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[boogielander]

Day 12 - MOM! I'M ON A GLACIER!
One thing I wanted to do when I started planning this trip was to climb a glacier. Glaciers are shrinking, no doubt, so I want to take advantage of that before I have to hike further in to get to them.
That's one of the reasons why I came out to McCarthy and Kennecott (in addition to driving McCarthy Road). Root Glacier is the one that checks off both items off the list.

So... I woke up at 7AM to get ready for the guided hike. The first 2 miles or so was through Kennecott Milling Site and through forest. We were trying to get ahead of everyone else, so we hiked really fast (by my standard)
Finally, we arrived.

Still distance away from the glacier. We had to go all the way down to the bottom of the "canyon."

We then put on our crampons at where the ice meets the rocks. And off we went.
The brown portion right at the beginning may seem like they're dirt, but they are actually ice underneath.
How does it feel? Crunchy. Like when you're chewing on a piece of cookie. With regular shoes, it is guaranteed that you will slip. But with crampons, the metal "claws" dig into the ice and give traction. Every step is accompanied by the "crunchy" sound. It was fun for the first few minutes, then I got used to it.
We hiked a mile or so in, before we saw this:

A small blue pool hidden underneath. This one was shallow and small. Can't jump.
So we hiked more. And found this.

This one's deep. So deep that we can't see the bottom. There's no way to get any closer. So, no jump.

This one's shallower, also no way to get down.

We walked more, and it was lunch time.
We sat down on the glacier and had our lunch.
I looked around and found this

Nested in the peaks is one of the mines of Kennecott. This one is Jumbo Mine.

I sat there and soaked in the view. It's hard to believe that 12 days ago I was still in the desert of Southern California and now I'm on the glacier.
That 4000 miles of driving was worth the trip.
Our guide said when Kennecott was operating, glacier was right next to the milling site. Now it's 2 miles in after ~100 years and continue to shrink. So in the future, people will need to hike further in to get to the glacier.
I'm glad I did it this time.
The blue hue of the glacier is only visible under shade or when it's cloudy out (other than the blue pool).

Close up of the glacier.

 

[boogielander]

Day 12 - Cont'd

Such a pretty blue

I picked up a piece of glacier (aka, ICE)
Before long, it was time to return to visit Kennecott.

The whole building is sitting on top of the slope, and when the mill was operating, the whole building shakes.
It is still beyond me how they secure a vibrating building to the hill.

NPS continues to restore the building.

But some buildings are beyond repair.
Pictured here: Left - the Clinic/ Hospital. Right rear: East Side Bunkhouse. Right front: female dorm and rec hall. They only had a handful of ladies working at a time: nurses, teachers, secretaries for upper management.


The "town" is free to visit to anyone who makes it out there, but going into the mill requires a tour. Only one company does that tour.

Collapsing building.

I learned that Kennecott was basically an on-going project its entire life. They add whatever is needed to the building, including one story inside the building because they realized they needed it a few years after milling began.

The power station that supplies steam for the entire town. Everything ran on steam here.

The whole day was a 12 miles trip completed on my 2 legs. It was tiring, but it was well worth the trip.
I learned about the mining history, fulfilled my dream of climbing a glacier, and see the milling site from inside. There are still so many things to see, but my funding's not there to support it.

Do I recommend it? Yes, absolutely! Hell, I think for a better experience, I'd spend the money and get a private tour and stay in McCarthy or even at the Kennecott Glacier Lodge for the 100% full experience!