chugach ress: 2015

Sunday, October 25, 2015

this dudes fall

So yeah it's been awhile since I've done much on the blog. This fall has been great though. I have mostly been staying local, running and biking here and there with a little bit of hiking. I took a long hiatus from real activity due to an unusual 1-2 punch of illness that just wouldn't go away. That is mostly gone, but not totally. Of recent, I took advantage of the early September snowfall and got a few days of skiing in. I also did an over-nighter or two in the process.
Fall snow is a good chance to ski some glaciers with plenty of daylight, brush out the cobwebs, rev up the stoke-meeter for winter and test gear before the real snow(hopefully) comes. The bout of snow we got allowed for some good skiing and I managed to tag all the local early-season spots including a first-time on the quickly diminishing Lane Glacier. The impetus for skiing the Lane was just that: I wanted to ski it while it's still there.

Smiling and skiing, It doesn't get much better.

Do you see the skier?

Somebody had to.....

Other outings included a night out near the four-mile creek of the Peter's Creek drainage. The weather was cool and wet, but the solitude and chance to be out in the mountains far outweighed the conditions we were in. We hiked a short way up the four-mile creek trail which seemed like it might be possible to mountain bike in late fall now that the vegetation is dead? Worth investigating when it's not raining.

I also managed to snag an over-nighter at the Crow Pass cabin, skiing the Jewel glacier on a fresh few inches of settled powder at sunset and under bluebird skies the next day. I lugged a gallon of fuel up there but with me being the only warm body in the cabin, I found the work-to-warmth ratio of the fuel not worth it. I feel it may have added 10 degrees to the ambient temps? The real benefit of the cabin is the shelter from wind and weather. It's great that the cabin is free to anyone during the fall and makes for a nice base when skiing the Jewel; something to take advantage of in the early season.

Last but not least, it is Lucy-dogs' fifth birthday today(or so we estimate), and we have had her for roughly 4.5 years. We couldn't have asked for a better dog and are blessed to have her. She has been on so many of our backcountry outings and probably has logged more miles than I have. She goes packrafting with us, camping, hiking, skiing, mountain biking, trail running, mountain climbing, hunting, road-tripping, fishing, you name it. Although she has cost us a bit at times for vet bills the joy we get from hanging out with her makes it worth it. To celebrate we went skiing with her today, were generous with treats and we boiled a big old moose femur-head that she is currently mowwing(?) on in the dark in the back yard. Happy Birthday to Lucy.

These are some of the earliest photos we have of her.

These are more recent....

That's Lucy and I skiing.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Floatin' the Wos'

So Sarah and I have been gettin' out there now that she's full-on summer break. This weekend, in light of our 6-year, decided to do something. Sky-diving was our first choice, but for $600+ we elected for something more frugal. Having been to Homer only once or twice we headed south and at the recommendation of friends hit up the Kachemak Bay State Park with the goal of some packrafting.
We headed to Homer, AK under overcast and rainy weather and checked out the town. It was less-than-thrilling and a major tourist-trap: Filled with eateries of the average kind and enough galleries to make a hippie or hipster OD. That's all I could find. That fun lasted less than the time to wait for Mako's water taxi to Kachemak Bay State Park. We rode that pleasant boat ride with views of sea otters, waterfowl, black bear and humpback whales to the trailhead in Halibut Cove Lagoon. From there we took to the China Poot Lake trail and camped that night on China Poot Lake-shore with an amazing sunset and the coveted mid-week solitude. Lucy got a bit seasick from the ride, puking and opting-out of dinner.

China Poot Lake Trail

China Poot Lake camp looking west

Sunset on China Poot Lake

Descent to the Wosnesenski River

We woke up the next morning to several sea-plane landings on the lake(irritating break from solitude), and continued on the trial to the Wosnesenski Lake Trail. Numerous salmon berries and blue berries were a pleasant snack while hiking. The trail was indeed overgrown and brushy as Homer locals had warned, but not a bushwhack: better than expected for mid-August. Where this trail took a hard right turn(west) and paralleled the river, we broke down the to Wos' for an easy and incredibly aesthetic ride out toward the ocean.
Although we started rafting the river about 1/2 way down from the headwaters, we heard of folks flying in to the lake below the glacier and rafting from there with a little more spice to the river higher up(class II?). Nonetheless, our trek was great. We ate lunch in the river valley, blew up the rafts and hopped on for the ride. We rode for about 2.5+hours on class I+/II- of fast glacial river, with occasional log jams to maneuver, but no sweepers/strainers/portages or butt-dragging. We saw bald eagles and salmon swimming upstream as well as incredible valley views with glaciers and a respectable waterfall($cha-ching$). In fact, one salmon tried to go up under Sarah's boat.

