THE ALASKAN ADVENTURE Day 54 July 9, 2009 McCarthy Root Glacier Hike

Thursday didn’t start off to a roaring start. That means we slept in and didn’t get going until late in the morning. We had plans to hike out to Root Glacier so we jumped on the shuttle for the 5 mile ride and then headed for the visitors center.

On the way to get the shuttle we passed the McCarthy Yacht Club and Swimming Hole.





We learned that Kennicott was a booming copper mining town from 1903 until 1938 when the copper ran out. However it proved to be the richest known concentration of copper in the world.

Today it has been taken over by the Parks Service and is basically a tourist town. Guided hikes onto the glacier for anywhere from ½ day to 10 days, kayaking trips, flight seeing tours and of course the mine tour. It was a pretty neat place.

Kathy and I hiked out the Root Glacier which was about a 4.5 mile round trip and very difficult. It was walking on grapefruit size rocks that were extremely hard on the ankles not to mention the climbing in and out of the valley where the toe of the glacier was. It did us both in. We were surprised at how busy it was out on the glacier as at one point I counted 4 groups and about 30 people. This was not counting the people that like us were just hiking to the glacier. In spite of our complaining about the aches and pains it really was a nice day and we enjoyed the hike. Almost as much as soaking our feet later that night.

THE HIKE ( Climb )

ROOT GLACIER

When we got back we stopped at the visitor’s center again because I wanted to know about all the gravel that was built up. It looked like slag or waste from the mine but we learned that it was in fact another glacier. It was the Kennicott Glacier where it met not only the Root Glacier but the Hope Glacier as well. The force of the Root and the Hope Glaciers pushing the gravel in front piled it on the Kennicott Glacier making it look like mounds of gravel.

We finished at the visitors centre and walked down to catch the shuttle back to McCarthy. McCarthy was and is strictly a support town for first the mining in Kennicott and now the tourism.

We stopped at the fire information board and talked to the Park Services about the fires and then headed back to the camper for a early and an early night. Tomorrow we head to Tok.

KENNICOTT GLACIER