July 4th Extravaganza
At some point last summer I realized that with Denali smack in the middle of it, I hadn't done any backpacking in my first full summer back in Alaska. I made the decision not to allow that to happen again, so Jess and I went out on a 6-day trip, primarily to the eastern Alaska range. With that much time, I also wanted to try to get some packrafting in - something I had never done on an overnight before, and Jess had never done before.
We headed out to the Denali Highway, slept the night at Tangle Lakes Campground. Our intent was to make a loop, ending up at Clearwater Creek, so we parked the car there and mountain biked 35 miles back to Tangle Lakes.
We had a fair headwind paddling the lakes. Packrafts aren't ideal for open water anyway, so we ended up mixing hiking and paddling. We ended the day on a spit out in the middle of the last lake, though, which was the first of several awesome camping spots.
We finished the lakes the next day, taking out before the lakes become the Delta River and hit a 15-foot waterfall. Some people paddle that section. We aren't those people.
The hike up out of the river basin was our only extended, brutal brushy section. After an hour and a half slogging uphill to rise above it, we were out. Jess later confessed to having been in "a dark place" while engulfed in alders rising above her head - a common place to be when you're fighting the BS brush for the first time.
The slog was worth it, though - we were on mostly awesome high tundra from that point on.
We ended the day at another great camp spot, with views of the Ampitheater Mountains and, off in the distance, the Deltas. Little did we know what waited around the corner the next day.
We awoke to a bluebird day and, after rounding the corner of the mountain range we paralleled for most of the day, were rewarded with perhaps the most spectacular views of the eastern Alaska range I've ever seen. Jess was into it.
We paralleled some big mountains to our south, too.
We didn't see too much wildlife on the trip, but did see 5 caribou. I got into a standoff with this guy - he kept circling around us for a while before giving it up.
We descended down our mountain companions to a largish lake system that made for a sweet, cooling (cold) dip before continuing on.
Camp for the night overlooked the Maclaren and Eureka Glaciers. Another great spot sure to make you feel tiny.
After looking at river levels (quite high) and the rest of our route (quite brushy), we decided to aim for the Maclaren River, float down, then continue the trip somewhere else. Jess contemplates the glacier.
The Maclaren was perfect for some introductory river paddling. A little fast at the beginning, but mellowed out to a nice, easy, rapid mode of transportation. 18 miles of river travel took less than 6 hours, with sweet views along the way.
We passed this dude on the river bank. He didn't seem too happy to see people traveling his river.
Here's our route as it turned out (the hikers are markers I made while flying over this area for work - I suspected from the air that it could be pretty awesome travel on foot/boat). Pretty good 4-day, tri-sport loop. After that, we slept the night in a campground and headed out to look for some more mountains.
After some deliberations, we settled on heading down the Nabesna Road into Wrangell St. Elias National Park. We discovered there's a public use cabin 3.5 miles off the road. After spending some time in a tent, the cabin was a relaxing change.
The view from the cabin can be pretty spectacular when not cloudy. Though we never got it, you can have views all the way out to Mt. Wrangell.
We went day hiking both days we spent out there. The first day our hike got cut short by rain and thunder. The only bad weather we had, and we were staying in a cabin. Word.
A view of the Mentasta Mountains on our second day in the Wrangells. Truly a rugged mountain range, and a great end to a sweet 6 days of adventuring in Alaska.
We headed out to the Denali Highway, slept the night at Tangle Lakes Campground. Our intent was to make a loop, ending up at Clearwater Creek, so we parked the car there and mountain biked 35 miles back to Tangle Lakes.
We had a fair headwind paddling the lakes. Packrafts aren't ideal for open water anyway, so we ended up mixing hiking and paddling. We ended the day on a spit out in the middle of the last lake, though, which was the first of several awesome camping spots.
We finished the lakes the next day, taking out before the lakes become the Delta River and hit a 15-foot waterfall. Some people paddle that section. We aren't those people.
The hike up out of the river basin was our only extended, brutal brushy section. After an hour and a half slogging uphill to rise above it, we were out. Jess later confessed to having been in "a dark place" while engulfed in alders rising above her head - a common place to be when you're fighting the BS brush for the first time.
The slog was worth it, though - we were on mostly awesome high tundra from that point on.
We ended the day at another great camp spot, with views of the Ampitheater Mountains and, off in the distance, the Deltas. Little did we know what waited around the corner the next day.
We awoke to a bluebird day and, after rounding the corner of the mountain range we paralleled for most of the day, were rewarded with perhaps the most spectacular views of the eastern Alaska range I've ever seen. Jess was into it.
We paralleled some big mountains to our south, too.
We didn't see too much wildlife on the trip, but did see 5 caribou. I got into a standoff with this guy - he kept circling around us for a while before giving it up.
We descended down our mountain companions to a largish lake system that made for a sweet, cooling (cold) dip before continuing on.
Camp for the night overlooked the Maclaren and Eureka Glaciers. Another great spot sure to make you feel tiny.
After looking at river levels (quite high) and the rest of our route (quite brushy), we decided to aim for the Maclaren River, float down, then continue the trip somewhere else. Jess contemplates the glacier.
The Maclaren was perfect for some introductory river paddling. A little fast at the beginning, but mellowed out to a nice, easy, rapid mode of transportation. 18 miles of river travel took less than 6 hours, with sweet views along the way.
We passed this dude on the river bank. He didn't seem too happy to see people traveling his river.
Here's our route as it turned out (the hikers are markers I made while flying over this area for work - I suspected from the air that it could be pretty awesome travel on foot/boat). Pretty good 4-day, tri-sport loop. After that, we slept the night in a campground and headed out to look for some more mountains.
After some deliberations, we settled on heading down the Nabesna Road into Wrangell St. Elias National Park. We discovered there's a public use cabin 3.5 miles off the road. After spending some time in a tent, the cabin was a relaxing change.
The view from the cabin can be pretty spectacular when not cloudy. Though we never got it, you can have views all the way out to Mt. Wrangell.
We went day hiking both days we spent out there. The first day our hike got cut short by rain and thunder. The only bad weather we had, and we were staying in a cabin. Word.
A view of the Mentasta Mountains on our second day in the Wrangells. Truly a rugged mountain range, and a great end to a sweet 6 days of adventuring in Alaska.
posted by Slim at
12:00 AM
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