{"id":12913,"date":"2020-07-03T17:44:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T21:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/?p=12913"},"modified":"2023-06-19T19:32:07","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T23:32:07","slug":"independence-hatcher-and-denali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/12913","title":{"rendered":"Independence, Hatcher, and Denali"},"content":{"rendered":"

John is officially back on days and our sleep schedule is back to normal. It\u2019s time for more sightseeing. We are again traveling north, and this time we are bringing John\u2019s coworker Martin, with us. We are heading to Independence Mine State Historical Park as our first stop.<\/p>\n

\"P1010098\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The scenery is amazing, of course, like all of the landscape of Alaska.<\/p>\n

\"20200703_100629\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Our drive is taking us along the Little Susitna River.<\/p>\n

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I absolutely LOVE the blue color of the water. Its a light blue similar to aquamarine.<\/p>\n

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The road winds its way through the mountains and away from the Little Susitna River. It joins up with Fishhook Creek, a lazy waterway compared to the roaring glacial river.<\/p>\n

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In September of 1906, Robert Lee Hatcher staked the first hard rock (lode) gold claim in the Willow Valley, on Granite Mountain and named it the Independence Mine.<\/p>\n

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Post World War II, mining became unprofitable and in 1951, after producing approximately $6 million worth of gold, the mine was officially closed. You can read more about the mine here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"img_3658_50073663693_o\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The town is on the National Register, and slowly they are restoring and preserving the buildings that are standing. This year four buildings are available to tour.<\/p>\n

\"img_3573_50073712048_o\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Remnants, tailings, of the blasting and rock crushing can be seen at the base of the gray granite mountain. Below that, part of the trellis structure for the mining train rails are still standing.<\/p>\n

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Establishing the rail system in 1940, greatly improved the efficiency of the mining operation. This is one of the mining trains that was used.<\/p>\n

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Along with the water tunnel, this allowed the ore, personnel, and supplies to be moved quickly in and out of the mine. It was nice and cool inside the tunnel.<\/p>\n

\"img_3646_50073672818_o\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We spent hours walking around the grounds, touring the buildings and just enjoying the serenity of the place.<\/p>\n

\"20200703_113024\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It is mostly sunny and around 80 degrees. The sun is warming the thousands of acres of tiny mountain heather flowers that carpet the ground. I can smell their subtle, sweet scent on the light breeze that is blowing.<\/p>\n

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We all could spend more time here but we have other things to see today. From here we are taking Hatcher Pass over to Willow. So far John and Martin have both seen a moose. I have seen a marmot. Sigh.<\/p>\n

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We get to Hatcher Pass Summit without any other wildlife gracing our drive.<\/p>\n

\"20200703_131015\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It is much cooler up here than it was at Independence Mine as the heavier snow cover indicates.<\/p>\n

\"img_3721_50073799803_o\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cooler temperatures sometimes mean a different kind of wildlife is around. Mountain sheep? Mountain goats? You decide.<\/p>\n

\"img_3715_50074451832_o\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We do get a great view of the valley. I wish we had the time; there are a lot of hiking trails around here that I bet lead to even more spectacular views.<\/p>\n

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We couldn\u2019t see the lake from the summit, but down around the mountain here it is. The last we heard about Summit Lake is that it is frozen over. Well, here it is July 3 and it is almost ice free.<\/p>\n

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Oh my gosh. The cutest little baby birds are in the road! EEE! I need a picture! They won\u2019t hold still so I decide to get out and chase the little buggers down. John and Martin are laughing at me I\u2019m sure but I got some good pictures. When I get too close they lay down really fast! Best guess, these are bufflehead ducklings.<\/p>\n

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As we are approaching the end of the pass and almost at sea level, the pine trees are appearing but what we see is devastating. The mountains are covered with dead trees for as far as you can see. Could this be the pine bark beetle?<\/p>\n

