The Hatcher Pass through the Talkeetna mountains is easily accessible from Anchorage, yet the rugged country is still wild and unspoilt. Visit to hike, to ski or explore the mining history of the area – there are still extensive ruins.

The Gold Cord Lake Trail – all of 1.7 miles return – hadn’t struck me as particularly dangerous. It wound up a steep hill behind the Independence Mine to a scenic viewpoint and frozen lake – but there was Chumley hiking up with a pistol strapped low on his hip.

It was a great example of the 2nd Amendment in action.

“He’s taking his gun for a walk!” Simon laughed, although the man might have been slightly handicapped by the two walking poles he was carrying if he’d actually needed it!

Thankfully us and the score of other people on the track survived to tell the tale, enjoying a fine view over the valley at the top.

Life was never easy at the Independence Mine: it would have been hard back breaking work, dynamiting into the mountain, clearing the debris and hand sorting the gold ore produced.

It is little surprise then that the first priority was food closely followed by the accomodation – and apparently the mine produced both to a high standard, although one procurement note from the cook cancelled the liver and tongue and asked for an increase in the beef hindquarters.

Gold was first found on Skyscraper Peak in 1906 and the Alaska Pacific Consolidated Mine Co. later became the big mining operation in the area, developing the mining village that you see today.

At its peak, 204 men were employed year round. 150,000 ounces of gold were extracted between 1936 and 1943 before it was deemed non essential for the war effort and closed down. It briefly reopened after the war and stuttered on and off until finally closing in 1951 due to the high operating costs – it was costing $45 an ounce to mine gold that was only worth $35 an ounce.

Those productive years have left us with a great example of a working gold mine, rather as McCartney has left us with the template for a working copper mine. However I was glad we had visited McCarthy first as the Independence Mill lay in – albeit picturesque – ruins yet we could still visualise it from having seen the intact Kennecott example.

However quite a lot of the other infrastructure has been preserved and restored: 2 tall bunk houses, spick and span in silver aluminium paint with red windows. The manager’s house is now the visitors centre, the old mess hall is still standing and a few other odds and ends.

The assay office was actually quite interesting as it explained how the ore was extracted (mercury was the main ingredient here) and tested. They seemed to have been a very thorough lot as the waste rock was tested daily to ensure it was indeed waste, and the tailings were tested every half hour to ensure no gold was being lost in the processing stage.

The ruined buildings lay in jumbled piles of wood and metal work, railing tracks and cable car wires reaching for the sky. A mini train and wagons were on display near the top of the site.

We spent a pleasant few hours wandering the ruins and walking up to the lake. Other than paying $5 for parking the site is free, although there are $15 / 45 minute guided tours available if wanted.

The Independence Mine is the major sight on the Hatcher Pass road, a 49 mile long road which goes over the Hatcher Pass between the Glenn Highway and the Parks Highway. Only 45 minutes north of Anchorage, it is actually too close to the city – the world and his dogs were out enjoying the pass and we found it rather crowded compared to the more remoter, quieter places that we had been enjoying.

The road starts just north of Palmer, which looked pretty good after 3 weeks in the bush. We discovered the Fred Meyer supermarket which had food one might actually want to eat including European cheese – I felt like stroking the Gruyère!

Further distractions came in the form of the Bishop’s Attic, a huge thrift shop, after which we took the Fishhook Road out of town towards the Hatcher Pass. It ran straight towards high green mountains and then shadowed the sparkling Little Susitana River for 5 miles.

There were various car park campsites en route, handy for accessing trailheads to scenic hikes but we were determined to stick to our free camping. After 17 miles, just at the entrance to the Independence Mine, the bitumen ran out, the road took a sharp turn and became a steep gravel climb to the Hatcher Pass at 3,886 feet. Jep wheezed up slowly and we paused at the top, eyeing a prime campsite in the valley below – by some strange anomaly wild camping is only allowed on the western side of the pass.

Unfortunately our pause had allowed a dastardly yellow German Overland truck to beat us to the exact spot so we had to go further along the road to a quiet bend by Craigie Creek – there is very little traffic in the evenings anyway and we actually had an undisturbed night.

The following day was spent exploring the Independence Mine, after which we had an early camp and so secured a coveted spot on Upper Willow Creek Road which had excellent views of the pass.

The Hatch Peak Trail

We had heard the pitter patter of steady rain in the night and awoken to a rather grey morning, so lingered over breakfast.

By 11 am things were looking much brighter and we headed up to Hatcher Pass and set out on the Hatch Peak trail. 

This climbs steeply to reach the peak in only about an hour, the route being enlivened somewhat by snow. We climbed initially to a smaller nobble with a weather station on it, the final ascent necessitating the kicking of steps in a snow bank.

We were rewarded with a fine view but don’t stop there! It is worth climbing on around the edges of the bowl to the higher Hatch Peak where the most breathtaking views await in all directions.

We could see Palmer far below and the Alaska Range peaks. In Willow Creek valley the sides were touched with spring and quite green whereas on our heights there was still quite a lot of snow. The numerous mountain lakes were still frozen although there were signs of thawing about their edges.

Ground squirrels chattered at us and scampered around gaily. We had heard them referred to as the Snickers bars of Alaska, an unfortunate circumstance of being at the bottom of the food chain! 

We talked to a young couple who were down from Fairbanks for the holiday. They carried skis to ascend the bowl below us, showing great determination as it would be quite a stiff walk up with ski boots on. She had shorts on, although both sported helmets.

We hiked down a nearby ridge on slippery shale to rejoin our original route and were soon back at the pass. After a late lunch on a nearby nobble we decided to look for a camp.

We headed down the pass to follow pretty Willow Creek, which seemed surprisingly busy with the 4th July holiday coming up. Many of the larger pull ins were totally taken over by big RVs, each with their compliment of noisy ATV vehicles. We felt lucky to find a niche for one right on the creek so privacy was assured and there was a beautiful view up the valley.

The following day we followed the creek to Willow to complete the road. Our time and adventures with Jep on the dirt roads of Alaska were over.

NOTES

The Hatcher Pass is easily driven in any vehicle, although check with your rental company as some do not allow driving on gravel roads.

The pass is closed in the winter months, but usually open by July.

The Independence Mine is open from June through to September

If you don’t want to camp the nearest accomodation is just below the gold mine ruins at Hatcher Pass Lodge – the cabins have great views and there is a cafe / restaurant on site open to everyone.