Aug 19- Finally!
Morning weather report… guess what? Skies were clearing!!! There was no rain (I bet you didn’t think I was gonna say that)!
Our morning was a bit chaotic. Even though I had said out loud to my crew last night that our activity was to be from 9-3 today, none of us paid attention; I said we needed to leave at the same time as yesterday’s plan for a 9:30 meeting. It wasn’t until 8:15 that I reread the email that said the activity was from 9-3 and that they would meet us at 8:30! SH@T!!! That was in 12 minutes and we weren’t dressed etc, and we had a solid 10 minute drive to the parking lot… Needless to say our morning started off a bit stressful!
The driver, Zach, was very patiently waiting, as was the rest of the van full of people. I made our apologies and off we went 4 plus miles north of McCarthy to Kennecott to get fitted for crampons for our hike today on Root Glacier.
Kennecott Mines National Historical Monument is super super cool. It is operated by the National Park Service and is located in Wrangell St Elias National Park. It started off in 1900 after the discovery of copper ore. At its height there were 76 buildings, many of which are still standing. There is one hotel there and a few guide operators as it is the jumping off point for many of the backcountry excursions and day treks.
Our group today consisted of the three of us, Dale and Claire, a couple in their 60s from Cincinnati and Jan, a 68 year old Belgian guy who recently underwent quadruple bypass surgery.
We set out on foot from the center of Kennecott, immediately passing the historic mine buildings. All the buildings are in a varying state of existence- some completely preserved, some in stabilization preservation, some succumbing to the harsh Alaskan elements.
After exiting the historic sight, we were immediately struck by the vast moraine field – the same one we kayaked next to yesterday, but today we had gained elevation and could actually see just how immense it is. The scene was surreal, like an exaggerated 3-d drawing – like nothing we have ever seen before.
The hike to the edge of the glacier alone was beyond spectacular. The views were stunning, and we were all so excited to finally see some of the mountain peaks surrounding us. The trail tracked along the edge of the valley until it took a turn and headed out towards the glacier, zigzagging down the debris field left on the sides (lateral moraine).
The trail was 2.4 miles down to where we donned our crampons to start the trek across the glacier. We have trekked on a glacier one other time, in Patagonia, so at least we were familiar with walking with crampons on – walk like a cowboy with your feet further apart than normal, shorten your stride, and always point your toes uphill or downhill – no sidestepping.
Root Glacier is enormous – full of crevasses, moulins and blue pools. The glacier undulates reminding one of endless sand dunes. Parts of it are covered in a thin layer of fine rocks and are parts are white or blue. There are streams running over the top, the perfect place to refill your water bottle and I can assure you, there is nothing as delicious as fresh glacier water!
Zach did a great job leading us up and over the glacier. There were a few challenging sections that Billy later said he almost opted out of but after the other folks made it, he did it. Frankly, I was beyond impressed with all of their athletic capabilities.
All told, we trekked about 1.5 mile on the glacier itself, spending about 2.5 hours out there. We all agreed the experience here far exceeded our experience in Patagonia. Here, we were able to walk relatively freely, not following the leader in a single file; it was just our group out there the majority of the time versus group after group; and the surrounding scenery was more spectacular here. All in all, a fabulous day, and the weather finally cooperated!
On our return trip we were free to ascend to the rim trail at our own pace. Billy and Jenny led the charge while I followed closely behind taking pictures. At one point, I looked down the switchbacks to see the rest of the group stopped and Jan checking his heat rate via his neck pulse. I offered to come down and take his pack, even though I was wearing one myself, but he said no. When I caught up to Billy and Jenny and relayed what had happened, Jenny, who was not carrying a pack, headed back down the trail to offer the same as me but Jan wouldn’t let her carry it for him either. I tell you what, our group members were impressive. They trudged on right behind us, bad knees, surgically repaired arteries and all!
We grabbed lunch at the same spot as yesterday and it was even better, or maybe we had worked up an appetite but whatever the case we certainly enjoyed it again.
By the time we started for the pedestrian bridge, the skies had cleared even more and we could make out the tops of a few peaks we hadn’t seen earlier. We beelined to the bridge, the best vantage point, and we’re thrilled to see almost the entire Root Glacier and a good part of its mountain peak staring back at us.
Back in the cabin, Jenny and I were sitting in the living room, while Billy took a little nap, when we both quickly looked up at each other. “You feel that?” I asked her. She nodded yes. “Earthquake,” I said. “No way,” she replied, “maybe someone just hit the cabin.” I laughed, “There is nobody out here!” Nope, definitely an earthquake. Google confirmed it about 20 minutes later – a 4.1 ( small by earthquake standards).
As the evening progressed and the skies cleared more, Jenny and I drove back down to the bridge to see if the last peaks above the glacier had cleared. They hadn’t but the peaks of all the other surrounding mountain ranges had. We kept stopping the car to look out at the sheer beauty we saw. We have traveled to a lot of places in the world but never ever have I seen anything like Alaska; and now that the full scope of just this one area has come to light, we want to see more. I
told Jenny we might just have to come back to Alaska. She turned to me and said, “Oh.. I’m coming back.” “When?” I asked. “I don’t know exactly,” she pondered “but I’ll be back.”
Wandering Amerrickans 