Either they bloom from the bottom up, or die from the top down. Still, they were pretty and lined much of the road to McCarthy, AK

This road is part of the old railroad grade from Kennecott mine to Cordorva.

I think they said that 17% of the railroad consisted of Trestles.

This one still exist as a bridge for the road.

This one still exist but has been replaced by this little one for the road.

The mirror image is almost better than the original.

Ptmargian, the Alaska state bird. I know I spelled it wrong. I also pronounce it wrong, I just call them Parmesan birds.

This was a mother and her chicks.

They sure do camouflage well.

It is hard to spot them unless they move.

This is from McCarthy, AK if you happen to watch "Edge of Alaska".

I think this was the old railroad station, but it now housed their museum.

I think this is Wrangell Mt. At about 18,000'

It seem like this is the right place to park and walk. However, we rode our bikes on through town.

Kennecott Mill, the mines are another 5 miles up the road.

Most of the buildings have decayed since they were abandoned in 1938 when the mines ran out.

Working here in the summer was nice, but since the mine was running 363 days per year, winter work at thirty below was tough unless you happen to be assigned to the power house.

When they left in November of 1938 they just left everything except the most valuable stuff.

A little oil and it would be good to go.

This is the bottom of the big building. BTW, it is the largest wooden structure in the world.

After being concentrated, the ore was loaded into rail cars via these chutes and shipped to Tacoma, WA for processing in the smelters.

Pictures just don't capture just how massive it is.

It is located within the largest National Park in America.

The parks service is working hard to restore and stabilize the buildings.

A modified truck for the crazy conditions.

These are wood fired boilers in the power house.

The building construction was very impressive.

A lot of interesting info in these pictures if you care to read them.

Inside one of the restored living quarters, They had flush toilets and running water.

A view of the Powerhouse from the north end.

A lot of good material was left. I once took a ten foot by 4" tie bar home from my factory thinking I would never use it all. It's has been gone for a long time..........I actually used it all.

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There were several of these storage rack buildings.

I would love to take the tour when it is finished being restored.

Un-restored                                          Restored

In the early 1800, knob and tube electrical was still the order of the day. These were the overhead electrical supply equipment on several of the buildings.

What a backdrop

It used to be the post office and general store as well as supply house. Now it is a visitor center.

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Interesting read.

There have been a lot of fires in AK recently most still burning or smoldering. The smoke has only been a bother to us yesterday and today. This morning I am really suffering from related allergies. Uggh! The really bad part is trying to make the pictures look good. Actually the really bad part is the burning eyes. lol

So, if you have been watching the Edge of Alaska show....

........you may recognize some of these buildings.

I have only seen a portion of one episode..........

.............but I will catch up this season........

.......since I have now been here and met some of the residents.

This place is owned by the bad guy....lol

This place needs work.

I think Sherm would like this yard art.

I did see that some are for sale. I don't think these nice ones were.

5 mph per hour dust control limit.

Only residents/permit holders are allowed to use the bridge. All others use this route........I found another bridge.

Not part of the highway system

Inside the museum

I enjoyed a great visit with the lady at the museum. The little red cabin is hers and is off the grid. The bad guy wants her to pay extra for his services. <G>

A little closer view

This is her. I'm sending her a link to the blog so she can read everything I said about her. Of course I do hope she figures out that most of this stuff is tongue in cheek....lol

These glacial fed lakes are pretty but cold unless........

.....you're an alaskan.

Then it is just a hot summer day to work on your tan.........

...........and feed the mosquitoes.............

...........or take a romantic dip!

I found my own bridge......beats riding through that fast flowing river.

If I could do it, so could Tim.

This little puppy was just walking down the road...........I finally worked up enough courage to ride past him, or her, I wasn't inclined to find out. 

View to the river from the trestle

These are fish wheels......

.....that are basically automatic fishing machines.

We drove by a Yak farm/ranch

They raise them for both their hide and meat.

Cool burled wood flag poles.

Dropping down from Thompson Pass into the Valdez area.

Beautiful scenery on the highway down.

View over the inlet from Valdez.

Shock absorbing bumper for the large ships and barges.

The whole town came out to say hello

I'm not sure, but it looks like it is kept here in case of an oil spill.

Back of a large barge

These next few are for Sherm

A couple shots of the small boat harbor.

The halibut here seem to be much larger than those being caught on the Homer Charters. That big one is about 75#.

Waiting for a morsel

Doing the dirty work!

These are very large wheel barrows.

Tim shot this on our ride to McCarthy

He shot this as we were escaping.