Kennicott and Jumbo Mine – Kennicott, Alaska

The next day, after slamming my foot in a door (don’t ask), my mom and I decided to stay behind at Kennicott and go on a Kennecott Mill tour while Dad and Andy climbed up to one of the mines.

The next two nights we stayed at the Kennicott Glacier Lodge, a beautiful hotel right in the middle of Kennicott. It is a family owned lodge with gorgeous views of the glacier, Mt. Blackburn and the Chugach Mountains.

The Lodge has two main areas, the “Main Lodge,” and the “South Wing,” located right next door. The Main Lodge is the original building; is has 2 common rooms and 24 guest rooms. It also includes a long porch available for outdoor lunch seating and relaxing, complete with beautiful views. The inside of the Lodge is adorned with old pictures and artifacts from the copper mining days.

The South Wing has 10 guest rooms and a front porch with more limited views. The South Wing has individual bathrooms within each room, whereas the Main Lodge has shared bathrooms. Main Lodge rooms start at $189 a night, and South Wing rooms start at $279 a night.

The next day, Dad and Andy got up early and got ready to go on their hike. There are numerous hikes you can take that start from McCarthy/Kennicott. Here they are in order of strenuousness (be sure to look for guide print outs of each hike at the National Park Service building to the right of the old Kennicott post office right before the bridge or hire St. Elias Alpine Guides to guide you up!):

The Wagon Road: You can access it near the McCarthy Museum or from the Kennecott Mill Town. It’s an easy/moderate hike, about 4.5 miles one way. Takes roughly 1-3 hours one way. Watch out for glacial melt pools and slippery glacier silt. This area also has its share of bears, so be bear aware!

Root Glacier/Erie Mine Trail (does not take you to the Erie Mine): This trail starts from Kennicott. It’s an easy/moderate hike with level terrain, about 4 miles round trip or 8 miles round trip if you go up to the erie Mine tram cables. Takes around 2-6 hours, depending upon how far you go.

McCarthy Creek: You can access this trail from downtown McCarthy. Walk down to the historic hardware store and past it until the road ends. Make a left to hit the short trail to the river. You can cross McCarthy creek over a small footbridge and climb the bank to the gravel road; the trail starts at the end of the first steep switchback (about 200 yards from the footbridge). The trail will take you through the McCarthy Creek creekbed for about 3 miles until you notice the route washed up by the river. The trail technically ends at the McCarthy River between an old cabin and where the original route crossed the river. At this point, you can cross the river or turn around. Be very careful here if you choose to cross the river; flooding frequently washes out large sections of the river, and the river can rise and fall without warning.

Bonanza Mine Trail: Start this trail from Kennicott on the Root Glacier Trail. You go roughly 1/2 mile down the Root Glacier Trail and then split to the right to catch the Bonanza Mine Trail (same for Jumbo Mine). This hike is very strenuous, and the trail is steep. You gain 3,800 feet in elevation in only 4.5 miles. The trail is 9 miles round trip and takes about 6-8 hours. When you reach the top you can see and explore the Bonanza Mine. The structure still stands, and although you can’t go inside it, it’s pretty awesome just to see.

Jumbo Mine Trail: This also starts from Kennicott (make a right at the above sign just like Bonanza). This hike is also very strenuous, with about 3,400 feet of elevation gain in a 5 mile trip. The hike is about 10 miles round trip and takes about 6-8 hours. Dad and Andy hiked this one (see pics below!).

Erie Mine: This hike is crazy! Andy and I have never done it (we tried), as we couldn’t find the trail. In fact, the National Park service doesn’t even hand out guide print-outs anymore. Be very careful when hiking this. You can access it from Kennicott from the Root Glacier Trail. While the route is only 11 miles round trip, the route is incredibly strenuous and requires route finding, bouldering, navigation through loose rock and detailed trip planning. It takes about 1-2 days to complete. As the trail sometimes is not maintained, you will run into bushy areas along the way. At first, the trail will seem simple, but it’s not. At one point you will pass a green bear container. At this container you will start the ascent to Erie Mine on a foot trail along the right side of the large gully that heads straight up the ridge. Here’s where Andy and I gave up. The route is filled with lose scree, and it is extremely steep. Be very careful if you’re one of those hikers that suffers easily from getting rim-rocked.

Erie Lake and The Knoll: Same route as you would take to access the Erie Mine, except without heading up. This trail is 18 miles round trip and can take 2-3 days. It’s pretty strenuous due to the rugged route and large rocks and scree you’ll have to battle. Keep going along the Root Glacier trail (don’t head to the left to go down to the glacier). Cross over Amazon Creek and go another 2 miles. At this point you’ll need to hike down to the moraine (there’s no trail at this point). Once you reach the glacier, hike through the trough formed between the glacier ice and moraine (this is very rocky terrain and hard on the knees, be careful). It eventually opens up onto the ice of the Root Glacier. Hike another six miles and you’ll come to Erie Lake. Head on towards the “knoll” (large, grassy hill to the east). Make your way through the rock covered portion of the glacier to reach the moraine about two hundred yards to the right of a waterfall. Climb up the hillside towards the meadow (stay to the right of the waterfall). Once you hit the top of the waterfall, hike up the stream and look for the trail on the left hand side of the water. This trail will take you to the top of the knoll with beautiful views. To get back you simply retrace your steps. Be very careful if you choose to do this hike – consult with the National Park Service if you have any questions. The Erie Mine hike and the Erie Lake/Knoll hike should only be traversed by very experienced hikers.

Dad and Andy decided to hike the Jumbo Hike. They had a great time and made it up and back safely!

Once you reach the top you can explore the abandoned mine. Most of it has almost completely collapsed. All the ruins surrounding the buildings are fun to check out.

At one point Andy and Dad decided to poke their heads inside the fallen bunkhouse.

Beyond the bunkhouse was the actual Jumbo Mine itself. You can see it by looking for the bright green stains in the sides of the mountain. Feel free to explore around the area, but don’t go in the mine!

While Andy and Dad were hiking up to Jumbo Mine, Mom and I decided to take a Kennecott Mill Tour. The Kennecott Mill is the large main structure in the town of Kennicott, which you can see prominently just beyond the bridge. The Mill is multiple stories high and houses most levels/steps of the copper refining process, starting from top to bottom. The Mill is not open to the general public. In order to explore the inside of the Mill (and really in order to fully understand what you are exploring), I highly recommend you take a Mill Tour with St. Elias Alpine Guides. You can purchase tickets for the tour at the main guide building right near the shuttle drop off/pick up.

As the most desired and dense of copper forms, chalcocite was the most sought after. Kirk had samples of each and let us hold them. It was crazy how heavy chalcocite was!

Before meeting Andy and Dad for lunch, Mom and I explored the town a bit more. At the end of the main Kennicott road is a replica “cottage,” which would have been reserved for upper management and their families. It had been fixed up and restored so you could walk through and get an idea of the layout of the home.

Ranger Katie’s presentation was very informative and fun to listen to. Dora Keen was a fascinating woman and Ranger Katie did a phenomenal job illustrating her life and accomplishments. Born in 1871 in Philadelphia, Dora Keen was the daughter of a surgeon and established herself early on as a beacon of society. She burst on the mountaineering stage in the early 1900’s by ascending eight first class peaks in the Alps between 1909 and 1910. She attempted Mt. Blackburn more than once and refused to give up despite everyone telling her she couldn’t do it. I won’t give the details of her ascent away, but if you’re interested in her climb of Mt. Blackburn, read up on her here and check out her photograph collection through the University of Washington libraries. I highly suggest sitting in on Ranger Katie’s talk if you are in the park!