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Our last stop today are two Denali viewing areas. One just outside of Talkeetna (towl-KEET-nah) and one further up HWY 3. As we are approaching I kept thinking the top of Denali was a cloud. It is a bit cloudy but no, that is the peak of the mountain sticking out of the cloud. It\u2019s a good end to a great day.<\/p>\n

\"P1010135\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We took a lot of other photos that just wouldn’t fit into my blog narrative. If you wish to see more click here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John is officially back on days and our sleep schedule is back to normal. It\u2019s time for more sightseeing. We are again traveling north, and this time we are bringing John\u2019s coworker Martin, with us. We are heading to Independence Mine State Historical Park as our first stop. The scenery is amazing, of course, like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-container-style":"default","site-container-layout":"default","site-sidebar-layout":"default","disable-article-header":"default","disable-site-header":"default","disable-site-footer":"default","disable-content-area-spacing":"default","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,847,437],"tags":[1128,1127],"class_list":["post-12913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-non-rv-travel","category-workamping","tag-alaska","tag-anchorage"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/20200703_104810.jpg?fit=1024%2C767&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3hvz5-3mh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12134,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/12134","url_meta":{"origin":12913,"position":0},"title":"Anchorage, Alaska","author":"Wendy","date":"June 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Good morning from the top of the world. Okay, not exactly \u201cthe top\u201d but the closest we have ever been. Coming to Alaska is on both of our bucket lists but we never thought it would happen this soon. To be fair, we are here because of John\u2019s job, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/20200618_211917.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/20200618_211917.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/20200618_211917.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/20200618_211917.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12162,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/12162","url_meta":{"origin":12913,"position":1},"title":"A Scenic Drive or Two","author":"Wendy","date":"June 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We are anxious to get out and explore so as soon as John gets home from the job site, we head out to a couple of scenic drives a few miles north of Anchorage. The first one one we come to is the Artic Valley drive. The road takes us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/20200620_162338.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/20200620_162338.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/20200620_162338.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/20200620_162338.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12776,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/12776","url_meta":{"origin":12913,"position":2},"title":"A Trip to the Alaskan Coast","author":"Wendy","date":"June 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is John\u2019s second day off and we are heading south to the coastal area of Anchorage in the hopes of seeing some marine life, maybe a moose, and if we have enough energy, a glacier. We are starting with a walk through the Kincaid Park and a stroll along\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/P1010048_thumb.jpg?fit=731%2C549&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/P1010048_thumb.jpg?fit=731%2C549&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/P1010048_thumb.jpg?fit=731%2C549&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/P1010048_thumb.jpg?fit=731%2C549&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12939,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/12939","url_meta":{"origin":12913,"position":3},"title":"Boat Ride – Seward, Alaska","author":"Wendy","date":"July 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"John, his coworker Billy, and I are heading to the coastal town of Seward. We are taking a half-day cruise\u2014about three and a half hours\u2014around Resurrection Bay in the hopes of seeing some wildlife and maybe a glacier. Hey, maybe we should have done this! The weather isn't ideal, in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/P1010508-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/P1010508-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/P1010508-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/P1010508-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13226,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/13226","url_meta":{"origin":12913,"position":4},"title":"Find the Salmon, See a Moose","author":"Wendy","date":"July 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This is our last day for sightseeing as we will flying home next weekend. So let\u2019s see, so far we have seen porpoises, whales, sea otters, puffins, kittiwakes, sea lions, eagles, dall goats, and John saw a bear and a moose. I however, have only seen a moose butt. Hmm.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/P1010709.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/P1010709.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/P1010709.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/P1010709.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11662,"url":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/11662","url_meta":{"origin":12913,"position":5},"title":"Happy Mother’s Day","author":"Wendy","date":"May 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A big shout-out to all the wonderful moms who are reading this post. John wants to know if there is anything in particular I want to do today. I said, not really but how about we take a drive? There are little two-track roads that go off in all directions.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/20200510_134457.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/20200510_134457.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/20200510_134457.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/20200510_134457.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12913"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14156,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12913\/revisions\/14156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2dogsbarkin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}