Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Another bumpy dusty road took us into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and the towns of McCarthy and Kennecott. The park itself is North America's biggest at 13.2 million acres. It dwarfs it's neighbor (Denali N.P.) in a big way which only has a measly 6 million acres, slightly larger than Massachusetts.

Camped at the base of the Root Glacier, we hiked up to Kennecott. A lucrative old copper mine that would probably still be in business today if getting the metal out wasn't such a pricey chore. Instead, the mine is closed and the mill is falling down, but the town's rich colors paint a pretty clear picture of how lively the town must have been in the early 1900s. Working or not, exploring the intricate rail system and tram cables that stretched 4000 feet above to the actual mine was fascinating.

Another highlight of St. Elias was watching Sierra conquer a ten year old fear of walking on a see-through grated bridge. He had no choice but to cross the foot bridge on the Kennicott river each day we were there. We can't say he ever really enjoyed it, but he did it. Nice work Hairy!