I had a nice first week of school.
Three days before school on my evening flight from LA to Anchorage I had few worries besides trying to keep myself from getting eaten by bears for the next 10 days. Jo works better alone specially when consistent parenting is required. And with school rapidly approaching Vivian and Evan are in dire need of that. So I settled down and looked out my aircraft window and enjoyed the view of the west coast twinkling below and a perpetual dusk that lasted for hours.
The next morning we drove into the beautiful Matsu valley (really the Matansuka - people are very liberal with their abbreviations). We got to stay at a friend of a friend's communal cabin as it was raining pretty hard outside and we were willing to delay our first hike because we are fair weather backpackers. I learnt a very surprising fact and the meaning of communal when neighbors came in to shower and use the toilet. A lot of people in Alaska live without running water. Our host had lugged two 5 gallon containers of water up a steep hill - rain (plenty) or shine (not much) or blizzard (often) for 14 years! Alaskans sacrifice a lot to live independently in stunningly beautiful surroundings without much regard to comfort. And many of them open carry - as if totting a large caliber handgun in the front of your chest is the most normal thing to do. Take that, Texans.
That afternoon we walked the blue grey ice of the Matsu glacier. You can see me jumping with joy. The next morning we hiked up to the towering Castle Ridge peak in our backyard through dense forests and past an old coal mine that may soon be open for business again (unless the Chinese economy cools further) up to a blue berry patch. At the start of the trail a hunter on an ATV warned us about a giant grizzly that was around. This neighborhood beast had a nine inch paw print. We didn't meet him at the blueberry patch - so we grazed for a while.
The next day we said good bye to our host and the warmth and dryness of the communal cabin and headed to the Kasugi ridge. It rises up steeply about 2000 feet and runs parallel to the south edge of the Alaska range and supposedly affords fantastic views of Denali. In the photos below you can see my friends making their way up the Little Coal creek valley - it rained and then it poured on us and there were some fun boulder field crossings. We set campsite at the edge of the ridge with fabulous views and sunshine. No Denali though. That's the Chuli river below (another abr.).
We decided to descend back to civilization to dry off and spent a night at the fancy Mount McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge (will they change the name as of today to Denali?). The next day we drove to Denali National Park, received our backcountry safety training on how to not get eaten by bears (it's like shark training before you dive in shark infested waters - utterly useless but required). Then we hiked down to spend the night in the tame Zone 1 part of Denali beside a lake imaginatively named Lake No. 2.
Next morning we got dropped off by the park camper bus at "Ice cream" (so named because people scream) to our own private zone (No. 9). Just three of us. No roads. No trails. No rangers. Fun. We planned to hike about 6 miles along the Toklat river bed and find some camping for the night and explore the glaciers next morning. We look nice and clean and dry at the start - don't we?
This is the view from the opening in my tent the next morning. But I'm getting ahead of myself. You can see we made it to about the bottom of the snowy mountains. The deepest river crossing was less than knee deep - freezing and swift, but not too bad. After lunch it started raining. I discovered that my rain pants had a huge rip in the back. I discovered this when I realized that my boxers were frozen. Along with my hands and feet (water crossing shoes, leaky gloves). We set up our tents on what's known locally as a tunrda or arctic bench - water-logged moss covered rocks dug up here and there by bears. It stopped raining for a few minutes and I fixed myself dinner and prepared for bed. I now know it takes some serious coaxing to pee with icicle cold hands and frozen boxers while peering around for grizzly bears.
Next morning it was still raining and even colder. So we hiked back six miles, rode in the park bus for a large portion of the day and ended up at the Princess Lodge, naturally. By which time the sun was out, naturally. A good soak in the hot tub with a fabulous view of Denali, laundry, and a dinner later we were ready to tackle the wilderness again. Oh - here is a view of Denali through my wine glass. Roughing it.
Our next stop was Seward. We camped in a nice private ground by Miller's Landing at the edge of Resurrection Bay. It was deserted and full of towering pines and thick ferns (I could be convinced that the Ewok and the chase sequences in the third Star Wars were filmed here). This is a photo of my new humble abode - a ultra light wisp of nylon with amazing water and wind shedding characteristics held up by my hiking poles. The next morning we hiked about 3500 feet up to the top of Exit glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park with a grand view of the Handing Ice Field. And that was how my first week of school went.
Meanwhile back at the casa things were getting along. They were neither freezing nor wet nor worried about bears.
But Jo had fallen and badly sprained her ankle. And after the first three days of school Evan wasn't well - alternating between bouts of diarrhea and puking, all of it accompanied with fever. The air conditioning at Carol's broke down and the repair people changed the electrical wiring in the house before fixing the air.
Vivian had a good week at school. Third grade. Amazing. She is enjoying learning Mandarin starting this year. But they don't teach her Mandarin in Spanish. Wusses.
Evan (before he fell sick) went and met Ms. Marisol - his old teacher. She told him that his new teacher in Kindergarten, Ms. Ale was her best friend and a very good teacher. So Evan told Jo "Ms. Ale is going to be all right. Ms. Marisol says she's a good teacher". He finally went back to school on Friday.
