Me & Jenn at the Trailhead
Jenn originally wasn't going to backpack. Fortunately, when we discussed the fact that she would only have to ask off 1 day from work to be able to go... we were both excited that she was coming! Otherwise, I was going to be the only girl with 6 guys. Unfortunately, 2 days before the trip, an old back injury of hers flared up and it would have been a bad idea for her to try to backpack. That would make me the only girl with 6 men. I got a little worried... I mean, even though I had been trying to get in better shape and felt pretty good, these men do a lot of hiking, right? So I'm thinking with me being the only female I am going to hold them up, plus requiring extra gear (not like I could share a tent) and food! Seemed to me I would be slowing everyone down and making everyone work hard... and for what? For me to "enjoy" (as I assumed I would be harding a hard time breathing the whole time! haha) a backpacking trip?
One of the coolest things about this trail is that we started out in warm, sunny weather with rain clouds slowly approaching and lots of trees lining the dirt path. After a while we were above the tree line (i.e. no trees!) with grassy fields like the picture above and then snow and then ridiculously strong winds and then a valley with alder (bush plant that is taller than me; maybe 5-7 ft tall and pretty dense) and other bushy vegetation back into forest-y vegetation to river beds ... the trail was made up of: talus, dirt, scree, and even gravel at different parts of the hike. Crazy. I don't even know about hikes in the lower 48 that would take you through so many different ecosystems in <30 miles!
This is Crow Pass. I took 3 pictures from a cabin that is at the Pass. Anyone can rent out the cabin to stay in, and as it was occupied when we were passing through, I decided its occupants would appreciate it if I didn't take pics of them in "their" house. Instead, I sat on the front porch (hahaha) and took pictures of what we saw there at the Pass. Then, with my cool photo editing software, I "stitched" the pictures together to make a panoramic pic! See the tiny box in the middle-right of the pic? You might need to click on the picture to enlarge it... That box is an outhouse. The snow was probably about 3 feet deep around it, so there were stairs made from snow that you could step down if you wanted to enter and to use the toilet. Inside the outhouse, I couldn't have touched the ceiling/roof. I tell you all of this so that you can again get an idea of the scale of what I was looking at. Everything was so big and beautiful!! (Except the toilet haha, though it was a standard size...)
Just past the cabin was the highest point on the trail... Crow Pass at a whopping 3,500 ft! Haha! Crazy, right?! This was where the wind got sooooo intense, though. I think below is the last picture of my pack's rain cover (the orange thing that keeps it dry when it rains). The wind blew it off and it flew away down the glacier (which is directly behind me in the pic).
(Above) This was the last pic I took for a while. The wind was CRAZY. I weighed myself (165 lbs) and my pack (35 lbs) before I left. When Joseph and Harold turned around, I ended up adding some more weight to my pack. I'm guessing it was between 40-50 lbs.? I am fairly certain that me plus my pack weighed at least 200 lbs. And believe me, I would not be telling you this unless it was relevant! The wind kept picking up ... becoming increasingly intense. David, who used to live in FL, has experienced hurricane winds and said that these were at least that strong. Gary was having trouble with something, sat down on a rock for a minute and took his pack off. Scott and David were further up the trail, and Jacob & I were waiting with Gary. The wind would die down and then suddenly pick up again to at least 100 mph (someone guessed?)
While we were waiting, Jacob sat, too, and I just used my trekking poles to brace myself. Another huge, howling gust of wind began to blow and it blew me over. Okay y'all... do you even realize how ridiculous that is?! THE WIND BLEW ME OVER... and I was balanced and bracing myself against it... all 200(+) lbs of me and my pack. It really hurt my bum, too! (You know that feeling when you've accidentally sat on a car's seat belt buckle? Yeah, that's what I felt like.) Moments later it lets loose again and blows Gary's pack over (it started tumbling down the mountain) and blew Jacob over. At this point, I know Jacob and I had had ENOUGH and were ready to get MOVING and AWAY from this wind. Gary got his boots adjusted, I carried his pack back up to him, and we were on our way. Had I know we would be heading into snow fields, I'm not sure I would have been so eager to get away from the wind!!
Okay, so... the snow field. I was not really interested in taking pictures at this point, but felt like it needed to be documented so that you, my faithful followers ;-) would have an idea of what I was up against. I'm not sure if the pictures do it justice, but... we were traversing the side of a mountain, the rather steep side of the mountain, on snow. I'm not sure what you're thinking, but as I was walking across the snow I was just hoping and praying I wouldn't slip and fall all the way down the mountain and especially that another gust of wind would not blow me over! Scott assured me that even if I slipped and fell... I wouldn't slide all the way down... probably not more than 5 or 6 ft. I was not at all interested in testing his theory though!! Scott led the way, really digging his heels in with each step, and I just stepped in his footprints. That gave me a lot more confidence and security as I walked... but I still got off the snow field as quickly as possible. There were moments when the wind blew hard (but no where near as hard as further back on the trail) and I dug my trekking poles into the snow and braced myself 'til it was over (we all did!). Anytime I got off a snow field (each one seemed scarier than the one before it!) I pulled my camera out to take pictures... The one below was very daunting.
