At a minimum, moose hunting is good for viewing morning sunlight and contemplating life

Fun to apply my river skills to rowing a big raft!

One of the best lights shows I’ve ever seen!

The Mosquito Fork (Cowden) dredge

Scenes along the South Fork

What’s better than reconnecting with people you haven’t seen in years, in the middle of nowhere?!?! Alaska is so big and small all at once

GOLD!

North Fork scenes

It wasn’t all flatwater, but that’s where the best reflections were!!!! I was smitten with how beautiful it was.

Looking back at “The Falls” rapid . . . not a huge deal, could be sportier at higher water.

And then the Fortymile Bridge appeared and the float was over . . . Bittersweet.  I definitely could have continued onto Eagle, but this wasn’t the trip for it . . . plus, we were out of the gourmet food!

The post It’s not about the moose (except how it’s totally about the moose!) – Fortymile River, Alaska appeared first on Kellie Okonek.

I do love when an adventure comes together and actually works!  I recently chatted with a friend who went and stayed at Spencer Glacier, and he told me that some of their group were brave enough to hike up to the cabin.  As he was talking, all I could think was “that sounds like a bike trail to me!”  So, I hatched the plan to whistle stop the train, ride the trail, camp overnight, and packraft out the Placer River.  I’ve done some bike packrafting before so I know it can work, and it seemed just random and fun enough to be worth trying.

Within a few days, Lizzie was in touch to scheme weekend ideas and I pitched the idea to her.  As an avid boater and biker, she was immediately in (as long as the weather seemed decent – the forecast was horrible although it had been horrible daily and not bad in reality!).  

So, we took the train on Saturday – I got the times confused in my mind so we actually showed up at 1:15 for the 1:25 train . . . thankfully they let us on!  A quick 20 minutes and we were there!  It’s cool to see our snowmachine areas from the train and to gaze at beautiful mountains from a seat!  

putting bikes on the train was no issue, and no extra cost . . .

Our packs were a bit unwieldy especially because we weren’t doing some big expedition so we just kinda made it work!  The 3 miles along the Spencer Glacier Trail to the glacier view area weren’t too bad, although riding with a huge pack is hardly rewarding!  

Lizzy making balancing with these huge packs look easy . . . this trail is super nice and essentially flat.

First views of the Spencer Glacier along the Spencer Glacier Trail – so beautiful!

We dropped bikes, hiked a bit out to find a camp spot, and then went back to the bikes to begin our ride!  

Walking up-lake with heavy packs in search of a great camp spot . . . not travelling light!

The Spencer Bench trail is a 3 mile switchback trail that climbs 1800 vertical feet to the cabin.  While there are sections that are pedal-able, much of the trail is hike-a-bike (though it can all be pushed – no need to shoulder the bike!).  It took us about 2 hours to make the climb, though we stopped A LOT for pictures and chatting.  So, I bet the climb could be easily done in 90 minutes or so.  But why hurry through views like that?!!?  

The view from the cabin is STUNNING. Book early as I think it rents out quick!

It starts out rocky with some cool features that are perfect for a trail, and some bouldery sections that weren’t really possible for me to pedal.  It then transitions to brushy areas and hemlock sections which is a nice and varied combo.  It’s really cool how the trail has hemlock portions with forest dirt to change things up from rain forest greenery – really cool contrast!  There are some boardwalk sections with turns and lots of steps, and lots of tight switchbacks!  A friend of mine said he counted 83 switchbacks on the trail!

Lots of hike a bike, with amazing views the whole time . . . this section was SUPER FUN to ride!

The boardwalk section was cool – just behind Lizzy it makes a pretty spicy turn with step-downs . . . also fun to ride!

Near the hut, the trail ends at a small lake, so we left the bikes there and took off on foot up to the Turtle Flats above to check out the lakes and views, and the classic snowmachine terrain in its summer outfit   While some bushwhacking did occur, it was mostly nice travel especially as we got near the lakes and it transitioned to alpine walking.  It is SO COOL up there and our minds immediately went to camping, exploring, and making a trip out of this area.  We had some clouds, so couldn’t scope too much.  Plus, we had a bike ride ahead of us, so walked around for an hour or so and then called it good.  It is so cool up there.  And the hut!  Wow, what a place.  The view is incredible, hiking access unreal, and facilities really nice.  There were 5 ladies staying there doing it right with caviar, cocktails, art, books, and a really good vibe.  They were super welcoming and let me check it all out!

The lakes in Squirrel Flats are super cool . . . one could easily spend a day alpine walking in this area . . . so cool.

Really cool alpine environment!

The ride itself was pretty fun and totally worthy, although I was off my bike a decent amount to navigate switchbacks!  It’s definitely a hiking trail and later I was thinking about how it would probably be pretty ‘easy’ to ‘fix’ some of those switchbacks to make it so much more rideable!  There was also a real challenge to focus on the trail when the glacier views were so cool!  A real trade-off between riding and gawking!  We rode it July 12 and some sections were somewhat overgrown – no handlebar grabbers, but sometimes hard to see where the trail would actually go!  The step-down curvy boardwalk section was a challenge and I fell off it at one point, but the landing was soft so all was well!  The hemlock sections were so fun to ride and a really nice change in the ride conditions to keep it interesting.  

