Golden Ending

Yukon River Gold

Mount Blackburn, 5th tallest in US

Old Blue

Last flight of season with Boss Jamie and pilot Lynn

Kenny Lake Hay (yes, Alaska grows something besides moose)

Looking up toward Kennecott from McCarthy swimming hole

Fireweed Mountain with Kennecott Lake and icebergs 

Stairway Icefall

Artifacts on near Jumbo mine

Nizina Glacier (I think?)

Last flight going to Chishana

Jumbo Mine

September 10th hike to Jumbo Mine

Fireweed in seed at old Chishana

Bits and Pieces

bears

Humans, 8, Beavers, 92

Beaver in her self-created pond on McCarthy Road

Dam started across McCarthy Road

Full pond

Culvert blocked by beaver

Beaver pond on daily route to McCarthy/Kennecott

Blasting Caps and Slime Tables

McCarthy swimming hole on Memorial Day

Work environment before the arrival of the propane truck

Dianne gives me a McCarthy style ride.

McCarthy Road is much better than advertised.....overall.

NPS pilot Lynn took me on an hour's private tour to teach me about our area.

Mechanics room inside the concentrating mill.

Nick checking out the inside of the mill.

Downtown McCarthy before the tourist season

My Ordinary Life

Mt. Blackburn, 5th highest mountain in the US

Stairway Icefall

The Best Cabin Ever!

Inside Best Cabin Ever, excuse the clutter, please.

Our Kenny G., aka the Kennicott Glacier

Our Visitor Center (notice what Lucas is carrying)

Maya is either smelling or eating the flowers.

Bonanza Mine, 3800 feet higher than Kennecott

Maya at the Bonanza Mine

Jamie, boss lady,  and Oppah Mae hanging out in the evening at the Potato.

Route Finding on the Root Glacier

Root Glacier with Stairway Icefall in the background

Ice Cave

Relatively easy by Alaska standards, our most popular overnight backpack is the hike across the Root Glacier to Donoho Basin.  Texas Nick, 26, and I took off after work on Sunday to hike out the Glacier Trail, then across the glacier to camp by the first bear locker at Donoho Basin.  Since it is still always light,  it didn’t matter what time we left.  

Moulins are what scare me.  What if I slipped down one? 

On the ice halfway to the medial moraine, Nick’s right crampon snapped in the middle.  After testing the ice without crampons, he eventually tore off the broken front piece and continued with full crampons on one foot and half on the other.  This worked after a fashion.  After crossing the medial or middle moraine, we had to do more route finding because as we approached the west side of the Root Glacier, the canyons became deeper, the moulins more frequent and the drop-offs higher.  Our plan was to climb out on a slumping ramp north of the waterfall. We had heard that the most obvious way south of the waterfall was a rough climb.  

We did find an easy way off the Glacier and managed to avoid the quicksand-like mud.  After struggling up the mixture of ice, mud and rocks on the lateral moraine,  we mistakenly bushwhacked through the willows as we searched for the bear locker and established campsites.  Though it was drizzling and had been for days,  we had remained dry crossing the glacier.  Bushwhacking through rain-laden willows soaked us, every bit of us, in just a few moments.  Our poles were a hindrance in the entanglement of the willows.  I tripped on mine and fell thigh deep in one of the pools.  

 

Sure beats clorinated water from our Westside compound.

Because I had worked all day and for the past week,  I was SO glad when we finally emerged from the brush and found a campsite within 75 yards of the bear locker.  We each pitched out tents.  Nick started up the MSR and I walked partway down a steep gully to find water.  Supper was Mountain House Chicken and Rice and Backcountry Thai Beef Curry.    By the time we finished, it was eleven.  We dove into out tents and as soon as we shed our wet clothes and warmed up our bags, I was in La-La Land, dreaming of zigzagging across the ice.

Camping on the lateral moraine

The next day was sunny so we had a leisurely breakfast, took photos, let our gear dry out and then started back across the glacier, this time staying higher on the crest and having an easier time of it.  But even if the route is straighter, it is still work climbing around on a glacier.  It reminded me of Antarctic stories where the men spent days struggling over rough ice, fighting their heavy sleds up and down, around and back.  We had light backpacks but the mile and a half across the Root became four miles of walking.  For me the most thrilling part is the moulins which are holes in the glaciers into which running water, creeks and rivers disappear.  These fascinate and frighten me. If you slip into one,  you don’t come out but are flushed down deep into the dark, cold wet plumbing inside the glacier.  Years later you’ll be flushed out down a river, ground into glacier flour.  

I admire the fireweed that seems to grow out of nothing.

We returned on the Root Trail, passing where the man had died last week and the lady had a stroke this week.  At Jumbo Creek I washed off some of the mud on my crampons, drank the icy water, and tidied up.  Soon I was back at Kennecott where I hitched a ride and was home soaking in the bath by 7:00.  What used to be simple excursions now demand a bit of recovery time.  I  very much appreciate that Nick had been willing to go with me at my slow pace.   A little adventuring is better with a friend.  Both of us are now a tad better at glacier route finding.

Find Nick. This mud is where the glacier meets the lateral moraine.

Tired, muddy feet with my new best friends, my crampons!