The journey and the destination
Wednesday we took off about 8:45 and headed up the Glen Highway to Glennallen in the Motorcoach. Nice! It even has a coffee station! First stop was sundries shopping at Fred Myer in Palmer (hilarious). ~90 minutes later we took a break at the Matanuska Glacier Overlook and then got stuck in construction, making us late for lunch at Tolsona Lake Lodge, a spot with a uniquely Alaskan history. Lunch was a little rushed, but we made it to Glennallen Airport in time for our 3:00 flight.
We flew to Kennicott-McCarthy with Wrangell Mountain Air on a Cessna 206. Three Cessnas took 13 of us and then came back for the other 14. OMG! Our 50 minute flight over the Wrangell Mountains was even more spectacular than the flight to Lake Clark. And Mark flew Co-Pilot! Flying ~800′ above land and ~300′ below the cloud cover, the views were stunning. It was a short 5 miles by van to Kennecott Glacier Lodge, part of Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. We checked in and had time to stroll around for a little bit before dinner.
Visit to 2 new National Park Sites:
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (#298 & 299), America’s Largest National Park, is a vast national park that rises from the ocean all the way up to 18,008 ft. At 13.2 million acres, the park is the same size as Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Switzerland combined! Within this wild landscape, people continue to live off the land as they have done for centuries. It is a rugged, beautiful land.
Yesterday we started our day early hiking the 5 mile RT trail to the Root Glacier, with 3 other travelers. We made it back in time for our 2+ hour tour of the Kennecott Mines. It included a walk through town, learning both the history of how it came to be, in such a place and an overview of all the remainin buildings and tours of the 14-ish story concentration mill and historic leaching and power plant. In the afternoon, we went back to explore the other open mine outbuildings and exhibits.
On hike to Root Glacier 
On hike to Root Glacier 
On Root Glacier 
Kennecott Hospital on left, 1st hospital in Alaska to have an X-Ray Machine! 
14 story Concentration Mill and the main office in the forground. another group starting the hike to the top of the mill to enter 
Getting ready to ente the top of the 14 story Concentration Mill 
In the Leaching Mill, Mark in front of one of the leaching tanks
Off for our flight back over the Wrangells!
For more pictures (later), see Adventure Album: Alaska!
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