I honestly think biking does not get more scenic than this trail!

Hemlock sections to balance out brushy and rocky sections were really nice!

. . . and exiting the trees back to the views is awesome!

My favorite part was probably the rocky section near the bottom.  Other than the sharp step-down switchbacks, it was all really rideable for me and of the technical nature I’ve come to love.  If you don’t enjoy this style of riding, it’s probably a decent amount of walking the bike . . . but it’s not that long of a section.  The following bit is boulders that look rideable but really beat me up a bit and I didn’t love it!  A little flatland and it’s back to the main trail along the lake!!!

Tech riding in flowers . . . does it get better?!?!

It gets a little spicier just below me, and still super fun!

The whole ‘adventure’ was about 4 hours for us and could easily be done in more like 2.5 if all you want to do is ride the trail . . . though I would never advocate hurrying through a place as stunning as this one! 

We camped along the lake and had a lovely freeze dried meal with canned wine as we watched icebergs and thanked the foreboding clouds for staying up-glacier.  It rained around us, but never on us!

The next morning after a lovely coffee, we undertook the hilarious challenge of putting bikes on boats.  Lizzy has the new packraft so her camping gear could go in the tube, but I had to put my pack on top of my bike which meant I could hardly see over it!  It mostly seemed to work though, and while I was not thrilled with how bow-heavy my boat was, it floated!!!  

We paddled up toward the toe of the glacier and around the big bergs and then across the lake to the beginning of the river – that took just over an hour and was super cool.  I’ll admit that I felt a bit uncomfortable in my raft so loaded down in the middle of the lake . . . if something had gone wrong, it was hard to imagine a recovery that saved my bike!  I was glad for a drysuit and pfd so I wasn’t too worried about my own safety.

The hole in the iceburg was rad! Lizzy’s boat packed much better than mine

The river itself was faster than I remember.  The biggest rapids are at the beginning as the river goes under the new and old railroad bridges.   That’s when I realized some of the limitations in how I’d tied my pack down, but all’s well that ends well and Lizzy helped me fix it!  From there, the river stays moving pretty well and one still has to pay attention due to the sheer number of trees in the middle that create braids, sweepers, and lots of boils that grab the boat.  I did not love the boils, especially with such a heavy boat with precious cargo!  After the Leubner Lake commercial rafting take-out, the river gets a bit lazier but still moves decently and the sweepers reduce.  There’s a bit more space to stare at the greenery and day dream.  

And then the road noise starts and eventually a bridge appears!  The parking is on the river left and there’s a small little road to the river that’s not initially visible but is there!  Overall, it took us about 1.5 hours from the lake to the road.  We unpacked boats and stashed them in the woods, put bikes back together and rode to the train station to grab cars – about 3 miles.  It felt good to move our legs after being seated for so long in the rafts!  For this reason alone, it’s better than a car shuttle!  

The best part is that I made it home to unpack, eat some quick food, grab a shower, and make it to Alyeska for 3 hours of DH laps!  It’s pretty rad to wake up at a glacier, float a river, and then finish the day DH biking.  Alaska is so cool that way   

For more mountain biking trail reports, check out the whole guide to Alaska biking!!!  Ride on and enjoy

Ride Essentials

Trail Snacks

The post Spencer Glacier mountain biking and packrafting appeared first on Kellie Okonek.

Perched between Bristol Bay/Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska sits a 6-mile wide crater formed 3500 years ago in a violent eruption, after which the mountain caved in on itself and formed a huge crater. Initially water-filled after the first eruption, the damn ultimately broke and created a rift in the crater through which the Aniakchak River flows today: “the gates.” Subsequent eruptions, the most recent occurring in 1931, have formed multiple craters-within-the-crater and a very unique volcanic landscape ripe for exploration.

I have long wanted to explore the Aniakchak Volcano and its namesake river, and took the opportunity in July of 2012 to hike in with Paul, Erin, Chrissy, and Ray to meet up with Phil, Toni, Jeremy, Jamie, and Chris who would arrive a day later and continue their trip on to Chignik while the rest of us had to go back to work.

The trip started as many great trips do: quality time in bush Alaska. In this case, it was a PenAir flight to Port Heiden where we would pickup the fuel we’d called in to reserve and be on our merry way. Of course it didn’t go as smoothly as we would have hoped, but ultimately fuel was obtained for our Jetboil stove and we had a very entertaining few hours hanging out in downtown. Nothing like lonely rural Alaskan men to make a girl feel like a “10” – suffice it to say our group drew a crowd

When we finally got started, day 1 was a hike up ATV trails toward the crater wall . . . a long slow climb We made it into the tundra and had a nice camp, thankful that the wind and rain had been kind to us (unlike friends who’d gone last year and hiked in wearing drysuits).

Erin and Chrissy slogging up the side of a volcano

On day two, we continued up to the crater and then descended into the caldera for a ~6ish mile walk across the center of the earth over to Surprise Lake, where we setup camp . . .

