Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Today we started out our day by touring the new visitor's center at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

From there, we took a flightseeing tour of the largest national park in the country and landed near the town of McCarthy and Kennicott. We were met by National Park Service Interpreter Megan Brokaw, who drove us into town to meet Neil Darish, owner of the McCarthy Lodge in McCarthy. Neil and Megan gave us a tour of this historic town, including Ma Johnson's Hotel that is filled with furniture, photographs and memorabilia from that area that are almost 100 years old.

After lunch, we headed up toward the old copper mine and mill town of Kennicott. Today, the park service is dedicated to restoring many of the buildings of the town. We even had the opportunity to climb all 14 stories of the old mill to see the working conditions of the miners and the process the mining company used to produce copper ore.

While both of these towns are remote, even by Alaskan standards, they continue to thrive for those who want to explore Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and discover a unique part of Alaskan history.

Tomorrow we drive along the Copper River Valley towards the town of Valdez.