I all but ran behind Scott to get off the snow field ASAP. I made it about 10 feet from the end of it when I slipped. Oops. I could see the end of the snow field though so I just went with it!! Got a little wet, but at least my pants were quick dry!! The other guys were understandably nervous coming down the snow fields (except Scott- he's used to this and trusts his feet on the snow)... Scott dropped his pack and went back up to help. Jacob would have been fine, but with the slow pace the others were going in front of him, I am sure he even got uncomfortable with how long he spent on the snow fields!
Again with the crazy awesomeness of the trail... this is what we were walking through and on... this is what would eventually be behind us, and this is what we were talking toward...
Once we *finally* traversed the last snow field... I was thrilled. Kinda funny, but now I don't think they would freak me out as much as they did at the time, not knowing what to expect or if I could trust my feet on the snow. I think if I did the hike again, I might even enjoy it more. I think any and all fear that I possess is healthy. I don't think I am a fearful person, but there are some things I WILL NOT do because I am scared to do them... i.e. sky dive, paraglide, swim with sharks... Yet again, I am perfectly okay with missing out on those experiences. But, there are other less legitimate fears that I have or currently possess... (My mom can tell you about the time I wouldn't slide down a water slide into the pool, but I also would not climb back down the ladder...) This was one of those fears that I HAD to get over. I was just thankful Scott was there and he knew what he was doing!!
I was really tired at this point and so sure I would drift off right to sleep... But, I was not so lucky. Apparently laying horizontally is the best way to induce coughing. I lay there in my tent, praying I wasn't keeping anyone else awake, trying not to cough... I looked through pictures on my camera, prayed, and tried not to freak out every time the wind blew... it really sounded like a bear was in the bushes when the wind blew! I think I got maybe a combined total of 4 hours of sleep that first night; it's really weird camping when it doesn't really get dark... I do remember waking up between 2-3am and it being fairly dark (more coughing, more blowing my nose like a trumpet).
The crazy thing is that I thought since I could "see" really well in the valley (unlike in a dense forest) that I would feel more protected and comfortable to sleep... So not true. I felt so exposed and trapped. Scott said something about trees being comforting and familiar, and I so didn't get what he meant, but that first night sure gave me some insight into what he meant!!
Gary, me, Harold, Scott, David, Jacob, Joseph
When the decision needed to be made, I decided to buck up and do it! I mean, it would be a great experience, right?! With a couple people backing out so last minute and Jenn not being able to go, I didn't want all of Scott's hard work planning to go to waste.
Me at the Trailhead
Apparently there were some wrong assumptions about what the trail would be like... A little less than a mile in Harold was having second thoughts. He and one of the summer interns (Joseph) decided to head back off the mountain and skip out on this trip.
Scott and Harold deciding what to do
The summer interns Jacob and Joseph
The trail was beautiful. It was so incredible to see mountains in the distance, and I think several times I thought to myself wow! I'm backpacking...in Alaska...this is beautiful and amazing!!! The trail got really narrow in places, with steep drop-offs. Good thing I wasn't too clumsy in any places like this!
I know I look the same in these pictures... but they were different parts of the trail! And, as far as it came to my athleticism... The trail was easier than I expected and I was fully prepared. My muscles were strong and I didn't get out of breath! Scott led the way and set the pace... I followed him, with the 2 pastors (Gary & David) next, and Jacob running drag (bringing up the rear, keeping everyone together, etc.). Jacob is an all star athlete-- like for real. He runs cross country for his college and is in great shape... poor guy got bored most of the trip with the stop-and-go slow pace we had going! I definitely wasn't bored, but after a while the stop-and-rest-and-then-go-again rhythm wore me down. The first day it worked out okay, because as Scott and I were a little ahead, we had time to take pictures without everyone stopping...
Can you find the people in the picture below? ... I like pics like these because it gives you a bit of a scale!
I was in love...
One of the coolest things about this trail is that we started out in warm, sunny weather with rain clouds slowly approaching and lots of trees lining the dirt path. After a while we were above the tree line (i.e. no trees!) with grassy fields like the picture above and then snow and then ridiculously strong winds and then a valley with alder (bush plant that is taller than me; maybe 5-7 ft tall and pretty dense) and other bushy vegetation back into forest-y vegetation to river beds ... the trail was made up of: talus, dirt, scree, and even gravel at different parts of the hike. Crazy. I don't even know about hikes in the lower 48 that would take you through so many different ecosystems in <30 miles!