It’s a big world out there – looking toward the Bering Sea

Did I mention it was Chrissy and Ray’s honeymoon?

Nearing the crater . . . Erin, Chrissy, and Ray

Ray, Port Heiden, and the Bering Sea

And then the world started steaming . . . guess we ARE walking up a volcano!!

Erin making it look easy . . . more volcano steam

Our first look into the Caldera – Surprise Lake in the distance, the 1931 crater in the foreground – what a sight!!

Another crater view from the top . . . such cool terrain!

Paul on the caldera edge . . . should we have brought skis?!?!?

The 1931 crater

So, we made it to camp, setup along the lakeshore with a nice open view to the caldera and spent the next (rainy) day running the Class IV rapids of the gates and generally enjoying our new home. The next group of 5 showed up that evening, and so we had a nice snack of Paul’s freshly caught fish and our otherwise tasty freeze dried meals

Me & Phil, what a stunning day!

View of Aniakchack River from partway up Black Nose

Chrissy May . . . love the volcano action for creating nice walking surfaces!

Me, Phil, and an ever-improving view!

Cmay coming up to the crater’s edge . . . in the wind!

Looking down on Surprise Lake and home . . . helluva view even with the clouds in the crater!

Vent Mountain – nothing like a volcano within a volcano to let you know you’re in the raddest place ever.

Phil and me . . . view didn’t get old

Windy, cold, still going up Rad terrain and colors though . . . kind of wondering at this point if we’d lost our minds.

Cold, windy, foggy, happy

Phil glad to be back in vestiges of sun!

Did I mention the wind?!?

And then back down . . . snowy crater walls in the distance.

Yeah for getting out of the wind and back into the sun!

From there, we ended up running the gates again and then doing a 2-day float down the river to Aniakchak bay. Thank goodness Katmai Air was reliable and made it over the cloudy pass to get us!!!

The post Aniakchak: from the Bering Sea to the Gulf of Alaska . . . via the Aniakchak Volcano crater. appeared first on Kellie Okonek.

The story . . .

As I started looking closer at the maps and seeing the weather forecast for Southcentral Alaska (“first storm moving away from southcentral with a more powerful second storm on the way”), the doubts over our trip started creeping in.  Sherrie and I planned to hike from the Eureka Roadhouse on the Glenn Highway, 60 miles overland to the headwaters of the Talkeetna River.  From the small roadside town, we’d walk for 2.5 days (most off-trail wilderness travel), over a 4800′ and 6000′ pass, before rafting 40 miles of the Talkeetna River.  At the confluence with Prairie Creek, we would meet friends who’d flown in with a cataraft and raft the famous class IV Talkeetna River canyon (“the longest stretch of continuous whitewater in Alaska” and one of the state’s most classic river trips) to the town of Talkeenta.

As I really started thinking about the logistics, the thoughts of all that could go wrong rushed in with a vengeance.  I haven’t been nervous for a trip in awhile, but I have to admit in many ways it felt good to try something I wasn’t sure I could do.  We made contingency bailout plans for the inability to cross high passes due to weather, packed a little extra food in case we had to hike out without the cataraft to travel the high-volume canyon, and left a good communication plan in case we didn’t make it out.

Leaving the road at 5:30 pm, we made it to Caribou Creek and camped along its banks.

Starting out with termination dust on Gunsight Mountain behind us . . . all smiles for the journey ahead!

Surprised and ecstatic, our first full day of hiking up Caribou Creek was graced with sunshine!!  Given the multiple thigh-deep river crossings of this glacial stream, and blessed with peak fall colors, the bright skies made our day super enjoyable as we covered ground.

Did I mention that we were thankful for the sun?  Sherrie shares her joy!

Sherrie making progress toward Chitna Creek confluence with Caribou Creek, one of the day’s major milestones

Me headed into the upper Caribou drainage – foreboding skies ahead, but sunny for now!

Me loving the tank top weather and peak fall colors – all the gorgeous mountains made us want to come back with more time to scramble up them!

Caribou Creek shrinking as we neared the headwaters – just upstream is it’s super dramatic canyon

We made it to our goal of a lake just below the final climb to our first big pass, arriving at camp in a mix of rain and snow.  We awoke to a white world, and a super cold morning, but were thankful that the conditions still looked okay for travel.

Awaking to a snowy morning at camp 2 . . . brr!!

My shoes were so frozen after all the river crossings the day prior that I had to use pliers to get the laces free . . . I finally thawed them in the icy cold river to be able to get my feet in – now there’s a way to start a morning!

We hiked out of the Caribou Creek drainage and over a gentle pass to the high country in the upper Oshetna River valley.  Opting to “cut the corner,” we walked the caribou trails of the grassy hills instead of travelling the creek, rewarded with panoramic mountain views and serene lakes to walk by.

Heading into the high country – leaving the final trickle of Caribou Creek

Rounding the corner into the upper Oshetna River valley

Me passing one of three lakes as we traveled to the Oshetna River . . . peaceful and stunning country

Sherrie adds a splash of color to the Talkeetnas!