Look! A flying salmon!

She did better on the raft than the boat.

We set up camp just up-river from the ocean on a vegetated gravel bar as shelter from the day-winds and for the sake of fresh water. The clear skies and cool breeze with up-valley views made for an ideal evening. We even had a celebratory dessert and hit the hay early.

Vegetated gravel-bar camp. Lots of bear tracks.

After a good nights' rest we rafted the remaining <1hr out to the ocean, with a bear spotting to top it off. We paddled the short ocean stint with otters and waterfowl sightings and arrived at the Haystack TH, an obvious-looking rock structure on the shore, where our taxi would pick us up in a bit. We spent our time waiting walking up and down the ocean shore taking in the unique breeze oceans offer, looking at the driftwood, collecting a variety of ocean bounty, admiring the dramatic vistas with volcanoes on the horizon and savoring the successful completion of another trip. Bam, cat's in the bag.

Morning put-in.

We made it! View back toward river mouth, where the bears catch only the tastiest, most tender salmon.

Haystack Rock and TH.

To top it off we had another close whale-watching opportunity on the ride back to Homer. The drive home was just as remarkable. AK is a special place and I'm reminded of this all the time, but especially on trips like this one.

Humpback whale spotting.

Shout out to "Gus" of True North Kayak Adventures for beta on the river as well as Mako's Water Taxi with trail info, timely transport and the pause for whales.

Monday, July 27, 2015

Finally, Savage-to-Sanctuary

So I had made it a point to float the Sanctuary River in Denali National Park this summer. The planned weekend had come so Sarah and I busted north despite clouds and scattered showers in the forecast. We were greeted with mostly sunny skies and construction on the drive up, but it was still gorgeous.
We arrived at the Wilderness Access Center, obtained our permit, bear canister and found the next bus heading to Savage River. I was unaware, but should you be planning a backcountry trip in Denali they require you to have a bear canister for your food. This canister was larger than our food, had no tie-downs or straps, and weighs a bunch. I was less than thrilled having to work this thing into my packing strategy. In addition, make sure that the wilderness unit you will be camping in is not full as they allow only a certain number of campers each night in each unit. Luckily ours was not, but had it been a nice weekend we may have been out of luck.
The green bus gave us a ride to the Savage River bridge. In hindsight, we could have left from the Savage River campground and saved ourselves about 2 miles, but whatever. We repacked with the canister and headed upstream on the banks as thunderstorms approached. Thunder is rare in Anchorage, so the thunderstorm was a treat reminiscent of Michigan. It rained for a brief period and then became scattered, decreasing as we climbed farther up valley. We alternated between caribou trials, game trails, and riverbank walking until we were a draw or two deep in the valley where we set up camp.
The next morning we continued up the valley along the riverbank which carried us most of the way and made for easy walking. The weather was prime with billowy white clouds in sunny sky and a gentle cool breeze that kept us comfortable. We spotted a cow and large bull caribou as well as numerous moose and caribou sheds/skulls. Lunch was on the last bit of the riverbed before we headed up to the pass through grassy fields chuck full of wildflowers.
The pass proper was unremarkable when compared to views and scenery on either side. Still interesting, though, was the spring from the top which flowed down to both East and West. We had an easy descent down into the Sanctuary drainage with the continuously impressive vista of the Sanctuary valley, fields of fireweed, ground squirrels darting and chirping, mountain goats on the ridgeline, and the storm clouds gathering to the north while we still enjoyed sunny ones.
As mentioned the descent was easy and we arrived at the river, rearranged gear, inflated our packrafts and started floating. I was worried there wouldn't be enough water given what the upper Savage looked like and having never seen the Sanctuary, but there was plenty. We didn't drag butt at all and the water level was just right all the way to the bridge(~7ft-ish). We did the float in about 2.5 hours. We started in clear/partly cloudy skies, floated through sprinkles with rain elsewhere, and even saw a rainbow. The rain had enriched the greenery, especially as the river left the valley and into the open. The river was an ideal float in my mind. It was just splashy and curvy enough to not be boring, but just tame enough that I could still look around and enjoy the scenery. It was a good speed and volume with no sweepers or log jams.
The park bus picked us up from the Sanctuary bridge, we rode back to the care in sunshine with good views of the park. At the car we encountered an Idahoan who had floated the same but came in from the Calico Creek side(west) and higher up valley. He said he had been rained on a lot and had poor weather, so I guess we lucked out considering that route was our alternative. Impressively, he had been touring and packrafting all over Canada and Alaska, managing to do all this from a motorcycle and his raft fit in his saddlebags in addition to all his other gear.
Anyway, I would highly recommend this trip. I finally made it to Denali National Park(other than the mountain proper) and it was great. I would go back in a second.

