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Published: September 9th 2009
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Today was another low mileage driving day; spent most of the day hiking in Hatcher Pass. The weather was mostly cloudy with periods of light overcast and filtered sunshine. It's definitely cooler because of the clouds, but perfect for hiking (and still no rain!).
I'm now at the half-way point of my trip; two weeks down and two weeks to go!
The primary attraction at Hatcher Pass (elevation 3500 feet) is the old Independence Mine, a gold mining site that was active in the 30's and 40's and eventually closed for good in 1951. The gold here was mined underground by blasting tunnels, removing the ore, crushing the ore on site and using multiple techniques to extract the gold. It took a ton of ore to produce one ounce of gold!
At its peak, the mine site had more than 200 workers and they all lived on site in bunkhouses. Some of the supervisors and managers were allowed to have their families and they lived in buildings with small apartments. They even had a schoolhouse for the kids. Many of the old buildings are in ruins but the primary buildings are being restored by the State of Alaska
with help from volunteers. There are more than 25 miles of mine tunnels here but they're all sealed shut because of the safety hazard.
The entire mine site is now a State Park, but the last day of the season was yesterday (Labor Day). The main gate was closed, but you're allowed to park about a half mile away and walk (uphill!) to get to the mine site (which I did). Even though the visitor's center was closed and there were no guided tours, there were still park employees and volunteers working on site and I was able to get a lot of information from these folks (including an "unofficial" tour of some of the buildings).
I would have enjoyed this visit no matter where the site was located but, as a bonus, the site is in the mountains with incredible views and hiking trails all around. I took one of the trails (Gold Cord Trail) up a steep mountain slope through a massive boulder field to a beautiful lake that overlooked the mine site below. It was one of the best hikes I've ever done (easily in my "top five" list).
It would have been a
perfect day if I stopped there, but one of the State employees at the mine site told me about a new trail up the road a few miles so I headed up there to April Bowl Trail. It was yet another fantastic hike and I would put this hike in my "top five" list also! It was an excellent hiking day!
I had one negative incident today and I wasn't planning to put it in my blog, but I know that Sereda would want me to share this one. I stopped to use a roadside restroom (the kind with a toilet that drops into a giant hole in the ground and no running water). While I was unzipping my pants to pee, my hand or arm somehow caught my cellphone that was clipped to my belt, lifted the phone off of my belt and (you can probably see where this is going) it went "kerplop" into the stinky abyss below. I sent an email to Sereda this evening and asked her to call Verizon and disable that phone (not that anybody is likely to recover the phone and use it!). Sereda tried calling the phone and it immediately went
to voicemail, which means that the phone is already dead. I thought it would be really funny if the phone was still working and if somebody was sitting on the toilet when Sereda tried calling the phone. Sereda thinks that this incident is hilarious, but I've been a little slow to see the humor (but I'm starting to grin a little bit) :-] And no, I didn't take any pictures!
Another good day! (except for the stinky phone incident!).
Jack
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Mom
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Tip Top Shape!
I'm talking about YOU, son! Because the main gate to the State Park was closed you had to park a half mile away and then walk UPHILL to get to the mine site - - - and then you hiked on Gold Cord Trail "up a steep mountain" - - - followed by another hike on April Bowl Trail -- and all ON THE SAME DAY! Wow! Did you hire a trainer to get ready for this adventure? Your Mom is impressed! Lots of love!