Making progress – our route was just around the backside of the peak in the foreground . . . caribou trails made our travels so nice!!

Caribou kept us company much of the morning . . . should we have brought skis?!?

We had great travel conditions for the morning, the frozen ground creating a nice walking surface, cushioned with a covering of snow . . . greeted by caribou, beautiful lakes, and changing scenery, we were super stoked!  Lurking in the back of my mind, however, was a wonder of what we’d find as we approached the pass – the mountains around us were pretty snow-covered and the wind was picking up – thoughts of avalanches started creeping into my mind.  As a skier, I should know better than to get caught in a windslab, and we had approximately zero appropriate tools (i.e. shovel!) to respond if we did.  But, you never know til you go, so on we went, knowing that we could always come back and raft out Caribou Creek if we had to.  One thing was readily apparent: we were definitely going to be pushing the limits of tennis shoes!!!

Our first pass at 4800′ finally in view . . . what’s next?

Headed up the pass, looking down to the Oshetna . . .

The landscape got stark, but no less beautiful

On the backside of pass #1, with 6000′ pass #2 around the corner – starting to look more like a headwall than a pass!

Sherrie with the outline of switchbacks above her . . . looks like we can probably make it over!!

Standing on the headwall – I have to admit I was hoping to see a little less white than this . . .

Travelling the moraine-from-hell . . . this kind of travel is hard enough without 6″ of snow obscuring the appropriate places to step!

Uggh, the moraine goes on . . .

Finally off the rocky moraine and back into snow-covered tundra . . . a much appreciated reprieve of wondering if I was going to break an ankle every step!

Thankfully, Alaska let us through and we were able to safely navigate our way over the headwall (after going over it, I am no longer calling it a pass!) . . . I had hoped for a gentle slope off the backside, but instead I found myself plunge stepping into thigh deep snow down its steep flanks.  Spirits plummeted as we walked across the glacial moraine on the backside.  Comprised of rocks, their interstitial spaces filled with snow, it felt like a broken ankle (or femur!) was a threat on every step.  Sherrie characterized our friendship as “old love” as we walked in irritated silence, mentally preparing ourselves to be in snow for the duration of our overland travel.  The Talkeetna side of the mountains is the wet side, but this was more snow than we’d really expected!  We were DEFINITELY pushing the limits of tennis shoes!

Not shockingly, we awoke to more new snow on our third morning, but with only 11 miles remaining until packrafting time, and knowing it would only get better as we lost elevation, we were off!

Another cold morning – a good chance to multitask with stretching hips, warming toes on my hot bottle, and drinking coffee all at once!!

Our river walk transitioned to a game trail as we headed away from the creek and onto a gently sloping flank to the river . . . back in peak fall colors, the tundra reds burst into our gray landscape.  As we descended, the sun came out and graced us with warmth and views of the Talkeetna Glacier and big mountains surrounding us.  As the river came into view, we were pscyched to start making progress off our feet!!

Good travel, out of the snow, making progress = happy Kellie!

Looking back at the white world we’d come from!

And looking down to the river we were headed to!

Sherrie in peak fall colors yet again, checking out the potential for rapids in the upper river

Still not sure if it was going to fully break, the clouds added surreal feel to the big open country we were in

The Talkeetna Glacier and upper river

We made it to the river just after noon and took a breather in bare feet on the sand, appreciating the moments of sunshine as we prepared for the next section of the adventure.  We had 40 river miles to cover, with beta that it started class III and then mellowed out . . . lured by the sunshine, we did not put on nearly enough layers and spent most of the day super cold until we finally gave into putting puff coats on under our drysuits!  It’s been awhile since I’ve been this persistently cold, and I started to accept that winter is definitely on its way!!

The upper river was splashy and fun!

So wonderful to enjoy the views off of our feet!  Packrafts and river gear are heavy and cumbersome to carry, but sooooo worth it!

By some combination of good fortune and perseverance, Sherrie and I made it 40 miles downriver in about 6.5 hours, meeting our friends according exactly to plan A.  They had flown in that morning as planned, rafted Prairie Creek, and setup a luxurious camp.  With a dutch oven, coolers, big raft, and cotton clothes our lives were about to change!

All smiles in the morning as we headed toward the Talkeetna Canyon!

At the ~8000 cfs level we had, the Talkeetna was considered “low,” but the toilet bowl entry rapid and the 14 mile long “sluice box” were exciting all the same, and still much bigger water than I’d want with a packraft!!

Under sunny skies, Denali and the Alaska Range greeted us in Talkeetna!!

Overall, the trip was awesome.  At no point “in the bag,” the adventure continued with every step and wave along our journey.  It was definitely an experience that re-energized me for big Alaskan traverses and throwing it to the wind every now and again

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After a night in our “dry” tent, we were off again the next day, in improved weather, but still sorta dreary . . .
This particular location as we were travelling to and over Stegasaurus Pass was particularly brutal boulder navigation . . . uggh. It’s sorta hard to stay in a good mood when slipperly boulders are threatening your well being at every turn, but Sherrie and I did our best

We made it over and were ready for our “easy” drop to the Kashwitna. Too bad it wasn’t destined to be that way . . . the upper elevations with nice travel and beautiful lakes were nice, but sooned transitioned to willows . . . and then to alders . . . uggh.

