Reflections from Alaska 2010: 3 of 10 – Trekking in the Wrangell Mountains (Part Two)

Trek - Day 3

It was a wet and cold morning for our 5am get up (of course it didn’t help that there were huge lumps of glacial ice on the beach we were camped on and that the wind was blowing off Long Glacier into our little ice cove).

The first challenge of the day was to cross the river and then follow it up the valley until we could get over the first of the three ridges that we would need to negotiate on are route.

The river is glacial which means that it dropped significantly overnight as it gets cooler and the glacier up the valley stops melting as much. Our crossing point only ended up being ankle deep. This would be the first of many river crossings over the next few days, some were very big (more on that later) and some of them were smaller but we stopped counting at 50 crossings!

River crossings  are one of the most dangerous things that you will do on a wilderness trip. Fast flowing water, uneven ground and heavy backpacks are not a good combination. I spent time briefing the group on the beach that morning and would continue to do so until I was satisfied that the group could individually risk assess each water hazard and apply the best crossing strategy.  For the more complicated cross, I would always go first often then returning for the rest of the group – our feet remained wet for the eight days!

After a quite a slow crossing (we would get a lot quicker) we made our way up the side of the river and had our first experience of bushwacking through Willow – it was a fun introduction but we had no idea what would be waiting for us in a couple of days time.

We stopped from breakfast at about 08.30h and then started our long climb up towards the ridge (Fall Creek Pass) and our crossing point. It was steep and on scree and we had to negotiate patches of snow near the top.

After the fitter members of the group had rested at the top some descended to help the ones that were struggling. Considering the conditions the teamwork, determination and perseverance of the group was outstanding.

We hung around briefly on top and then descended a lovely tongue of green to the next valley. It was nice to not be walking on scree and it even stopped raining for about an hour!

We found a great little camp spot next to the Fall Creek, ate and were all in bed by 8pm!

 

Trek – Day 4

It had pretty much rained steadily through the night and today ended up being one of the hardest days on the trek in terms of terrain, route finding and general wetness!

The river that we were camped in was the upper stages of a hanging valley that flowed into the second of the large U-shaped valleys (The Kluvesna River Valley) that we needed to cross during the route.

Following the river was fine and we made quick progress along gravel bars and zigzagged between different sides of Fall Creek. The problem of course was we couldn’t follow the Fall Creek for to long as rivers that flow in a hanging valley quickly become waterfalls as they flow into the main U-Shaped valley!

So, as the terrain started to change we stayed high along the open tundra until we got to the shoulder of the main U-shaped valley (Kluvesna River). The guidebook description was a bit sketchy here although it does tell you to look out for the 30ft cliff!

Anyway, visibility was poor, we couldn’t see the bottom of the valley and the terrain ahead was steep and covered in willow. The next few hours relied completely on judgment we loosely followed a compass bearing and I kept my eyes closely on my altimeter as we descended the horrendous slope.

We had to stick really close together as a group as the sound of Fall Creek (going over the waterfall!) made hearing difficult and the high thick willow (above head height) combined with the steep ground meant that you couldn’t see anyone more than five metres away. We were soaked through to the skin within minutes because of the fighting through the bush and the whole experience felt completely surreal.

One of the boys took a slip and ended up upside down in a bush and we only had time to get a quick photograph before he was extracted by other members of the group.

After descending about 1000ft we reached a small clearing and the mist lifted just enough for us to get a glimpse of the Kluvesna River. This was a great moral boost for the group but I was thinking, ‘how are we going go get across that?’ it was huge!

We kept fighting out way through the trees and as the ground leveled out our bearing took us across an old river bed. These are like small roads through the bush (although bears like to use them as well!). We made quick progress on the river bed and eventually got to the Kluvesna River where the trees opened out and we could rest.

The Kluvesna River is glacial fed (combined with all the run off from the sides of the valley) and it was still raining. There was no way that we could cross at the point we were at by the guidebook suggested heading up towards the snout of the glacier. Glacial rivers tend to be more braided and less steep here. They are also not as swollen from the rain water run off.

So off we went along the side of the river. It was a wet but very dramatic walk next to the roaring river, getting closer and closer to the glacier in a huge U-shaped valley. The problem was the river wasn’t getting any smaller!

As we approached the snout of the glacier I went ahead to check out the route. I was pretty convinced that as long as we could get onto the snout we could walk across the glacier – in any case it was our only real option!

Getting on to the glacier was actually not very much of a problem. Some loose moraine led to an ice tongue which formed a perfect bridge to safe ground. We had everybody on within 10 minutes. We then negotiated the bands of moraine and found another ice tongue leading right of the glacier. It was easier that I thought it was going to be.

However, the next bit wasn’t as easy. Ideally it would have been great to camp here. It had been a massive day and everyone was very tired. The problem was there were no flat spots for the tents and no water.

The only option was to start the steep accent towards Surprise Creek Pass (the second ridge of the route) as there were a number of streams at higher elevations. So, that’s what we did, you could see where you had to go, ‘up’, and we spread out as a group each of us taking our own time and going at our own pace as we climbed higher and higher back into the mountains. Waking was pleasant, the views were beautiful but the ground was steep.

After we found a spot to camp by a spring the group were brilliant again at helping each other. Going back for some of the other bags, putting each others tents up and making hot drinks and dinner.

We had stated walking at 6am and we finished at 8pm – it had been a brutal day. But as I sat there that evening watching the dynamic of the team in this unique place that I am convinced no one had ever camped in or even found before. I felt very proud of what we had already achieved and the group surrounding me. It’s wonderful to see discomfort give way to humor and its amazing the impact a sachet of hot chocolate and some Raman noodles has on the mood of a wilderness camp.

In the next post I’ll look at day 5 – 6 of the trek where it rains some more and we consider an evacuation due to another swollen river.

 

Comments

[Sally]

Looks like a great group of adventurous youngsters - good to read!