Alsek River 2014
Day 8, Tuesday, July 1
I got up to groove perhaps a bit before 5 am. I noticed that I could see a bit further up the Vern Ritchie/Battle Glacier than I had been able to last night, before we went to bed. Shortly, you could tell that the weather was lifting somewhat. By 7 am, you could definitely see some peaks of the St. Elias Mountains and little tiny patches of blue sky. Ahhhhh…… Things felt pretty relaxed in camp. Susie and I were, except for our tent, pretty much packed up by 7 am. As the weather continued to lift, we could start to see at least some snow on the peaks of the Noisy Range (on our left, downriver). Even a few bugs came out, necessitating, at least in Susie’s worldview, donning her bug net. We really did not complete breaking camp and loading the rafts until about 10:30 am. Apparently, the plan was to head for Walker Glacier, about 24 river miles downstream. After our first day on the river, when we only made about 4 miles, that might sound like a long way to go. But with the current moving the way it was, it was likely to be only about 4 hours or so real float time. Susie and I had decided that there was no need to be in the same raft, so she went in Sam’s raft with Amalia, Jim, and Sarah. I was in Joe’s boat, with Paul, DB, and Thelonious. As we floated along, we continued to get more sunshine, puffy white clouds, and better views. This was looking like a really good day, something we had needed for a while. You go to all this effort and expense, and you want to be able to drink in the scenery, at least occasionally. And I must say, the peaks of the St. Elias Range, which were now totally clear, were spectacular.
As we floated toward the confluence, between taking photos, I could hear snippets of conversations between DB, and Joe. DB was talking about having camped at the “Confluence Camp” (that’s the confluence with the Tatshenshini ), and asking for the reasons why we were not camping there this time. My sense of Joe’s reply was that, if we had pushed on yesterday to the Confluence Camp, because the weather was so crappy yesterday, we would have missed all the nice scenery through which we were now floating. I think it was this time that DB was telling Thelonious that he was conceived at the Confluence camp, and I confess to feeling a bit sorry for the young man. Most teenagers struggle with the concept of their parents having sex, and now, to have this discussed in front of other adults that he had only known for a week, and that, in addition, this is where he was conceived, well, it seemed likely a burden for him.
We rounded a large bend in the river, now heading west, and ultimately pulled into shore on one of the many islands that dotted the river, sometime around 12:45. This was Chive Island, at least, so named by the guides. We climbed up on the ridge that ran lengthwise on the island, enjoying the wonderful sunshine and photographing. It was hard to beat, with carving glaciers and mountain peaks comprising the background, and acres of blooming wildflowers providing foreground interest. We hiked back down and had lunch on the small beach and were back in the water by 2:15 or so. (Note: for those of you who might think I was spending a lot of time looking at my watch, and writing down times for various activities, as I used to tell the neighbors’ cat Oscar when he would try to sneak past me when I would open an outside door: “That’s where you would be wrong.” Actually, many of the times listed here were derived from the Exif information of the photos we were taking. Between the two of us, there was usually a photo being taken every few minutes.)
More floating in the sunshine. It was a real treat, especially not having to be dressed up in rubber suits (aka the Helly Hansens). We made an extended wood gathering stop, where it felt good to stretch the legs. We crossed over the border between Canada and the US, which is marked by a 20 foot swath of cut trees, entering the extreme northern section of Glacier Bay National Park (and Wilderness). As we approached a major bend in the river, someone commented that around the bend, "Paul's head is gonna explode". And sure enough, the views around the bend got even better with spectacular peaks and glaciers. Soon, we could see a MAJOR glacier getting very close to river level and were told that such was Walker Glacier, our camp for the evening. There are actually a few potential camp locations near the outlet of the glacier, (the face of which is actually over a mile from the river). Sam pulled around a sandy island into a very clear tongue of the river (obviously no real flow through it, because the sediment had settled out). Our boat followed and we made landfall probably around 5 pm. This would be camp. (7V, 666686 E, 6588002 N) It was windy, in this case coming down the glacier (we were on river left), so we set up our tents so as to make sure they were feathered into the wind. Given the bear tracks that someone reported seeing, it felt like both Sarah and Amalia moved their tents just a bit closer to ours. I guess for them, one out of four odds is better than those of a single person off by themselves. Of course, our odds are better as well.
Susie and I took advantage of the clear water to clean up a bit better than we had been doing. The bank was pretty steep, so it was not the best of places. At least it was not raining or brutally cold. We washed up some clothes and took advantage of the wind by stringing up our laundry on a cord I had brought. Made our tent area look like a real slum. But you do what you have to…
Dinner was not initiated until 7:30 pm. However, we noticed that Joe was breaking out a bunch of fresh limes, and started slicing them. Then, gin and tonic water. Hey, gin and tonics on a river trip???!!! Life is getting VERY good. Even drank them in our official red and white Alaska Discovery mugs. Yes, thanks. I think I will have another. Then, Thirsty pulled out a huge batch of steaks and started grilling them on the fire, while Joe made a Pineapple Upside down cake. Wow!! Unfortunately, as we were finishing dinner (a bit after 9:30 pm), it started sprinkling. Susie and I headed quickly to our tent area and pulled all of our damp laundry off the lines and threw it in the tent. It was not really raining sufficiently to drive us into the tent, just to dampen the laundry. So we stood around for a bit, chatting, and then noticed a glow in the sky. The sun was dropping below the cloud deck, and in the direction of the sun, the sky was clear. It was probably the most amazing alpenglow I had ever seen. I kept taking photo after photo. The show was over about 10:30 and Susie and I finally dragged ourselves to bed about 11:15. A very full day. We even have photos of us bedding down with the laundry hanging up inside our tent.
Additional Photos and videos can be found here: The Alsek Days 5 - 8 album on our SmugMug Photo Album Site
You might enjoy reading a different perspective on this same trip: Sarah Boomer's Report on the Thermophile.org website
© Roger A. Jenkins & Suzanne A. McDonald, 2014, 2016