Just before the confluence with the N Fork, the gradient started to increase, and we made the commitment to scope things before we ran them, and to take a conservative approach to the lower section. Then, we saw humans on the side of the river, so pulled over to say hi (we’re super social). They turned out to be the local landowner and his friends, who told us we were stupid and that nobody had ever run the lower Kashwitna and survived. Although we thought there was a good chance it would be fine, his cautions, coupled with an offer to take us out on 4wheelers had us packing our bags and heading for the car with a bunch of drunk strangers . . .

In retrospect, this exit was likely more hazardous than the river would have been, but we made it out okay, and got safely back to the car in a few hours. The only bummer was that, as we were heading out to the highway, Sherrie’s car overheated and we found ourselves spending the rest of the night waiting for a towtruck and getting towed back to Anchorage!

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All I have to say is: wow. We were more-or-less consistently shocked by how beautiful and pleasant this trip was. We had perfect weather, amazing fall colors, and super friendly river levels. This, coupled with the amazing area and my super-fun and travelling buddy, made for an unforgettable trip!

So, Sunday we left Kennicott at about 1pm and headed up the Root Glacier trail to the glacier access. We ran into a guy we’d met the night before who kindly steered us in the right direction, immediately crossing the Root to the “white ribbon” on the other side of the moraine. It does feel like you should walk up the Root a bit, but crossing put us on a superhighway that continued pretty much all the way up glaicer until we had to head toward Hidden Creek. Along the way, we saw super cool moulins and investigated their depths with rock throwing . . . creepy! We also got to stare at Mt. Blackburn and the big mountains, as well as Donoho – unreal beauty. We walked up the Kennicott past Hidden Creek and then took a hard left to cross to the “fos” at the glacier edge. It looked like we could get shut down any minute, but the glacier let us through pretty easily . . . no crampons needed, never wished we had them. It was a fun navegation too . . . surprises around every corner!!! Once on the “fos,” a beautiful trail appeared and took us right over the ridge we needed to go over, very pleasantly through the alders, along the sidehill on the other side, and down to Hidden Creek. Oh so very nice We camped pretty soon thereafter and watched the beautiful moon come up . . . what a day!

Monday we awoke to more sunshine and started up Hidden Creek. We found an airstrip and a cabin pretty shortly after starting and had fun investigating. Walking along the creek, we were following footsteps and wondered what humans we might run into . . . turned out to be Chris Walker, hunting guide, and his client with a freshly shot goat. We gathered some beta (turns out their base is on the Lakina, so Chris had travelled that route before), and were off again. The walk up Hidden Creek was incredible. Beautiful, pleasant travel, amazing colors, blue sky, and great conversation. We arrived at Hidden Pass and chilled out to take in the beauty of the other side . . . a nice lake, cool colors on the hills. Having left the Kennicott Glacier, we sorta figured the big mountain views had ended and we’d be in nice foothills instead . . . but were we ever wrong!!!! Holy smokes, we went around the corner and were faced with just about the best mountain vista ever. The best part was how unexpected it was, confirming how nice it is to have some route beta, but not too much! Castle Peak came out, as did the unnamed “bump” to its north and the mind-blowingly steep face off the ridgeline along the Lakina . . . all reflected in a series of perfectly calm lakes with vibrant fall colors abounding. We walked pretty slow and stopped a lot to celebrate where we were and drink it all in And again, just when we were ready for one, a lovely trail appeared and escorted us to the scree slopes leading to the toe of the Lakina River. We wandered a bit to find the best way down, and ultimately came back to where the trail met the scree and descended directly. Arriving at the Lakina, we found enough water to float, and so put in, nervous that a cold night could dramatically reduce the river levels and send us on foot [gasp!]. The water was class II is, super aerated and not very pushy. The hardest part was spotting the rocks that we tended to high-center on, veiled by the silty waters until it was too late. Oh well, it was still super fun packrafting. At one point, a plane flew by and tipped its wing . . . Chris and his client headed back to their camp downriver. We floated almost an hour, and then chose to make camp and have a huge bonfire . . . lovely way to spend an evening!!!

Tuesday dawned sunny yet again and downriver we went. When we got to the hunting camp, we decided to check it out and see what luxury wilderness living is like. They had the super-sonic setup . . . planes, wall tents, horses, generator, kitchen with running water . . . and the beautiful backdrop of the Lakina to take it all in! Most had taken off that morning on horseback, but Chris and his client were there, meaning a cold beer for Sherrie and I!!! What a wilderness treat From there, we continued butt-boating the braided section of the Lakina (wouldn’t have minded a bit more water!) and then the river converged into a single channel and the fun began!!! The majority of the paddle was super fun class II-III festive paddling. At the levels we had, the water wasn’t too pushy, but it was the kind of water that kept you paying attention, and kept us emptying our boats with frequency! We got a system of swinging leads at boat-dumps, mixing up the descent with the fun of reading the rapid first and the fun of watching your friend paddle through. Again, we were amazed at how cool it was . . . super unexpected Near the end, the gradient lessened and the water levels rose (class I), but we had three cross-river logjams to keep things exciting. We arrived at the car (that Chris and Chris had kindly shuttled for us on their way out of McCarthy – thanks guys!!!) around 5ish and were on the road in a jiffy. The only bummer was that we had to rush outta there, both needing to work the next morning (and Sherrie having to work a 12-hr shift at 7am!).

