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In spite of sunny skies and day temperatures close to 25ºC, the summer is drawing to its close here in Fairbanks. Here are some impressions from today of emerging fall colors.

The Tanana Valley State Fair is held every August in Fairbanks. For me it was a wonderful opportunity to talk to people I normally never meet on the university campus. Several people advertised the god news of the gospel and sold Jesus T-shirts, some informed about mining in Alaska while others sold exotic herbal wonder cures costing a fortune. The real reason I went there was to see the exhibition of giant white cabbages. The long daylight hours combined with relatively warm summers in interior Alaska provides the ideal conditions for growing monster cabbages. I was told that even bigger cabbages are exhibited in another fair later this month.

Ever since the gold rushes of the 1890s brought thousands of miners and settlers to Alaska, mining has been one of the pillar stones of the economy in the state. Most of these mines now lay abandoned as ghost towns throughout Alaska. One of the biggest mines from the last “gold” rush is located in Kennecott, McCarthy in the middle of Wrangell- St. Elias National Park and Reserve. The park is located in southern Alaska and is the largest national park in the United States covering an area of 53,300 km². Although some gold was mined in this area, it was mostly copper mining that generated immense profits. From 1908 – 1938 Kennecott mined the richest copper veins ever found on earth. Three hundred to six hundred men worked year round, in all weather and temperatures to mine the copper, concentrate the ore and ship it several hundred miles on rail tracks through wilderness.

Today, this old and abandoned mine stands as a monument of a time when thousands of men and women adventured to this area seeking a fortune or just making a living. Right next to the mine is the Kennecott glacier that for the most part looks like a barren landscape because layers of gravel and sand lay on top of the glacier where no plants can set roots. All over the area you see verdigris green minerals getting their color from the very high concentration of copper.

I went there with three friends; Michele, Michelle and Haque. Thanks Michele for bringing us there!