Hatcher Pass, Alaska
Yeah, its a rather bland title. Today I am not in a mood for a catchy title :) However, the story is quite catchy I promise. Recently I went for another weekend trip to Alaska, yeah, I know, its been too many times! Yes, this was a fishing trip too, but I will write about that, if I feel like on a later post. Here however, I thought I visit Hatcher Pass, which is about an hour north of Wasilla, AK, where I was staying. There was two reasons for me to visit Hatcher Pass, first, I was getting a bit tired to swamp and low flat areas of Alaska, where there is a lot of mountains around, and second, I wanted to see an old gold mining settlement up into the mountains. Yeah, Hatcher Pass and Independance Mine site has both.
Going There
Its not hard, the road is paved 98% of the way. The last 2 miles or so is dirt road but nicely graded and any regular car can easily do it. The road follows the Little Sushitna River (where I have fished recently) to its headwaters towards the Mint Glacier. The area is spectacular as you can see above and below. It is now a popular hiking/camping/backpacking destination with several trails going towards the headwaters of many smaller tributaties of Little Su (as it is fondly called over there.
Lately I have seen a lot of coastal or near coastal Alaska which is marshy. It was nice to see this proper mountain streem going over granite after a while. This Granite is the bed rock for this area and the host rock for the quartz veins from which Gold was mined at the Independance Mine. Robert Lee Hatcher is the first person who discovered and staked the first lode gold (vein quartz deposit found within granite) claim in the Willow Creek Valley in September 1906. Pass is named after Hatcher. Later on, many others found gold, but more organized mining started in the 1930s. It was two separate mines in the 1930s and 40s operated by a mining company called Alaska Pacific Consolidated Mining Compnay (APC). The covered more than 1000 acres of mining claims and at its peak activity 1941, employed about 200 people in this high and remote region of Alaska. Total they have produced more than 34,000 ounces of gold, valued at $1.7M at that time, and currenly valued at about $61 M in todays dollars. The mine was closed in 1943, and the land later transferred to the State of Alaska as recreational use. Details of the info can be found here:
http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/indmine.htm
Berry Picking
Around the slopes of Hacher Pass there are many kind of berry grows. People often go there and pick blueberries from the wild. This is an activity popular with the kids. I personally like other wild berries better. Simply because I can get blueberry locally at the grocery store. But there is no way I can get Huckleberry locally!!
They are tart and pretty wild. Extremely popular with bears :) I haven't have them in years. I remember when I used to do field work in Idaho and Wyoming, and even far north in Montana, I used to have them for lunch regularly, but after my student days, I haven't have them in a long time! So this was excellent!
Closing Thoughts
If you are in the general area north of Anchorage, or even on your way to Denali National Park. I highly recommend vising Hatcher Pass. It is not crowded like the park and surrounding area, and you can get a true glimpse of the Alaskan Wilderness here.
Trails are well graded, and relatively easy. There are plenty of campground around and there are still a lot of wild flower this late in the season in August!