Overall, I am still shocked at how much fun we had and how varied and beautiful this trip is. I almost don’t want to tell the truth because I feel like it will become a super highway. But, then again, it is all the way in McCarthy and isn’t a paved road, so something tells me it will be just fine I should say that, although we had very manageable rapids on the Lakina with our water levels, I could see that river getting a lot more festive at midsummer higher flows. Even as it was, it’s not a river I’d want to paddle my first time in a packraft . . .

Leaving Kennicott to head up the Root Glacier

Headed toward the Root Glacier

Following the white tongues up the root – oh, tennis shoes glacier time!

Root Glacier

Moulins are rad!

No, it’s not a hershey’s kiss (as much as we’d love that much chocolate!)

Lakina Glacier toe

Heading onto the foss to Hidden Lake

Root glacier below, walking on the foss

Hidden Lake (or former lake!)

the airstrip ‘cabin’

inside the ‘cabin’ at the airstrip

The hunter who had “been hearing women’s voices” all day

Headed up Hidden Creek

We can always find adventure

Beauty abounded in Hidden Creek

And then we crossed the pass to where we thought it would be less beautiful . . . WRONG!

Loved this place!

Lakina Glacier

Descending toward the Lakina

Upper Lakina River (glacier)

Camp after the initial Lakina float

The post McCarthy to the Lakina River – Sept 6-8 2009 appeared first on Kellie Okonek.

After a late-night arrival in McCarthy, we awoke to a super smoky morning and a flight delay . . .
So, we consoled ourselves by going back into town to find good coffee and breakfast. To top it off, we also found CJ, one of our buddies from Girdwood who happens to double as a wildland firefighter in the summer . . . we were super psyched

Timed almost perfectly after the opening of The Potato and the procurement of the best breakfast burrito and some Kaladi coffee, it was time to fly! Tons of potential scoped for winter/spring dreaming

We landed in the old mining town of Chisana, which happens to still have some full-time residents . . . we were out of the rain pounding Girdwood/Anchorage and out of the smoke, drinking in the beauty of a sunny day in the Wrangells!

The afternoon was spent walking up Geohenda Creek . . . one of the muddiest/siltiest creeks I’ve ever seen! Thankfully the scenery was great, and the travel pretty good (although river bars do get a a little old . . .)

From there, we headed up valley and across a few drainages toward Solo Mountain Pass and the Solo Mountain cabin . . . beautiful evening, great travel surfaces, and lovely soft light

We arrived at the cabin just around dark, and settled in for a darn good sleep – it’s a pretty sweet cabin with a cool history of being manned when this route was used to support transport from Chisana to McCarthy in gold rush times. It was a little smoky, but the haze just made the country feel even bigger . . .

CMay in some big country, pointing toward Lime Creek, somewhere out there!

Lime Creek was pretty cranktastic (read: super high water), so we opted to cross in boats. With just two of us, boats seemed like a good idea regardless . . . . thankfully the crossing was uneventful – water was moving fast, but wasn’t too pushy.

Token headstand shot . . . beautiful afternoon, glad to have the unknown of this crossing behind us, psyched to see the big mountains coming out, and intrigued by what’s coming next!

Hip hop hooray for K-Lo and CMay! Lime Creek behind us

Heading up the White River valley – this place was awesome – again we had a beautiful and peaceful night . . . travel conditions were downright excellent (nice soft, but consolidated and lightly vegetated river bar), with a warm breeze, and markedly different scenery than that we’d seen earlier in the day!

Umm, that looks like a lovely couloir!!! Let’s go ski it someday

Flood Creek and the toe of the Russell Glacier . . . yet another lovely place to camp!

And another beautiful day in which to continue our journey

. . . and then the camera died. In some ways, it’s incredibly tragic not to have the remainder of the trip documented . . . in others, it’s amazing that the mind-blowing sights and experiences will exist only in the vibrance of our memories.

 

In a nutshell, we spent day 3 crossing Flood Creek (we chose to inflate one boat and ferry loads/people across the lake at the toe) and hiking up the moraine of Russel Glacier past lower and upper Skolai Lakes and over Skolai Pass. We checked out the cabin and then headed up and over Chitistone Pass (words cannot describe this place . . . caribou on one side of the valley, goats on the other, amazingly bright greens and flowers, glaciers, waterfalls, and a beautiful trail from which to see it all!). We made it part way down the Chitistone River along the Goat Trail before eventually making camp on a decidedly un-flat (but as flat as we were going to find on the Goat Trail!) place at dark.

