Alaska Day 23, Bodenburg Butte, the Hard Way

Day 23

 Sunday June 24       

   

      There were just three things on the docket for the day, and they were quite diverse.  The first was a hiking trail up Bodenburg Butte.  This trail was recommended on numerous sites, so I decided to add it to the trip.  It’s an easy drive south of Wasilla and a few miles out Old Glenn Highway.  The road crosses the Knik River alongside the original bridge, which closed to traffic in 1973.  It’s blocked off for anything but pedestrian traffic.

      The website I used said to turn off on Bodenburg Loop Road.  It wasn’t clear that I wanted to take the SECOND part of the loop road.  Either one will bring me to a parking lot for the butte.   So, I would up in the parking area for the south approach.  The second turn into Bodenburg Loop consequently would bring me to the north approach. 

      According to the website, the north approach is better maintained and significantly less steep.   I cobbled together my day use fee($3) out of a dollar bill and random change and ditched the car. 

     Since I was taking the southern approach by default, it began with a climb. 

     The stairs soon gave way to just simply a steep trail…up.  But, still not bad.

     Numerous splits in the trail gave me pause as I tried to choose the more sane route.  

    

     Eventually,  I did react the top.   The view was worth the climb. 

     Of course there was the seemingly inevitable guy playing with his drone.  He was flying it out pretty far.  I asked what happens if it goes too far.  He told me the new drones have a function that automatically beings them back to their starting point if they lose connection or start running out of battery power.

     Climbing down the butte was an interesting prospect.  Climbing up, I had the luxury of stopping and surveying the various routes ahead.  Coming down, you can only see so far.  Sometimes I chose wisely, but not every time.  It did feel good to be down at the parking lot again.

     Just for kicks, I did drive up the northern segment of Bodenburg Loop.   I even found the parking lot.  I fired off an email to the hiking website when I eventually got in and suggested they clarify it a bit.

     Instead of backtracking, I continued north, eventually coming across another abandoned bridge…

     And eventually the highway.  I drove perhaps ten miles east before coming to the turn off for Independence Mine.  I visited eleven years ago.  It was a beautiful day at the turnoff, but turning foggy as I drove up to the site

    

     From the parking lot… BTW it was forty-one degrees.    Loved it!

     Gold was discovered here in 1897.  Stakes were claimed and mining began.  The Independence Mine was part of the Willow Creek Mining District and the most profitable.  It was second only to the mine outside Juneau for gold production, pulling 141,000 troy ounces of gold out of the earth.  Translated into standard ounces, that's 155,000.  But, consider this, for each ounce of gold, they processed about one ton of ore.  
     The Independence Mine opened for business in 1934.  During WWII many mines were shut down by the government as unnecessary.   This one remained open, but was temporarily shut down in 1943, before reopened after the war.  In addition to their regular duties, the mine workers were trained with rifles and stood guard.  The Japanese were occupying two of the Aleutian Islands and no one was really sure of their next move.   The mine shut down for good in 1950.
      

     While walking around the site, I happened to catch this…

     BTW, that dress is backless.  I felt cold just watching them.

     There was a tour of the dining hall coming up, so I lingered in the visitor center chatting with a couple from Wisconsin. The more they talked, the less doubt anyone could have had they were indeed from Wisconsin.  Their route through the state included  few sites I didn’t have time for.   They also told me about the ice caves when Lake Superior freezes.  

     The tour took us into the dining hall.  The mine owners knew morale was important to keeping workers.  So, the treated the kitchen staff extra special.  The head cook had a full apartment above the dining hall.  He was allowed to bring his wife and family to live there, too.   His staff were given larger rooms in the building as well.

     Around 4P, I decided to call it a day.   Seen along the park road, heading out.

     Dinner was back at the Last Frontier Brewing Company.

    The Grub Stake Stout fit the bill.  That’s where I met Paul.  He came to Alaska from Arkansas for work forty years ago and decided to stay.  I sipped my beer while he told me of his travels throughout the state.  He came to Alaska and took a job on a fishing boat out of Prudhoe Bay.  He did that for a few years and confirmed the sun never really sets during the summer. It just circles the sky.  And yes, it stays dark through most of the winter.   He also worked for an oil company inspecting pipelines and scouting for new places to drill.  He told me about one scouting trip that took him in the middle of nowhere. 

     He recognized a piece of gold mining equipment alongside the road.  Then he saw an old abandoned road down the hill. So, he followed it.  He came across a small mining ghost town where it appeared everyone had just given up and left.  It took him a while to find out the name of the town and its history.  

    He also told me about Alaska’s desert.  It's the Kobuk Sand Dunes and pretty much in the middle of nowhere.  

    A few other local guys joined into the conversation and it seemed to go off in regular tangents. Gabrielle, our bartender, seemed humored by it all.

Coming Up,

Timing the Tunnel