An Irresponsible Couple -- 6/19/12

Sally and I took a kayak trip out of Valdez to the Shoupe glacier. We were taken with a Scottish couple about 20 miles north of Valdez to the glacier area where we had to paddle through a large lower bay, through a connecting channel and into the upper bay where the glacier was. On the lower bay was one park service cabin and on the upper two cabins. These may be rented by anyone and normally a boat is chartered to take you and your gear into them.

The tidal swing was about 14 feet and the upper bay gets so much snow and glacier melt that its water level is higher than the lower bay at all times except high tide. Our trip was timed to paddle in at high tide and out at 6 pm at low tide. When we went out, there was a good current and we cruised rapidly out of the upper bay with the ice and snow melt water and through the channel through which was a class one rapids. We bounced off of a few rocks and the rudder kicked up but we made it through with a nice ride and no problems. There was actually a big island between the two bays and there was a channel on both sides. The water temperature was about 34 degrees because of the ice melt. We could not have paddled up to the upper bay after high tide. There was too much of a current and water level drop. The rocks were also quite large in the water and covered with a very slippery sea weed. I do not think a canoe could be lined up (pulled up) to the upper bay when we went out other than by a real expert and it would be very trecherous. Lining allows either one person in the water to bring the canoe upstream or two people from shore with ropes to pull it up. We finally paddled to the spot where our boat was going to pick us up. It arrived, we loaded, and we headed back to Valdez.

After about a minute we noticed a canoe with two people in it. Our captain said he needed to talk to them. He had dropped them off the day before. They were staying in one of the two cabins in the upper bay. It was 6:45pm. Low tide was at 8 pm and he said they had a BABY in the canoe. We pulled up and sure enough there was a 5 or 6 months old baby sleeping in a little carrier on the floor of the canoe. The man said they were planning on paddling into the upper bay at 8pm, low tide. Our captain explained to them about the water flow and said they would not be able to and that they would be waiting until the next day. They had no extra gear with them for an overnight out, just a fish pole and tackle. Once the guy realized he had a bad plan he did not say anything, and the woman just smiled. The captain said that they should be able to leave their canoe and hike around, though thinking about it now, there were plenty of places on the shore you could not walk because it was cliff to the water. The captain warned them to leave the canoe well up on the shore as the tide would take it away otherwise. We motored off and they paddled off. What is the rest of the story???

Bill

P.S. from Sally: We didn't read about any disasters in the news up here so we assume they made it out okay.

Glacier Hike at Wrangell-St. Elias Nat. Park - 6/23/12

We are at the small mining town of McCarthy in the middle of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska. It took us 60 miles of dirt road with many many potholes and fording of two streams to get here. Took us 5 1/2 hours to go 60 miles. With all the bouncing, Rita lost screws from a window, cabinet door and the air conditioner but we found them on the floor and put them all back.... We hope.

I took Sally on a self guided tour of the Root Glacier yesterday.

 Free vs $150 dollars. They had ice axes and crampons vs our trekking poles.   As we climbed into the glacier area, we were met by the cold air that flows out of the mountain down the glacier and into the valley. We doned our jackets and vests and trekked up onto the glacier.

 It was quite slippery getting to the more level areas, but once we got there the going was easy. Sally was worried about falling in a crevass but we could not find any, and I think she felt safer after awhile under my expert guidance. After about 15 minutes we saw a group of young men come trotting down the glacier..... No shirts on... So much for the cold wind.

  We hiked another 15 minutes and a young man and woman came running up to us all excited. They said there was a lake in the glacier a little ways up and that the guy had been swimming in it. We said we did not believe it and they showed us the pictures. When we got to the lake neither of us were tempted. People are crazy.

There was also a wedding scheduled for 3:00 pm yesterday at the Kennicott Lodge and it was 2:00 pm. when we were on the glacier. For us we were about an hour from the hotel. Three young women came running down the glacier toward us and asked where the trail was to the lodge. We pointed them in the correct direction and they ran off. All of the guests were very athletic as they were trail running and going on long hikes. The women looked very fit. Later we learned they were Olympic skiers and friends for the bride.
When we got back down from the glacier and hiked into the town, the wedding was going on. We did not quite expect to have so much activity in the middle of nowhere. We heard later that the bride and groom got engaged here and wanted to have their wedding here. We also heard that the parents were Not pleased about having a destination wedding in such a remote place. Many of the guests flew in from Anchorage in small prop planes and the rest had to drive this incredibly bad road.

Speaking of the bad road . . . We are driving out tomorrow morning. It has rained a little today. Hope the streams we have to ford are not any deeper.

LIfe on the Road by Bill

We were out hiking and stopped for lunch. Sally had packed us a lunch and I noticed that my sandwich had been recycled from the day before. I noticed because it was a little unusual. It was a folded piece of bread with jam and peanut butter stuck in between. I had not eaten it the first time it was presented.

While we were having lunch, I asked what was for dinner. Sally said chighetti. I asked, "What is chighetti?" Sally said we had a little spaghetti and a little chili left over which she had frozen. I said I could not remember having any chili and Sally said "Yah, I think we did." (a long time ago??)
Bill

P.S. From Sally: Bill neglected to mention the gourmet dinner I cooked him the night before: Copper River Red Salmon (the best and rarest), corn on the cob, a big salad and chocolate chip cookies (baked in the grill). And, of course, wine in our favorite box!!

Summer 2012 Trip

We left home on May 1st with the goals of seeing David and Kaitlyn in Seattle, exploring Alaska, and most importantly celebrating the marriage of Sara and Mike in Manhattan.

Rita is dreaming about her adventures.