot of people on the way. We asked one girl if there was a short cut to the foot bridge we had to walk to... She told us how to get there. To our surprise on the path coming out to the road was a young black bear. He was no more than 15/20 feet
away. Coming down the street was a 4 wheeler and scarred the cub who turned around and ran back into the woods right near us. Could not find him in the woods to get a picture and we thought mommy might be close so we just went on our way. What an experience. All together we hiked over 5 miles and we both felt so good. Then on the way home we saw the native people along the Copper River fishing with the fishing wheel. We did not get home till 9pm.