Hiking in Alaska, July 2011, part II

You probably all know this, but I'll just admit it out loud.  JANISE IS A SCAREDY CAT.  She's also a city girl.  With that in mind, this next adventure/ hike will probably surprise you.  It all started here, at this idyllic little cabin on an idyllic little lake in Alaska called Volkmar.  I think that means People's Lake in Viking language, which is funny, because there weren't any people!  (I'm lying a little.  We're pretty sure that at least 1 other cabin was inhabited while we were there.)

Anyway, this lake has no access roads.  In the winter, you get there by snow machine.  In the summer, you use a float plane.  See the cute little red float plane?  Jason's Uncle Rod flew us to the cabin and dropped us off!  I KNOW!  I was scared of the float plane too, but Rod had taken me in it a couple of years ago to ease my fears and it worked because I was fine as long as we flew over the Tanana River.  It's a float plane, right?  Then we flew over forest and Uncle Rod started talking about a couple of military planes he knew about that crashed right over there and then I was a little woozy.    

Our little getaway

Backcountry transportation

So Uncle Rod dropped us off and showed us the rifle we should carry along if we wandered away from the cabin.  I KNOW!!!   I was scared to touch it, though, so Jason had to carry it.  He's pretty sure he would have known how to use it if it had been required.  Fortunately, it was not required!!!!

On the first day, we started on a little stroll around the lake (with the gun.)  There's a bear trail all the way around the lake.  By bear trail, I mean the bears made it.  I KNOW!!!  Bears don't think about clearing the branches away from human faces on their trails, selfish creatures.  We only went about a quarter of a mile, though.  In that space, we saw perhaps 10 piles of bear poop.  That was enough for me for one day!!!!  We retired to the lake to fish because I'm not afraid of pike.  Apparently, though, you do need to stay away from their teeth.  

The cabin next door, viewed from the lake

Cleaning the duck poop off the dock at like, 11pm.  It never really  got dark.

Getting ready to fish.  Still looking hopeful.

Yes, this is a hiking blog and, yes, we did actually hike.  First we read a book called Bear Aware.  I just ordered it for your Yellowstone trip, Yolanda.  Anyway, it helped me understand the steps you take to keep yourself safe.  So, we decided to hike to the clearing above the cabin.  First, Jason tied 2 pot lids to my backpack so the bears could hear me coming from a mile off.  It was probably only a mile or so.  I think it took 20 minutes and the funny thing was that my cell phone rang while we were up there.  It was Uncle Rod, coming to pick us up! 

Me and my noisy backpack

Almost to the top

Beautiful Volkmar 

See the bugs?  You can't even bat them away.  I don't know what they eat when we're not around.

We made it, sans bears!

There's the guy & there's the gun.  I was happy to have both along.

All joking aside, this was probably the most relaxing trip we ever took.  There are simply no distractions, no people, no critters (fortunately), and just no noise.  It was truly an amazing experience.  Thanks Uncle Rod!

Hiking in Alaska, July 2011

We're on our summer trip to Alaska to visit Jason's family.  The kids are in Valdez (cousin camp) with Grandma and Aunt Janice and the gaggle of girl cousins.  Jason and Janise are left to hike without kids.  We hardly know how!

Angel Rocks to Chena Hot Springs


We did this gorgeous hike on a perfect overcast day with Dinah (Jason's sister) and her dog Katie.  In 8 miles, we only saw 2 other groups of hikers and they were both in the first mile or so.  It always amazes me that there is so much space in Alaska and so few people!  So unlike California.  It seems to be a state full of forest.

We saw no bears and no moose on this trail but we saw 4 or 5 moose from the car on the drive home.  They are amazingly gangly creatures and I love to see them .... from a car.

Katie, Janise, & Dinah at Angel Rocks

Jason, Dinah & miles of beauty

Gorgeous, spongy plants we sat on for lunch.  Very comfy!

Along this ridge, we were discussing the similarities to the Swiss Alps.  Not that we've been there.  But we HAVE seen the Sound of Music, and of course we had to sing.

So much wild beauty, so few people to enjoy it!  Jason laughed at me for stopping here.  The mosquitoes were voracious.

The end of the trail.  It was getting pretty boggy here.  We really were running from the bugs.

