For Valentine's Day Matt and I went to brunch at Cafe Amsterdam in Anchorage (www.cafe-amsterdam.com) and then xc skiing at Hatcher Pass, which is a mountain pass through the southwest part of the Talkeetna mountains located about 60 road miles north of Anchorage.
First discovered by miners in 1906, the first mill in the area started operating in 1908. Underground hard rock mining of gold continued at locations around the pass until 1951.
In the 1980's one of the hard rock mines was re-opened for a brief period of time and currently, one mining company still actively explores the area for gold and over 500,000 ounces of gold have been produced in the district.
Miles of groomed ski trails are set, some as high as 4,000 ft in the Gold Cord Bowl, which is an October training site for the U.S. cross country ski team.
I love the look of the buildings left over from when the mine was in full operation.
The coffee can in the window cracked me up...
The bunk houses...
Matt's retro skis with the mine in the background.
After a long day of skiing, we headed to the Hatcher Pass Lodge (at the base of the mountain in the above picture) to enjoy a cozy atmosphere and bite to eat before heading back to Anchorage (www.hatcherpasslodge.com).