Jack and I went out for another six days, this time just south of the Alaska Range.
We walked five miles in on a road, then gained a ridge we hoped to traverse over and drop down to a glassing spot. The ridge turned out to be much more technical than we expected - third and possibly fourth class. With weather moving in, sundown imminent, and 50+lb packs, that was out of the question. We backtracked and dropped down a gulley, making for a ~15mi day.
#nope ridge
I continue to make noob gains in terms of learning how to be in this landscape. Staying dry and warm enough in a rainy remote location in the 30’s F is a new game to this desert rat. My ancestors are Finnish, Swedish, English, and Scottish, so I figure I’m just going through a process of waking up my latent northern genes.
Unlike most, I didn’t come up here for a job or for a dream of Alaska. I came for a person I’d met who wasn’t as location-independent as I am. I didn’t throw myself at “the Alaska experience” because that had never occurred to me. I love the Mojave and the Sierra and low-key have Reynauds. I don’t (didn’t) hunt or fish or ski and I like the sun, and I am (I was) scared of bears.
Alaska is a rough place to just be, though. You can’t live here indifferently like you can in milder places. You’ll get chewed up. You’ve got to be here, or you’ve got to go. So, here I am.