I met this guy in Alaska who says he'll take me on a 15 day trip to the Brooks Range in the Arctic wildlife refuge - fly-in and fly-out. No humans or signs on human habitation. Jo isn't falling for it. But I have a whole year to work on her. Meanwhile I better keep saying how much fun Alaska wasn't.
Three days before school on my evening flight from LA to Anchorage I had few worries besides trying to keep myself from getting eaten by bears for the next 10 days. Jo works better alone specially when consistent parenting is required. And with school rapidly approaching Vivian and Evan are in dire need of that. So I settled down and looked out my aircraft window and enjoyed the view of the west coast twinkling below and a perpetual dusk that lasted for hours.
The next morning we drove into the beautiful Matsu valley (really the Matansuka - people are very liberal with their abbreviations). We got to stay at a friend of a friend's communal cabin as it was raining pretty hard outside and we were willing to delay our first hike because we are fair weather backpackers. I learnt a very surprising fact and the meaning of communal when neighbors came in to shower and use the toilet. A lot of people in Alaska live without running water. Our host had lugged two 5 gallon containers of water up a steep hill - rain (plenty) or shine (not much) or blizzard (often) for 14 years! Alaskans sacrifice a lot to live independently in stunningly beautiful surroundings without much regard to comfort. And many of them open carry - as if totting a large caliber handgun in the front of your chest is the most normal thing to do. Take that, Texans.
That afternoon we walked the blue grey ice of the Matsu glacier. You can see me jumping with joy. The next morning we hiked up to the towering Castle Ridge peak in our backyard through dense forests and past an old coal mine that may soon be open for business again (unless the Chinese economy cools further) up to a blue berry patch. At the start of the trail a hunter on an ATV warned us about a giant grizzly that was around. This neighborhood beast had a nine inch paw print. We didn't meet him at the blueberry patch - so we grazed for a while.
The next day we said good bye to our host and the warmth and dryness of the communal cabin and headed to the Kasugi ridge. It rises up steeply about 2000 feet and runs parallel to the south edge of the Alaska range and supposedly affords fantastic views of Denali. In the photos below you can see my friends making their way up the Little Coal creek valley - it rained and then it poured on us and there were some fun boulder field crossings. We set campsite at the edge of the ridge with fabulous views and sunshine. No Denali though. That's the Chuli river below (another abr.).
We decided to descend back to civilization to dry off and spent a night at the fancy Mount McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge (will they change the name as of today to Denali?). The next day we drove to Denali National Park, received our backcountry safety training on how to not get eaten by bears (it's like shark training before you dive in shark infested waters - utterly useless but required). Then we hiked down to spend the night in the tame Zone 1 part of Denali beside a lake imaginatively named Lake No. 2.
Next morning we got dropped off by the park camper bus at "Ice cream" (so named because people scream) to our own private zone (No. 9). Just three of us. No roads. No trails. No rangers. Fun. We planned to hike about 6 miles along the Toklat river bed and find some camping for the night and explore the glaciers next morning. We look nice and clean and dry at the start - don't we?
This is the view from the opening in my tent the next morning. But I'm getting ahead of myself. You can see we made it to about the bottom of the snowy mountains. The deepest river crossing was less than knee deep - freezing and swift, but not too bad. After lunch it started raining. I discovered that my rain pants had a huge rip in the back. I discovered this when I realized that my boxers were frozen. Along with my hands and feet (water crossing shoes, leaky gloves). We set up our tents on what's known locally as a tunrda or arctic bench - water-logged moss covered rocks dug up here and there by bears. It stopped raining for a few minutes and I fixed myself dinner and prepared for bed. I now know it takes some serious coaxing to pee with icicle cold hands and frozen boxers while peering around for grizzly bears.
Next morning it was still raining and even colder. So we hiked back six miles, rode in the park bus for a large portion of the day and ended up at the Princess Lodge, naturally. By which time the sun was out, naturally. A good soak in the hot tub with a fabulous view of Denali, laundry, and a dinner later we were ready to tackle the wilderness again. Oh - here is a view of Denali through my wine glass. Roughing it.
Meanwhile back at the casa things were getting along. They were neither freezing nor wet nor worried about bears.
But Jo had fallen and badly sprained her ankle. And after the first three days of school Evan wasn't well - alternating between bouts of diarrhea and puking, all of it accompanied with fever. The air conditioning at Carol's broke down and the repair people changed the electrical wiring in the house before fixing the air.
Vivian had a good week at school. Third grade. Amazing. She is enjoying learning Mandarin starting this year. But they don't teach her Mandarin in Spanish. Wusses.
Evan (before he fell sick) went and met Ms. Marisol - his old teacher. She told him that his new teacher in Kindergarten, Ms. Ale was her best friend and a very good teacher. So Evan told Jo "Ms. Ale is going to be all right. Ms. Marisol says she's a good teacher". He finally went back to school on Friday.
I met this guy in Alaska who says he'll take me on a 15 day trip to the Brooks Range in the Arctic wildlife refuge - fly-in and fly-out. No humans or signs on human habitation. Jo isn't falling for it. But I have a whole year to work on her. Meanwhile I better keep saying how much fun Alaska wasn't.
