The
summer is long gone and it's time to get out the first fall
newsletter which, as usual, is dedicated to a review of just
a few of the great trips we did this summer.
In addition to some of the long standing
favorites like the Seven Pass trek, some new trips were added
to the roster this year including the Martin Creek route.
It was definitely the year for exploratory trips. I scouted
out several new areas and one of them, Tumble Creek, has already
been added to the lineup for 2007. The Tumble Creek area is
seldom visited and has some of the most stunning views in
the park.
I haven't spent a lot of time in the northern
part of Wrangell-St. Elias and this summer I decided it was
time to rectify that situation. The area around Mt. Jarvis
looked intriguing with dramatic, ice covered slopes that promised
excellent scenery. When I spotted a caribou as we dropped
in to the remote airstrip I knew it was going to be a good
one. I spent five days on a solo exploratory trip of the area.
I was so excited about what I found that I put two trips to
the area on the schedule
for next summer.
This will be a bit of an exploratory trip
as I have only been in the area for a few days and I plan
to try some route alternatives. I think this trek will very
quickly become a favorite. It combines jaw-dropping scenery
with more moderate terrain. I'll talk a bit more about this
great trip in a future newsletter.
The Iceberg
Lake area is starting to get a bit popular as a base camping
destination. So when I headed out for five days with the Robbins
family I wanted to take them to some spots that were off the
beaten path. This valley is full of amazing places and it's
a shame that many people chose to set up their base less than
a mile from the airstrip. Our first few days were spent crossing
the valley glacier and poking around the ridge to the north.
There is no end of places to explore up there. We even found
a nice snow covered slope where we spent a few hours glissading
on our butts.
A few days later we headed up a part of
the ridge where I had never been and discovered an amazing
perch with in-your-face glacier views and a deep-blue melt
pond surrounded by snow. I'll definitely be returning to there
to try it out as a campsite.
On the way back to the airstrip we had
to cross a large, glacier melt stream. It was a challenging
crossing for sure but we made it across with no problems.
Pyramid Peak was a popular route this year but the most
memorable trip was the Cartamil party. One of our toughest
days was the first. We got off to a bit of a late start due
to the weather so it was pretty late in the day when we got
up and over the first ridge of the trek. We had a great creek-side
campsite on a really nice gravel bar.
The trip had been organized as a gift for
George Cartamil for all of his years of service to the local
scout troop. George has done a lot of hiking in his day but
never anything like this. There were a few times where he
wondered what he had gotten into but he always kept plugging
away. Oh, did I mention that George is 76 years old? He was
an inspiration and a testament to what you can do if you keep
yourself in good shape and stay active. Kudos George!
The Seven
Pass route is a perennial favorite. Though I've lead many
groups on this trek it seems that every time is a bit different
with route variations that range from minor to major.
I took out a fun group of Aussies (Kristen,
Bethany and Marcos), starting on July 8. That is usually a
good time to begin this trip but this year the snow was slow
to melt out due to a cool spring. They knew there would be
some snow on the route but were game to go ahead anyway. Actually
the snow worked to our advantage at times and allowed us to
cross some areas that are usually pretty marshy.
But towards the end of the trip we found
our intended pass full of snow. That pass is pretty steep
near the top so we decided on an alternate route into the
final valley. We had to do a bit of bushwhacking but everyone
did fine. At one point we found that walking in a shallow
stream was the best available route.
It was a long hard day but it ended at
the public use cabin in Bremner. Barbara, a volunteer for
the Park Service was set up in the cabin for the summer, but
there was plenty of room for all. After dinner Barbara treated
us to gourmet popcorn.
Another treat on the trip was spotting a grizzly sow and her
cub at one of our high pass campsites.
This was the first trip to be offered
in our Explorer Series and it was a big success. There were
four of us on the trip which was perfect for a more rugged
route. Those of you who read the description of the trip
may be wondering… did we find the lost hot spring?
Well we took off down into 12 Mile Creek
valley, down through a fair amount of brush I might add and
after several hours arrived at the bottom near the stream
edge. We followed our GPS bearing through even more brush
and across streams. Finally we narrowed down the area to a
30-yard wide thicket of brush. After a bit more thrashing
around we finally conceded that if there was a hot spring
in that brush then it was lost for good.
We enjoyed a nice lunch break before heading
back up to our camp.
It was an adventurous trip, including the night we made camp
on a high and windy ridge where the wind blew so hard we worried
about our tents holding up to the blast. This was a challenging
trek and a great start to the Explorer Series of adventures.
This was a trip I saved for the end of
the season. In fact I was pushing it a bit with a start date
of September 7 and end date on the 12. At that time of year
you can get snow in the passes that could make things interesting.
The clients on the trip were a photographer
(Matt) and writer (Kate) who were doing a feature story for
Men's Journal Magazine. This was a true exploratory as I had
never been on any of the route before so we were all in unknown
territory.
Pictures and descriptions can't do justice
to this trip. We forged a route through rugged and breath
taking country that is rarely explored. I doubt that anyone
has completed the full route that we did. We had some serious
bushwhacking on a couple of occasions and a few "uh oh,
whatawe do now?" moments. I couldn't have asked for a
better trip to end the season or better companions with whom
to share the experience. Matt and Kate had a great time and
were always up to whatever challenges came our way.
This trip will never be on the regular
schedule but I might consider doing it with clients who had
some solid Alaska experience and were up for a next level
sort of challenge.
Watch for the Men's Journal story next
summer.
These were just a few of the
trips we did this past summer. To all the fine folks we got
to meet this year - thanks, it was a pleasure sharing this
incredible wilderness with all of you. Now I'm eager to start
planning trips for summer 2007!
