McCarthy Alaska

We drove 50 miles out a remote peninsula on the coast and parked our truck at one of the only campgrounds within a 100 miles. We opted to have a van drive the last 50 miles to the old mining town. After having driven over 1000 miles of gravel, rough roads, this road ranks #1 for being the worst in Alaska, Yukon and British Columbia. It was well worth having someone else destroy their vehicle

. The fifty mile ride took 2 1/2 hours of pot holes, dips, washboards and deep ruts. We saw 2 vehicles that had slid down the step embankments with no guards rails.

This one lane vehicle bridge crossed a deep gorge with a salmon river below. The rough road seemed endless.

They dropped us off at a pedestrian foot bridge that crossed over to the old mining town
Several buildings have survived from the mining days, this is an active hotel
Some buildings were being used, some not
There are several year round residents
The massive abandonments buildings have been preserved by the government
This copper mine was built by Guggenheim and his Robber Baron friends around 1900. 1200 men worked here 7 days a week till the mine closed during the Great Depression
A lot of the site has collapsed but fortunately many buildings have been saved.
Old management house
The campground we left our truck at while traveling further out into the wilderness . Plumbing was marginal.

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