 

On day 4, we completed the Goat Trail, passed Chitistone Falls and the Chitistone Gorge (I also lack words to do this place justice) and found the super-sonic trail through the bushes to the river. This was amazing – alder bashing minimization is always amazing! Even without the trail, it’s only 45-60min of suffering, which is totally worth it for the amazing experience of the Chitistone. Our Chitistone crossing was festive, to say the least. The river was cranking when we got there, and it was difficult to find a good line across. We did select one, and I went first, breathing a sigh of relief when I made it to the the eddy. Chrissy got swept a little past the eddy and hit a big packraft-eating hole and went for a swim. Like a champion, she held on to her boat and paddle, but unfortunately ended up back on the same side, about 1/2 mile downriver. So, we opted to walk our respective sides (after yelling back/forth across the raging river, getting about every 5th word!) about 1 mile upstream to where the river was supposed to be mellower. In retrospect, we shouldn’t have even bothered with our first crossing since it was soooooo much more straightforward upriver (read: class 1-2 instead of 3-4, with many more eddies and much less gradient). With the time spent on the crossing, and the fact that we had the time and food to extend, we took the rush out of the afternoon and decided to walk to Glacier Creek, but not to even try the float out until morning. So, down the Chitistone we went . . . it was intriguing to watch the river and I’d love to try and do this trip again, paddling the whole river, but it was more than we were looking for on this trip, to be sure! The river walking wasn’t bad either, and there is a nice trail on the shwackfest section . . . . not to mention that the area is simply stunning. I continued to be blown away by the splendor on this trip – I was expecting it to be cool, but not like it was. The relief in those mountains is Himalaya-esque and is terrifying and peaceful at once. We were again blessed with perfect weather as well, making it that much more special. We camped along the shore, wondering how the river might change by morning and what the packrafting would be like . . .

 

Morning brought lower river levels, so into the boats we went! We knew there’d be some holes to avoid and Class II features that could still create excitement with the bigger water we had, but the paddling was pretty fun and straightforward . . . and so much more efficient than walking down the river!!! Major props to Chrissy for overcoming her fear from the previous day’s swim and paddling super strong into the Nizina and to the take out. The Nizina confluence was pretty channeled and gave us our fill of butt-boating, and then straighforward big-water floating to the road . . . it was pretty crazy to be in that big of a river in such a small boat, but super cool at the same time. It sounded like Rice Krispies as the rocks below us were being moved downriver, and the hydraulics and river-reading stayed engaging ’til the end. The takeout is super nice, with the cross-river bridge an visible road to mark it . . . then 9.48 miles on road back to the Potato for post-trip burritos and coffee!!!

 

After our food, we opted to hit the road, figuring it’d be nice to have one recovery day before heading back to work, and realizing we probably woudl be fairly lazy the next day regardless! So, off we went . . .

 

Overall, it was a spectacular trip. I’d never done a trip with just one other woman and it was pretty unique to do so. We work super well together and have a great time while we’re at it. The route was straightforward, but still offered its surprises and challenges, as the Alaska wilderness always does. I had doubted if I felt like doing a wilderness trip, but being out there confirmed for me how much I love it, and how I had been missing it!

 

 

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On the other side of the pass, heading down to Refuge Valley . . . just as the sun is trying to decide if it will stay or go

Trudling (? sp) big rocks down sweet coolies on our peak bagging afternoon

The view from the top did not suck

The view from the valley was also quite nice, as was the evening light!

On of our many scree descents . . . I actually felt it in my downhill ski muscles!

On the shore of the Sanctuary River, with what looks to be an amazing ridge walk in the background! We were so happy to be in the sunshine!!!

Sherrie floating the Sanctuary River . . . what a day!

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How does one encapsulate an experience? What words exist to embody the spirit, soul, and humanity of six days? In reality, the Anaktuvuk to Wiseman trip was nothing more than 3 women walking and floating between 2 dots on a map, connecting one blue line to the next. The experience, however, ocurred so much more dramatically. It exists with the richness of diversity in the Brooks Range, with the alivenes of the Alaskan wilderness, with a depth comensurate with the vastness of the terrain, and with a softness as tangible, yet indescribable, as the evening shades and shadows on the mountains.

