Steese Trip

At the start of July, several of us took a trip up to the Pinnell Mountain Trail in the Steese National Conservation Area. It's a 27 mile trail along alpine tundra. The first day was pretty cloudy, with intermittent rain and poor visibility. Things started to clear, up, though, when we arrived at the first cabin that afternoon. The next day the weather was much better, and despite a late start we reached the second cabin by 1, so we decided to just finish the trail that day. All told, a pretty hike with ever-present good scenery and some nice elevation changes.

The mountains in the distance at our first cabin.

Jeff checking out the view.

Priya and I at the second cabin, looking more like homesteaders than backpackers.

A brazen marmot. They were all over the area surrounding the second cabin, and some of them didn't give a crap about how close they were to humans.

Here are some of the shots that Sam took. This is Priya and I near Porky, I think. Priya's rocking the head net? Why? Apparently her memory is too short to realize that the mosquito situation in the Steese dominated the one down in Denali.

Pretty sweet view. I think Sam got most of these on the way out...he only hiked for a day.

Quinn and Margaret eating lunch.

Another nice pic. The mountains of Alaska are awesome, in part because you get so much variety. The character of the Steese is totally different from Denali.

The last picture is of a money rainbow that Sam saw on his way out. Sadly, it was totally hidden from our view.