Kennecott

My 7th grade class took a four-day trip to McCarthy, Alaska, which is at the end of a 60-mile gravel road that used to be the railroad line built by the company to ship the copper to Cordova. Kennecott Copper Mine was the first mine by this company - now the behemoth, Rio Tinto (which wants to develop the massive Pebble Mine in western AK) and the owner of the Kennecott Copper Mine in Utah (largest pit mine in the world). It was initially funded by JP Morgan and the Guggenheim families, and required construction in some of the most remote, weather-challenged places in the world. It is mind boggling to consider the kinds of engineering and brute strength building (let alone working) here required. There were five total mines, and all
 were tapped out in 1938. They produced over $1 billion in profit in today's money.

The Kivalina Bridge - the steel part (still original) was built in 1909, in 12 days in wind and weather that was 40 degrees below zero. 

The Gilahina Trestle, all wood, built in 8 days in the dead of an Alaskan winter. 

The footbridge to McCarthy, the naughty neighbor of the Kennecott, a company town.

Sunrise over Kennecott, the two glaciers are Kennicott and Root.

Hike up to Bonanza mine, one of five that sent their product to Kennecott for sorting. We started hiking at 8 a.m. and climbed almost 7000 feet. Got back at 6 p.m.

Some perspective - the tiny dot in the middle is a person on the trail. Tricky hiking in some spots, with a sheer drop on one side. Imagine doing this loaded with construction supplies.

Mine leftovers. When it was closed, everyone walked away so all the debris is everywhere. 

Bonanza mine. Miners never left once they began. Average length of stay: 8-12 mos. It cost 8 mos of wages to pay
the company back so many miners ended up earning nothing.

The approach to Bonanza - more perspective. The mountain is massive.

One of the many transfer stations where steel cable funneled through. The cables sent
bucket after bucket of copper down to Kennecott. Notice where it's built - there are skeletons
of horses littering the ground at Jumbo mine. 

The cables stretched about 5 miles. They hung it up there by hand.

Two buckets in two transfer stations on the way down. On the two holidays of the year, miners had a choice: hike down, or ride the buckets down to Kennecott.

Heading down, with Root and Kennicott glaciers in the background.

We were the only group to tour the 14-story sorting building in two years. The building was built
without bolts - built for shaking - as the ore was sorted. The noise was incredible, we were told. The NPS is
restoring the foundations - Kennecott is a historical site.

The Kennicott River coming off the two glaciers by the footbridge

A close up of the longest uninterrupted ice fall in the world, the start of Root glacier. Root was also mined
by the company for copper. It was the only mine not served by the cables.