Day 49 and 50 To Nebesna Rd 114 Miles

Tuesday and Wednesday - August 17th and 18th

On the Road Again heading to the northern entrance of Wrangell/St. Elias National Park and Preserve with a short stop at Copper Center.

Copper Center (population 362/half Athabascan), off the Richardson Hwy and 105-miles north of Valdez, was founded in 1896 as a government agricultural experiment station.

It was the first white settlement in this area. 300 miners, destitute and hungry spent the winter of 1898 here after crossing the Valdez; Many suffered with scurvy and died.

Remember what causes scurvy? Lack of Vitamin C!

This is one of the two original log bunkhouses used for the “Historical Museum.”

Authentic descendent of the original 1896 roadhouse.

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The northern entrance to Wrangell/St. Elias NP is along the 42-mile Nabesna Road which goes through a “permafrost” portion of the park.

According to the Park’s publication, “You won’t find many people, so if you like taking the road less traveled, Nabesna Road might be right for you.” They aren’t kidding!

Slana refers to this general unincorporated area ( population 94.)

A stream along the road.

The road was built in 1933 allowing the removal of $2-million worth of gold from the Nabesna Mine before it closed in 1942. The mine and buildings at the end of the road are privately owned so “No tours”!

We took a short hike on the Caribou Trail.
As you can see, ATV's are allowed to use this trail also. And Yes - is was raining, again.

The trail is on permafrost so it was like walking on a cushion - except for the muddy ATV ruts!

As luck would have it, the wild Blueberries were ripe.

Fortunately the Bears were not out picking at the same time we were!

We managed to collect one-cup’s worth and put them in our pancakes the next morning.

A bit of Mother Nature’s gardening along the trail.

The place we camped at on the Nabesna Rd was a step back in time.

Business was not booming - We were the only folks!

We spent 2 nights here hoping the rain and clouds would go away – they didn’t!

How many of these have you scene in the last year???

Does anyone remember Oliver tractors?

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We celebrated Peter’s 63^rd Birthday with Ghirardelli Brownies.

We would all rate this brand of brownie mix as a “10”.

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Cotton Grass

Growing along the Nabesna Road - I have not seen it before.