Look closely and you can see snowboarders' tracks. Scott says a lot of people will hike up with their boards and snowboard down... even into early summer!
This is Crow Pass. I took 3 pictures from a cabin that is at the Pass. Anyone can rent out the cabin to stay in, and as it was occupied when we were passing through, I decided its occupants would appreciate it if I didn't take pics of them in "their" house. Instead, I sat on the front porch (hahaha) and took pictures of what we saw there at the Pass. Then, with my cool photo editing software, I "stitched" the pictures together to make a panoramic pic! See the tiny box in the middle-right of the pic? You might need to click on the picture to enlarge it... That box is an outhouse. The snow was probably about 3 feet deep around it, so there were stairs made from snow that you could step down if you wanted to enter and to use the toilet. Inside the outhouse, I couldn't have touched the ceiling/roof. I tell you all of this so that you can again get an idea of the scale of what I was looking at. Everything was so big and beautiful!! (Except the toilet haha, though it was a standard size...)
Just past the cabin was the highest point on the trail... Crow Pass at a whopping 3,500 ft! Haha! Crazy, right?! This was where the wind got sooooo intense, though. I think below is the last picture of my pack's rain cover (the orange thing that keeps it dry when it rains). The wind blew it off and it flew away down the glacier (which is directly behind me in the pic).
Another view of Raven Glacier... no reference for scale... but it was HUGE...
(Above) This was the last pic I took for a while. The wind was CRAZY. I weighed myself (165 lbs) and my pack (35 lbs) before I left. When Joseph and Harold turned around, I ended up adding some more weight to my pack. I'm guessing it was between 40-50 lbs.? I am fairly certain that me plus my pack weighed at least 200 lbs. And believe me, I would not be telling you this unless it was relevant! The wind kept picking up ... becoming increasingly intense. David, who used to live in FL, has experienced hurricane winds and said that these were at least that strong. Gary was having trouble with something, sat down on a rock for a minute and took his pack off. Scott and David were further up the trail, and Jacob & I were waiting with Gary. The wind would die down and then suddenly pick up again to at least 100 mph (someone guessed?)
While we were waiting, Jacob sat, too, and I just used my trekking poles to brace myself. Another huge, howling gust of wind began to blow and it blew me over. Okay y'all... do you even realize how ridiculous that is?! THE WIND BLEW ME OVER... and I was balanced and bracing myself against it... all 200(+) lbs of me and my pack. It really hurt my bum, too! (You know that feeling when you've accidentally sat on a car's seat belt buckle? Yeah, that's what I felt like.) Moments later it lets loose again and blows Gary's pack over (it started tumbling down the mountain) and blew Jacob over. At this point, I know Jacob and I had had ENOUGH and were ready to get MOVING and AWAY from this wind. Gary got his boots adjusted, I carried his pack back up to him, and we were on our way. Had I know we would be heading into snow fields, I'm not sure I would have been so eager to get away from the wind!!
Gary, David, and Jacob (single file) traversing a snow field)
Okay, so... the snow field. I was not really interested in taking pictures at this point, but felt like it needed to be documented so that you, my faithful followers ;-) would have an idea of what I was up against. I'm not sure if the pictures do it justice, but... we were traversing the side of a mountain, the rather steep side of the mountain, on snow. I'm not sure what you're thinking, but as I was walking across the snow I was just hoping and praying I wouldn't slip and fall all the way down the mountain and especially that another gust of wind would not blow me over! Scott assured me that even if I slipped and fell... I wouldn't slide all the way down... probably not more than 5 or 6 ft. I was not at all interested in testing his theory though!! Scott led the way, really digging his heels in with each step, and I just stepped in his footprints. That gave me a lot more confidence and security as I walked... but I still got off the snow field as quickly as possible. There were moments when the wind blew hard (but no where near as hard as further back on the trail) and I dug my trekking poles into the snow and braced myself 'til it was over (we all did!). Anytime I got off a snow field (each one seemed scarier than the one before it!) I pulled my camera out to take pictures... The one below was very daunting.
I all but ran behind Scott to get off the snow field ASAP. I made it about 10 feet from the end of it when I slipped. Oops. I could see the end of the snow field though so I just went with it!! Got a little wet, but at least my pants were quick dry!! The other guys were understandably nervous coming down the snow fields (except Scott- he's used to this and trusts his feet on the snow)... Scott dropped his pack and went back up to help. Jacob would have been fine, but with the slow pace the others were going in front of him, I am sure he even got uncomfortable with how long he spent on the snow fields!
