It snowed heavily last weekend and into Monday rush hour, so I decided to find the snowiest place in the Anchorage bowl to go for a little snow tramp.
Bear Valley from the Ridge with Cook Inlet in the distance
The idea was all Jonathan's... at least that sounds good. You see Jonathan wanted to get some preseason hiking in to prepare for his extended downhill skiing season out at Alyeska, a ski resort close to Anchorage. The idea was hatched over a couple rounds of beer at Firetap, a local brew pub with his litttle two-year old Kyla, and his wife, Monica in attendance. Jonathan is my next door neighbor at work, and serves as a sales rep for a portion of the AK territory. The idea was the following morning I would drive my little Honda Civic Hybrid straight up the snowy mountain to get to the Gurry- pad in Bear Valley. From there we would do a snowshoe hike to the peak that rimmed the bear valley and trek even further beyond towards Turnagain Arm.
After a little difficulty finding their place in the dark, Jonathan ran out into the middle of the road so I wouldn't pass them in the pre-dawn light. With a cup of courage in the form of coffee and early morning entertainment provide by Kyla, we were off with snowshoes in hand and cameras slung for a hike above the clouds. Jonathan is in pretty good shape for a young whipper-snapper. He blazed the trail pretty much the whole way, leading us on a scenic detour through snowshoe hare thickets blazing a new trail where there definitely was none- a character trait, maybe.
After finding the trail quite a ways up the mountain we were rewarded with views of Bear Valley below, the Inlet beyond and shadowy hints of Flattop in the distance. We had loads of climbing to do, to make it above the clouds and to a snow-crested ridge that led to our goal still way out of sight.
We were both enjoying the exercise, getting to breath crisp fresh mountain air, and drop all stresses of the work week beyond with each step higher. Jonathan spoke of how the snowpack loading and how avalanches happened, good old gravity at work! Snow packing just right to become ball bearings on which the snow above rides, with devastating results. He showed me the crust layer in a column of snow that was the precursor to this phenomena. Cool!
As we gain the ridge I take multiple photos of Jonathan looking all heroic, with sinewy shelfs of wind-blown snow providing leading lines into this winter wonderland of sky, snow, and mountain peaks. We can now see the goal in the distance, a peak with craggy rocks much like the battlements on a castle tower. A flock of Snow Buntings meet the challenge of the howling wind and pass over the ridge moving in unison banking to catch the golden rays of sunlight before diving to find more forage in the shrubs. There is much Snow Bunting "gold" to be found over the "sun dogs" of Chugach State Park, the gold is the many seeds found in the shrubs that they frequent for cover and food. Didn't quite have the equipment to reach these guys and do them justice but maybe sometime soon when I win the lottery!
Looking up towards Bear Valley
Now it is "Nepali Flat": up and down at regular intervals, but not straight up as they say in the Himalayas. This tramp is just what I need to get back into shape for the mountains of Nepal. I will be joining Heather for the whole month of December to witness and partake in Parahawking: Falconry, paragliding, and vulture conservation all wrapped up into one amazing experience. Heather is on the Parahawking team and you can read her Notes from Nepal blog to learn more. It's been difficult being apart, but it is awesome that we can grow as individuals too. Still the semi-tropical climate of Nepal is beckoning in the face of a long winter, and now the days are so short! In Bear Valley, there's a whole month when sun doesn't even crest the rim of the valley. We are coming very close to that time right now where the sun just skims across the horizon too lazy to go very high.
Well the ups and downs are great, but I stupidly wore carhartts on this adventure so the moisture is slowly but surely wicking up the cotton canvas fabric making its way to my crotch! Not a friendly place to be wet with wind and cold. So once we get to our peak and eat our snack I'm ready to get down pretty fast. The mountain is pretty amenable to this goal letting us gain lots of speed on the downhills as we almost ski at times and of course fall. This compounds the discomfort until I find myself wearing garb that weighs as much as chain mail. We do get down the mountain twice as fast as it takes to go up, so it feels good to change into to dry clothes and hangout with the Gurry fam over some hot tea. Next weekend I should be ready to put on the old cross-country skis.
Peace Good People,
Meerkat out...
View of Flattop and the Knik Arm and Valley beyond
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