Independence Mine State Historical Park

We started our day with a weather-forecast jiggle to our plans, which in hindsight, worked against us. But most of the day was good, so it all worked out.

After a quick recon drive to the Port of Anchorage — we pick up our vehicles tomorrow — and a check of the campground where we plan to stay the night before we deliver our RV & toad to Tote Maritime for the southbound cruise, we began the sightseeing portion of our day.

First stop ... the ruins of the Independence Gold Mine ... with a drive up towards Hatcher Pass ... at least as far as the paved section of the road would take us since the car rental agency does not allow driving on gravel roads. We didn’t get to even turn on to the road, however, as it was still snowbound.

Instead, we played along the Little Susitna River and went straight to the mine. Ooops, even though the website says that the mine, which dates back to the early 20th century, was open ... the road was not. The sign on the barrier said pedestrians were welcome to visit; but no cars on the as yet unplowed road.

Unfortunately, we found the thick, mushy snow too soft to walk on, and even sunk up to our knees a time or two. Cross-country skiers found the going just as tough and gave up quickly. Oh well ... too early in the season. So, we played around in the parking lot, taking photos from a distance.

At least Mui and I had visited in 2010 and had photos to share with Deniz. If you’d like to see what we didn’t get to see this time, follow this link ... http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2010/08/independe….Read more