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Exploring a Forgotten Slice of History in Hatcher Pass, Alaska
The miners never found the mother lode of gold ore that they were looking for in Hatcher Pass, Alaska. Instead, they left behind a treasure for intrepid explorers. High on the mountaintops and clinging to the craggy outcroppings of granite that dominate the area are the remnants of years spent in this beautiful, unpredictable corner of the Alaska wilderness. From a pair of Victorian womens' shoes, sitting where their owner abandoned them for more practical footwear, to the simple scratch marks on the wall of a miner's shack for counting the long winter months spent alone at the top of the world, this is a place where history—and the lives of the people that made it—is still very much alive. Travelers will need to talk to a local or ask a ranger to find the abandoned mining camps high in this remote region of the Talkeetna Mountains. The trails, once so heavily traveled by the self-made men and women who hoped to make their fortunes here, have mostly been forgotten. But, if you are lucky, and have no aversion to heights, you could be rewarded with with a glimpse into forgotten lives—landlocked ghost ships left as they were the moment their occupants gave up almost a century ago.
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