Again with the crazy awesomeness of the trail... this is what we were walking through and on... this is what would eventually be behind us, and this is what we were talking toward...
Once we *finally* traversed the last snow field... I was thrilled. Kinda funny, but now I don't think they would freak me out as much as they did at the time, not knowing what to expect or if I could trust my feet on the snow. I think if I did the hike again, I might even enjoy it more. I think any and all fear that I possess is healthy. I don't think I am a fearful person, but there are some things I WILL NOT do because I am scared to do them... i.e. sky dive, paraglide, swim with sharks... Yet again, I am perfectly okay with missing out on those experiences. But, there are other less legitimate fears that I have or currently possess... (My mom can tell you about the time I wouldn't slide down a water slide into the pool, but I also would not climb back down the ladder...) This was one of those fears that I HAD to get over. I was just thankful Scott was there and he knew what he was doing!!
So beautiful.
Enjoying the view!
It's still windy and cool!
I spy something black...
... Yes! It's a bear.
We finally made it into the valley to our first camp site. We hit the trail about noon, and made it to our campsite around 6pm. I was tired, but more from coughing up a lung (bronchitis) and stress (from the terrain haha) than from exercise. It was still very windy and quite chilly. Doesn't that pic make it look cold?! We got all of our tents set up (mine's the blue one!) and Scott began dinner. He had packed some sort of yummy non-traditional chicken soup for dinner and it was A-MAZ-ING.
Of course, everyone knows when you're hiking/backpacking, anything tastes good, but this was like, I'd eat at home good. There were some new things I learned the first night when it came to camping... Like, in Alaska, you don't cook and sleep at the same camp sites. It's important to keep food smells away from your tent. Makes sense, just not something I had ever needed to think about before. Also, bear cans are very important. What are bear cans? You can see them in the picture below... They are the plastic blue cans with black lids that seal out all odors.
If you spill food on your clothes, that piece of clothing goes in the bear can over night (NOT in your tent)... any snacks, leftovers, trash, chapstick, sunscreen, toothpaste, soap, etc... anything with a scent goes in the can. For 5 people, 2 should have been MORE than enough. However, some people did not follow Scott's packing list as well as they should have, and we had about 5 bags of beef jerky, some trash, some other snacks, etc... that would NOT fit in either bear can. So what do you do? Beats me. Even though the bear cans are supposed to seal in odors and keep bears out (and definitely a bear cannot get in them), you still don't leave those at your campsite either. Scott "hid" them 25 yards or so away from our tents and each other. But, we were still left with enough to probably fill a 3rd can...
This is where we camped the first night... tents were to the left of the bridge, and cooking / bear can hiding places were across the bridge and right of the picture.
We did the only thing we could think of... double bagged the leftover stuff in trash bags, tied one end of rope to the bag and the other end of the rope to the bridge and flung it into the gorge.
Scott wasn't thrilled with this solution, but it was truly the best we had! After Scott, Jacob, and I got the dishes done, the bear cans taken care of, and ready to call it a night... it was around 9:30 and the sky had some BEAUTIFUL color to it...
I was really tired at this point and so sure I would drift off right to sleep... But, I was not so lucky. Apparently laying horizontally is the best way to induce coughing. I lay there in my tent, praying I wasn't keeping anyone else awake, trying not to cough... I looked through pictures on my camera, prayed, and tried not to freak out every time the wind blew... it really sounded like a bear was in the bushes when the wind blew! I think I got maybe a combined total of 4 hours of sleep that first night; it's really weird camping when it doesn't really get dark... I do remember waking up between 2-3am and it being fairly dark (more coughing, more blowing my nose like a trumpet).
The crazy thing is that I thought since I could "see" really well in the valley (unlike in a dense forest) that I would feel more protected and comfortable to sleep... So not true. I felt so exposed and trapped. Scott said something about trees being comforting and familiar, and I so didn't get what he meant, but that first night sure gave me some insight into what he meant!!
Side note: VBS this week has been going great; I just love those middle schoolers... Getting back from Alaska on Saturday, busy day Sunday at Noonday, and then catching up at work and doing VBS this week has not really permitted any time to recover! I have been working on this blog post for a week now... and still, I have left out some fun stories. Next week I will be on another mission trip so I really want to finish blogging about Alaska before then!! The thing I noticed with this post, especially tonight while blogging, is how stinkin' long that first day of backpacking was... No wonder I was exhausted then! Blogging about it now is exhausting, too! If you made it to the end, reading all of this, no doubt you must be exhausted! But it was all so fun. So enjoyable. So rewarding.
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