My Weekend & Two Days Off
6 students, 2 instructors and me. One instructor had biked from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska all the way down to the southern tip of South America. And one year trek, solo. He's a fun guy and the students respect him so much. The other, a petite lady in her mid-twenties (?), who used to be an Outward Bound instructor and is now a social worker. Both very interesting and exciting people.
For two nights we camped out on the tundra. Friday night we hiked in about 2 miles and up into a hanging valley to camp. The students all pitched tents, but the rest of us slept outside. I was by myself about 150 feet off from camp. I found this tiny little flat spot on top of the tundra that suited me perfectly. The tundra is actually really soft; it's made up of lichen, berries, low-lying plants such as juniper, and other short grasses. It's like a big comfy feather bed when it comes to sleeping! My head was very close to some juniper bushes and the smell was incredible. (it's one of my three favorite scents: sage, juniper & peppermint). I went to bed after 11pm just as the sun was slowly decending behind the hills nearby on the other side of the canyon, and the light became dim. Not dark, it's funny because since we're so close to the Arctic Circle the sun barely dips below the horizon before it comes back up again. So you know that dusk-light that happens during sunset? Well, in the summer Anchorage and southern Alaska never recieve darkness, only "dusk" for a couple of hours each day. I woke up the next morning and looked across the stream from where I was. On the other side of the hanging valley, just across the stream and slightly lower in elevation from where I was, was a female moose meandering along. So pretty. Although moose are viscious and dangerous, I really think they're great! They're so powerful.
Saturday morning after we had breakfast we headed back down out of the hanging valley and hiked up Eagle River towards Eagle Lake & Symphony Lake. The last mile or so was on a moraine scrambling over boulders. Then we set up camp for our second night out. We let the students decide where to pitch their tents and they choose spots along the moraine between the two lakes, on the shore of Eagle Lake. A GORGEOUS spot. Both lakes are glacial-fed, and even though they are only a few hundred feet apart they are quite different in color. Eagle Lake has a much more lighter blue color due to different amounts of sediment in the water reflecting differnet colored blue wavelengths (this is why glacial water is always bright light blue).
We had lots of berry fights. The little berries were super tiny, but they were everywhere. Because they were so small they were hard to see when people threw them, and to and unsuspecting person you would find them hitting your eyes, nose, face, chest--everywhere. Also, on the seat of your pants, as well as the mouth of your friends, you would find stains of berry-juice. Mostly there were black-berries, otherwise known to some as "bear berries"; they're very tiny, like small blueberries, and as the name would suggest, they're black. They taste a bit sour, but they're really good. I mostly bit into them, sucked out the tiny amount of sweet juice and spit out the skins. Occasionally we found cranberries and blueberries tucked into the mesh of tundra foilage. All so good to eat! There's nothing like picking fresh fruit and putting it straight to your lips!
Saturday I hiked up a hill to an elevation of 3,000+something feet and saw a marvelous view. I wasn't planning on going all the way up, and I had my rainpants on (lined with fleece) so I was sweaty and gross climbing up, and my leg muscles were yelling at me, but I made it. It was neat to look down the valley at Eagle River where we had hike in, and at the two lakes, with our three little blue tents next to the water. Saturday night was a little troublesome. It started to sprinkle and it continued raining for much of the evening. The problem was that us three adults did bring tents because we planned to sleep outside. So we had a fun time rigging up the two small rainflys that we had brought along "just in case" to some small tundra brush. The problem was that none of us had brought any string or rope to use to tie it down with. I improvised by using my lanyard that I had my keyes on, and the other gal undid her shoelaces to use. We eventually got a little rainfly up over a small patch of tundra that just fit two sleeping bodies under it, as long as we put garbage bags over the bottom part of our sleeping bags that were sticking out. The other instructor slept outside in his sleeping bag a little ways away and used the other rainfly to cover most of his body, with his coat covering his feet. Very luckily, it never completely poured, but there were some medium-sized showers that came down on us off and on during the night. I love the rain, and it was perfect weather--in the 60's with partial clouds and soft rainshowers, but at the same time it was a little troubling to know that if the weather changed I would miserable for another 24 hours. Luckily, I stayed pretty dry and this morning woke up happy and not soggy! We slept in til 10am (!) and then spent the afternoon hiking back to the van. A little Baskin & Robbins ice cream, and a couple dozen miles later and we were back at the APU dorms here in Anchorage. A great weekend "off".