Day 64
This morning started out with beautiful weather, again. I got up early and scored a flightseeing trip for 11:00 which I passed off to Olivia who was still asleep. After making a few phone calls, I sent Liv down the McCarthy Road to the airstrip wi
th a few other tourists who were to accompany her on the flight.
Martin was her pilot from Wrangell Mountain Air and he situated her in the copilot’s seat to counterbalance the heavy setters in the back of the Cessna. The 70 minute trip took her southeast towards the Bagley Ice Field, then north over the Mile High Canyons and herds of doll sheep, and finally past Stairway Icefall, hugging close over the slopes of Mount Blackburn. Originally, she didn’t seem all that excited about the flight, but afterwards the awesomeness of Alaska was beaming from her face. With any luck I’ll be able to head out on a flight tomorrow.
After lunch, we packed up my bag and headed up to Jumbo Mine to explore the bunkhouse. The hike was ste
adily upward but not at all technical and only slightly taxing. We were both fatigued from last night’s Powerhouse trip, so we took it relatively easy. We explored the angle station where the trams from Jumbo and Glacier Mines intersected for quite a while and I managed to put my foot through the third floor floorboards. The angle station doesn’t seem to have been damaged much more over the past two years and apparently the NPS is planning to put a roof on it to preserve it for the future. Amen for the all-knowing and miss-funded Park Service
The remaining two miles to the mine were uneventful, with a few feisty remarks from Olivia as her blood sugar started to tank. A short refueling and twenty minutes later we arrived at the bunkhouse. The past two winters had been harsh on the old building, collapsing the first floor in 2007 and the second in 2008. The third floor can still be accessed through the missing south wall and the building’s 2008 collapse sheared the main floors of the structure off of the basement locke
r room. The twisted hallways and doorframes still give an amazing sense of vertigo inside the bunkhouse and it’s sad to see the odd building finally succumbing to the past 95 winters.
On our hike back to Kennicott, I realized the last full-sized tram tower had collapsed since 2006, leaving in a scattered mess on the side of the rock glacier. Along the trail, Liv kicked up a sharp rock, painfully hammering her ankle and falling on the trail. After a few minutes she turned out alright. The remainder of the hike down was unremarkable (except for the views) and we made it in time for dinner where Liv and Justine cooke
d Bonnie and Paul’s 26th Anniversary cake.
The evening was capp
ed with cards in Bonnie and Paul’s cabin. Bonnie won in only a few hands, and then I took second place from Liv after an hour of battle. My win streak has extended to three games for the trip.
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