Denali National Park - Alaska and Points North: Tips and Tales from the Road - page 121

Parks Hwy
To Denali National Park
The George Parks Hwy connects Alaska's two major population centers, Anchorage and
Fairbanks. It is also the road to Denali National Park with its star attraction, Mount McKin-
ley, the highest mountain in North America.
The road exists courtesy of an indomitable woman by the name of Mary Carey. She came
to Alaska as a 50-something widow then once here, used her journalistic savvy to strong
arm the government into building this highway. She was convinced that to thrive, the state
needed a direct route between its two biggest cities. She also believed that people needed
to see Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America, in all its glory. And that glory
was best beheld from the lodge she was building. She readily admits her personal stake
in the matter. Although her property was 160 km /100 mi from the nearest road when she
homesteaded it, the property was situated directly beside where the highway was surveyed
to pass. She was visionary alright. In time her lodge would sit smack on Mile 137 of the
Parks Highway.
We stopped into the lodge for coffee, bought one of her topics and met her daughter, Jean
Richardson. Mary herself died some years ago so Jean comes up to run the lodge every sum-
mer from her home in Texas. You meet some real characters up here. They don't breed 'em
bland in Alaska.
Hatcher Pass
But before we got anywhere near that lodge we took a diversion up the Hatcher Pass Road
from Wasilla. This scenic road took us high up into the mountains to the 1940's era gold op-
eration at Independence Mine. Gold was first discovered here in 1897 at nearby Grubstake
Gulch. Mining was sporadic for several years because of the severe winters but in the spring
of1937construction began onthe Independence camp and mill. This transformed a seasonal
tent camp into a permanent year-round mining operation.
They've restored some of the buildings like the mine manager's house, complete with fur-
nishings, photos and memorabilia. It's interesting to wander around it, imagining what it
would have been like to winter-over here. The ruins of most of the buildings are still here,
disintegrating in place as wind and weather take their toll.