I honestly have no idea where to begin since this trip was so fun, hilarious, random, and adventurous on multiple fronts. The past week has been an experience that I shake my head at while rolling my eyes with a huge smile over the bounties of life, friendship, Alaska, and the wilderness. I am so blessed and thankful and am super present to the many gifts in my life!
It all started with a plan to traverse the Wrangells from Nebesna to McCarthy. Gretchen was doing field work in McCarthy, and we had it worked out to leave her car there, and she’d get flown to Glenallen after her work was complete. Chrissy and I met her there on Wednesday afternoon, as planned. We showed up to rain and a forecast that didn’t look great. With the rainy summer, the time constraints on our trip, and the ambitiousness of the journey, we had doubts about getting delayed by not being able to fly in. We also didn’t relish the idea of 6 days walking in the rain (as seemed entirely possible) and were craving sunshine. A brief perusal of webcams around the state showed blue skies all over the Brooks Range, so we said “f-it, let’s go north!” We had a few issues, however: How in the heck were we going to get Gretchen’s car out of McCarthy (90 miles off the highway)? What route would we do in the Brooks? How early could we fly from Fairbanks? How would we get maps? How would we deal with post-trip transport logistics? So we pooled our resources and worked it all out. My boss would have his friend drive Gretchen’s car, Rebecca and Thor suggested a route from Anaktuvuk to Wiseman (85 miles with combo of walking and packrafting), we could fly at 8am the next day out of Fairbanks, we’d get a map from Sportsman’s Warehouse at 7am (they’d open their door early), and we’d hitch a ride after the trip . . . I would hitch north to work in Prudhoe Bay, and they’d hitch south to Fairbanks and get Chrissy’s car to drive back to Anchorage (via Glenallen to get Gretchen’s car). Are you getting an idea of how funny this must have been as it was unfolding? We were on a roll, to say the least . . . brainstorming, laughing, keeping the playlist lively, and making it happen. We even celebrated Chrissy’s birthday at midnight along the roadside with whisky and Danish techno. It was great.

A brief stop in Paxson for coffee with Creme Brulee creamer and stir sticks from the 50’s (no joke!) The roadside birthday celebration!
The next morning, in prep for our flight, taking advantage of the last coverage to get more ideas/input . . . gotta love the 1:250!
And then we were off . . . although we were running from the rain, it somehow followed us to Fairbanks!
In the mail plane to Anaktuvuk Pass
. . . and then in Anaktuvuk!
We found ourselves in Anaktuvuk on Thursday afternoon (after a 2 hour flight delay) and a little dazed by lack of sleep and a lot of travel. We met Rebecca, a school teacher volunteering with the NPS Gates of the Arctic and chatted about the Brooks Range, Arctic travel, and life. She allowed us use of the bunk house to re-organize gear and hang out. Chrissy and I roamed the town, chatted with some of the locals, and generally took it all in. We were overwhelmed with the people in Anaktuvuk – they were so friendly, lively, and outgoing. The surrounding mountains were unreal – we were already feeling like we’d made a good decision! At 1pm, the local museum re-opened, so we headed over for a lesson in Inupiat and Nunamiat culture. The collection of artifacts is amazingly educational, as is Vera, the woman who works there. We chatted for about an hour and a half, laughing almost as much as we were listening. Vera is amazing. She was born and raised in Anaktuvuk, worked as a mechanic for awhile, and then attended and graduated from UAF before deciding to move back to her home. She has 5 daughters and a spirit and heart as big as any you’ll ever meet. I have to admit having done very little investigation into native culture in Alaska and was overwhelmed by Anaktuvuk – now I feel an appetite to learn more as I realize the depth, aliveness, historical significance, and contribution to the Alaska culture I love.

Walking the streets of Anaktuvuk Pass The amazing museum we hung out in for awhile and learned about life and history from Vera

And then the sun came out . . . us and Vera outside the museum
An interesting mix of time and cultures . . .

We ended up leaving town around 2:30 and headed west up the Anaktuvuk River for about 8 hours before camping . . . we actually saw a grizzley in the distance just before descending to the river to camp, which gave us pause as we debated sleeping with our food vs. caching. We opted for the cache as it seemed better to hear the bear and try to defend our food than to be surprised with it in the tent. Fortunately, there were no issues – I don’t think it even saw us. We capped the day with a dessert given to us by the folks at Copper Valley Air in Glenallen in celebration of Chrissy’s birthday and promptly decided that all trips should have dessert on the first night. Dear universe: please add this to the rule book

Heading toward the Anaktuvuk River . . . we walked up the right side of the river . . . I recently found out that this trail continues all the way up the left side of the river! Oh well, I guess we just got a better workout
The Anaktuvuk River under amazing skies!




That must be Fan Mountain . . . I mean, it looks like a fan! Oh the ways you can delude yourself into thinking you’ve gone much further than you have!


Friday dawned high overcast and pretty warm which provided great travel conditions up the rest of the Anaktuvuk River and over Ernie Pass. We opted to camp near the river at the base of the pass as it appeared that a good campsite would be hard to come by if we walked much further. We found another amazing spot and settled back into our megamid home and crashed pretty hard . . . tired from travel, our day of walking, and probably from a summer of going nonstop.

And when I say we were tired, I meant it. We had some cushion time on this trip and had discussed that we would be willing to take a down day if the weather was bad – the area was too cool to walk by an not see it . . . the Valley of the Precipices (it was printed in italics on the map, so it had to be cool, right?!?!) and THE Gates of the Arctic didn’t seem like things you’d want to miss. So, when we awoke to a storm, we rolled right over and went back to sleep . . . UNTIL 2PM!!!! I couldn’t believe it when I woke up and looked at my watch . . . we had a good laugh over that one, and then spent the afternoon chatting, laughing, napping, and eating. We were initially worried that we wouldn’t sleep a full night, but that didn’t prove to be an issue – we crashed hard, yet again – classic!

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