Alaska Range Getaway, mid-August 2008

http://www.commondreams.org/

http://prorev.com/

http://counterpunch.org/

I'll just lay it out right here. The corporate media that most people in the USA are exposed to reflect the opinions of the large conglomerates that own them, and only show that which is deemed appropriate for the masses, such that no significant changes or upsets to the system result. So, I do not routinely look at CNN, Fox News, Time, Newsweek, or any of those "mainstream" media. The links above, and print magazines such as Utne Reader and The Progressive serve as my outlets for viewing the World at large. I do look at the USA edition of BBC news, as it actually has more news content than celebrity fluff, and is good for rapid-fire current events.

After hard days of keeping abreast of all that's going on, sometimes I just need to get away! And fortunately, that's very easy to do here in Alaska. In mid-August, my sweet little 18 month old lab/husky mix Mattie and I decided we needed some time away.

So we took a 3-day backpack trip in mid-August this year into the Alaska Range, southeast of Fairbanks. We just drove east to Big Delta to the Richardson Highway, south on that to the Denali Highway (about 75 miles). The Denali highway is a well-maintained gravel road that cuts due east-west south of the crest of the Alaska Range. Before the building of the Parks Highway, that connects Fairbanks to Anchorage directly, in the early 1970s, this the only way to travel from Fairbanks to Denali National Park. It is a great place to start wilderness outings, and you can even skate ski on it's entire 160 mile length in winter, as snow-machine traffic grooms it into a wide, level surface.

We parked at MacClaren Summit, the highest point on the road, at around 4100 feet. This is above tree-line, marshy tundra, full of tussocks (raised clumps of tundra, often with water between, often making for hard walking), ponds, and small lakes. Bug hell in June and July, but better in August and September.

I just strapped my 30 lb. pack on with supplies for 3 days, and we walked in to a nameless pond about six miles north of the highway, hopping on the tussocks, which made my knees a little sore. I set up camp, by then it was evening, and had a nice relaxing meal with Mattie in that peaceful setting. It was cool, about 45 degrees, and sprinkling a little.

The next day, I just kept camp where it was, but packed all the food up and took it in the pack with me while we explored. We walked about 4 miles north and climbed some ridges above Seven-mile Lake, giving us expansive views of it below. At one point, as we were on the north face of one ridge above the lake, we heard snorting, and the clacking of hooves. Caribou. Lots of them, and only about 50 feet away, directly above us. Hunting is not allowed north of the Denali Highway, so they are not so afraid of people.

We spent the day exploring, covering about fifteen miles total, winding up and down ridges. We had lunch by Basalt Lake, a small lake ringed by rocky crags. Although it was only mid-August, summer is fleeting at these higher elevations, and some fall colors are already evident. There were plenty of gnats and mosquitoes when the east winds would let up occasionally. Fortunately this day, the weather was nice, just partly cloudy and cool. We got back to our camp around 6 pm, and I noticed showers were starting to develop. By 7pm, a thundershower moved over, and it rained hard for 90 minutes. Mattie had to stay outside in the rain, she doesn't like tents. As the rain let up, I heard a snorting sound outside, and movement, and I thought, crap, a bear. I bolted out of the tent, and a large bull caribou was staring at us about 40 feet away. I don't think he liked that we were in his domain. Before I could stop her, Mattie took off barking at him! All 64 pounds of her against a 300 pound creature with large antlers. Fortunately he took off. We were lucky, as they can fight off wolves if they have to. That made me very proud of my little girl, she's sure courageous and protective.


After that, I was able to relax and cook dinner, by which time it was already 9 pm. I slept well that night, knowing that Mattie was on the job!


I packed up in the morning, and we hiked back to the car at MacClaren summit. That only took us a couple hours. One reason I went in this area, is that it is well above the rivers, where the salmon are running. The bears are all down lower by the rivers at this time, so the odds of any encounters are much lower up high. And, we never did see one. All in all, a nice, quick getaway, without having to do much in the way of elaborate preparation. I don't carry (or own) any guns, and have no bear spray, I just put trust in my higher self to keep me safe, and no problems. Just as I don't carry a water filter, I bless the water I drink from clear flowing streams as life-giving and never get sick.