KENNECOTT MINE

Kennecott Mine, Alaska

Ellen and I spent July 1st venturing over to McCarthy, Alaska and the Kennecott Mine.  Copper was found at the turn of the 20th century in this very remote part of the state.  Seems to prospectors were roaming the area -- cannot imagine anyone just roaming around in these parts -- and looked up at an area on the mountain that looked like a green meadow (their words).  Turned out it was one of the richest copper discoveries on the North American continent. What is amazing is how they got all this stuff up here. Next to the super big Kennicott Glacier (seems the glacier, the town, and the river are spelled with an "i" and the mine was mis-spelled with and "e").  Morgan and Guggenheim money was behind it all.  On the left of the image are the glacial moraines -- there is ice under all those piles.

There are only a couple of buildings you can see inside of, but the National Park Service is slowly reclaiming and rehabing some of the buildings.

Worth a visit if you are in the area.  And a good read on wiki -- 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennecott,_Alaska

The mine is part of the largest of our national parks, the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.