I used the map and route in red from Go Play Outside! blog as a guide but the blue is more like what we actually did. Major differences include our start point and that we went up the West side of the river the entire time.

Monday, July 20, 2015

I know, I know, but it's easier in winter

So it is easier in winter with colder temps and less daylight to blog. That being said, since the last post we have been up to more of the same: weekend over-nighters, trying new trails, mountain biking local single-track, trail running, and just now ramping up the packrafting. Nothing extravagant or super-huge, but it is Alaska so it's still pretty dang scenic.

I've been making it a point to do new things, even if simple or nearby. For example, there are a number of excellent trails to run around lower Girdwood including the Beaver Pond trail and the historic Iditarod trail that parallels crow creek mine road: super quiet, soft trail, flow-ey, with trickling waterfalls and streams throughout.

I also discovered instagram and have a feed: andy.ress. This allows me to post my favorite pic of the day without having to write about it because pics are better than words, although seeing in person is even better yet.

Johnson Pass mountain biking: encountered cowparsnip and it could have been better, but could have been worse. Wildflowers and views were excellent. Some hardcore Minnesotan bit it on a slippery downhill, likely separating his shoulder/fracturing ribs but walked out 5+ miles: hard and crusty old guy. We safely made the whole trip and even found a ride back to the trailhead/car albeit some bumps/bruises/scrapes(ask Sarah what her legs look like).

Bird Ridge Hill Climb: it's been on the list for awhile, now done. Close enough to goal for satisfaction but could be improved. I was ahead of an Olympian for ~35 minutes, obviously that didn't last.

Sarah got a new mountain bike(nicer than mine) so we've been hitting up the single-tracks at Kinkaid and Hillside.

We booked the Crow Pass Cabin(six months ago) for a weekend in July. It's hard to reserve and had been on the list for some time. The weather sucked(strong winds/rain/poor visibility) so we bailed after 2 days/1 night. I was bitter about the lost opportunity to base out of there and bag local peaks, show Sarah the Jewel and Milk glaciers, the money out the window for the last 2 nights, but the rest of the weekend farther west had better weather so we redeemed the weekend.

Redemption: Sarah climbed her 2nd 5000ft peak without planning on it(+some peer pressure), which involved scrambling and exposure, but a great view of the Chugach. We also Packrafted a creek on my list for some time, and I'd call it a success.

Ran/explored several sections of the national historic iditarod trail which was better than expected with the exception of the Johnson Pass to Eddies turnout due to the lack of bridges. I saw a bear on the Beaver Pond Trail, a mother/baby moose combo on the Girdwood section of the NHIT.

Climbed Mt Williwaw, the highest in the Front Range and my 2nd attempt due to poor weather on the first. Only a few more to go, maybe even this summer/fall? Camped out at Walrus Lakes that night: I highly recommend it.

Watched the notorious Mt Marathon race (after seeing the film 3220), which involved Killian Jornet and his GF shattering previous records with apparent ease.

Summer has been great so far and has more to come. But I still like skiing and winter best.