As previously mentioned in another post, when most people think of Alaska, they think of the South East. Calving glaciers, tall trees and forbidding totem poles. While that is a part of Alaska, it is only a small portion. The inspiration for my stories comes from the expansive interior. In particular, my novella, The Dark Land, is inspired by Wrangell St. Elias National Park, the largest park in the United States.
https://www.doi.gov/blog/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-wrangell-st-elias-national-park-preserve
Wrangell St. Elias is 13.2 million acres in size, or approximately 20 million square miles, most of it is uninhabited wilderness. What is also unique about this park, 35% of it is covered in glaciers, making it the largest glacier system in the US. The park is only accessible by road from two entrances. On the western boarder it can be accessed via the McCarthy road through Copper Center and Chitina. From the Northern side, it can be accessed via the Nabesna road. That means the vast majority of the park must be accessed by other means. In my story, the characters travel by ski and dogsled in winter.
Before Alaska became a state in 1959, Mt. Whitney in California was the US’s tallest peak at 14, 505’. Many people know that Denali (Or McKinley to those from “the lower 48”) is the tallest now at 20, 308’. But what many do not realize is that Whitney became 11th place once Alaska became part of the union. 7 of the 10 tallest peaks in Alaska reside in the Wrangell or St. Elias Range (with St. Elias being its tallest. At 18,009’ it is the second tallest mountain in the US). Four mountain ranges converge within the park boundary (Chugach, Wrangell, St. Elias, and the Southern end of the Alaska Range).
Kennecott Mine, which I have featured in a previous post, can be accessed from the McCarthy Road. The mine was in operation for nearly 30 years. While most copper ore around the world is around 3-7%, The copper seam in the hills above Kennecott was discovered to be between 60-70% pure, making it the richest known copper concentration in the world at the time. The Kennecott Copper Corporation was formed between Daniel Guggenheim, JP Morgan and Steven Birch, some of the most powerful businessmen of the early 20th century.
The Copper River drains through the Wrangell and Chugiach Mountain Ranges and is known to the “Head Water Peoples” or the First Peoples, as “The River of the Ahtnas.” It starts at the Copper glacier and runs through the Wrangell and the Chugach mountain ranges. The Ahtna tribes were considered to be some of the fiercest of the Athabascan people. As mentioned in a previous blog post, when the Europeans first tried to chart the Copper River, and sent expeditions up it, many did not return. The Ahtna and Tanaina culture, language and legends feature strongly in my writings as it is their beautiful and vast land in which many of my stories are set.
http://www.native-languages.org/ahtna-legends.htm
Having visited this unique and remote region multiple times now, I understand how it has helped shape the history of the state of Alaska. I hope that this blog post helps you to understand a little more about the inspiration for my writing, and maybe inspires you to check out a part of the world that is a little off the beaten path. If you would like to read more about my upcoming projects or backcountry adventures, sign up for my newsletter.
Thanks for reading! My Alaska backcountry horror novella, The Dark Land is currently available on Amazon:
Subscribe to our newsletter!