This hike ends at the Chena Hot Springs Resort.  Once there, we soaked in the hot springs and it was so great!  The springs smell like sulphur and they're reputed to have healing properties.  They healed my tired muscles and mosquito bites for sure.  We saw a juvenile moose on the lawn at the resort, grazing near some tourists who didn't even flinch.  CRAZY!

THE BIG HIKE IS FINALLY HERE! HALF DOME, HERE WE COME!

First, let me say that the waterfalls in Yosemite right now are GORGEOUS!!!!  Wowwee kazowwee gorgeous.  They're way bigger than the postcards show!  The meadows, also, are insanely green and beautiful.  Maybe that's why it was so crazy crowded!  I'm not much of a camper but I have to admit that camping at Upper Pines campground makes so much logistical sense when you're attempting Half Dome.  It took us an hour and a half to drive thru the valley to reach our campground!  Once there, though, we were a 10 or 15 minute walk to the trailhead for the Mist Trail and Half Dome beyond.  That became important for our 3:30 am wake up time!

Traffic was so slow, they got out and walked a bit!

And took our picture!

More beautiful and intimidating than ever.

We reached the valley on Saturday afternoon, planning on hiking Half Dome on Sunday.  However, the bad traffic prevented us setting up camp in a reasonable timeframe so we ended up postponing out big hike until Monday.  We spent Sunday acclimating and strolling up to Mirror Lake which was a perfect 'day before' hike.  We pre-hydrated.  We were ready!!!!!

Our Mirror Lake picnic spot

Holly's other butterfly buddy.  How does she do this?  This one drank the grape juice she offered.

At 5pm, we started our prep.  We got the kids showered at Curry Village and into their hiking clothes with sweats over.  We ate an early pasta dinner.  We packed all our snacks, lunch, and water in our camelbaks and stowed them in the bear box.  We even got breakfast all ready so we could get out of camp quickly and quietly in the morning.  We went to bed early.

Around midnight Janise got sick.  She spent the next 3 hours traipsing back and forth to the bathroom.  Yuck.  Poor Sydney was so excited she couldn't sleep much at all and she was getting worried about mom.  At 3:30am the alarms went off and Jason said, "What do you want to do, mama?"  I said, "Let's go.  Maybe I'm just excited."  (Nope, still feeling puny 5 days later.)  Holly's winning comment at 3:30am, as she's shivering thru a yogurt and a banana was, "Is this really necessary?"  That got some laughs.

We needed headlamps to make it to the trailhead.  We were there by 4:30am!!!!!  The kids were giddy excited.  The color of the pre-dawn light reflected off the granite walls of the canyon preceeding Vernal Falls is something I'll never forget.  It was the most beautiful purple/ blue.  STUNNING!  Worth it!

The Mist Trail drenched us so much that we just barely paused at the top of Vernal Falls for a quick picture.  We pushed on up to the top of Nevada Falls because we were all so cold.  By the top of Nevada Falls, the sun was up and we were able to take a break and warm up.  Also, it became clear that Janise had to turn back.  No one was happy about that and there were a few tears.  But, hey, 3 of us were still looking strong!!!!!!!

Had to do this.  We have this picture from 2 years ago in this same spot.

Reality setting in.

Jason, Sydney, and Holly all made it to the top!  YAY!!!!!!  Both girls said later that they thought the cables were a little scary going up but really fun coming back down.  They passed one frozen hiker.  They saw 4 deer and a marmot who stole a lunch out of a backpack!  Check out their amazing photos.

On top of the world!!!!!!

Now they can do anything, ANYTHING!

Jason carried this diet pepsi all the way up there for Janise.  Holly drank it.  This pic made Janise cry just a little. The paper says, "Miss you Mom."

Look for their great cairn up there to the right as you get off the cables!

Proud daddy with his girls on the cables.

Brave girls.

On the Mist Trail, getting drenched for the 2nd time in a day.

The journey took them about 14 hours.  Boy were they tired!  Janise drove their tired legs over to Curry Village for showers and pizza.  We all looked up at Half Dome in the fading light and Jason mentioned that it looked farther away than ever.  It did! The kids were so amazed that they went 'all the way up there' in one day.   SO SO PROUD!!!!!

Thanks for sharing this amazing journey with us!