FINALLY IN...TO THE WILD

"When I go don't cry for me
In my fathers arms I'll be
The wounds this world left on my soul
Will all be healed and I'll be whole

Sun and moon will be replaced
With the light of Jesus' face
And I will not be ashamed
For my savior knows my name

It don't matter where you bury me
I'll be home and I'll be free
It don't matter where I lay
All my tears be washed away

Gold and silver blind the eye
Temporary riches lie
Come and eat from heaven's store
Come and drink and thirst no more
So weep not for me my friend
When my time below does end
For my life belongs to him
Who will raise the dead again

It don't matter where you bury me
I'll be home and I'll be free
It don't matter where I lay
All my tears be washed away"

The above are the lyrics from my favorite Emmylou Harris song, All My Tears, and a very moving one it is, guaranteed to moisten the eyes of most. This is on her Wrecking Ball album, from 1995. It was this song that went through my head yesterday when I finally reached the bus on the Stampede Trail and saw the plaque left by Christopher McCandless's family.

I had made three previous attempts to reach "The Bus" in the past year, after seeing the movie, and it's reminder of when I read John Krakauer's story of Chris McCandless interesting and tragic journey, Into the Wild, many years ago. As I mentioned before, Chris's story and fate resonates strongly with many people who live in places like Alaska, or the West, who are attracted to wilderness, and upset by many aspects of our modern society. Which is what kept driving me to get in and see this place.

My first attempt was in March last year, when my friend Erik and I had the wrong GPS coordinates, and forgot that the bus was right on the Stampede trail. We spent several hours looking up and around the Savage River, miles from it's real location (we got bogus coordinates from a Google Earth image, thanks to some prankster!), wallowing in deep snow in the trees. By the time we finished our 28 mile ski that day, we were worn out. Erik is amazing though, one of those people who have innate athletic capabilities. When we first met two years ago, and started running together, within a few weeks he was faster than me on our long runs, with very little training beforehand. He ran a 3:40 Equinox marathon in 2007 with very little training, which was incredible. With more focused training, I can foresee him being one of the faster runners and skiers in Fairbanks, when he is able to move back from Valdez. So it is always a pleasure when we can do a long run or ski together, we push each other.

My second attempt was a month later, when I started in on skis in mid-April. Unfortunately, though it was about +15F with great snow in the morning, it warmed up to near +45F by mid-day, and the snow turned to slop. My kick wax on my classic skis just couldn't get a grip in that stuff, so I had to turn back ten miles in (the bus is about 21 miles in from the end of Stampede Road). It ended up taking me twice as long to get back, slipping up all the inclines.

Attempt number three was last September, the subject of my "Halfway In To The Wild" post. I was going to do one of my fast-packs, hiking/running with a light pack, hoping to make a long day of the 40 mile journey (it's shorter in summer, you can park further down Stampede Road) on foot. But it had been quite rainy in late August and early September, so the trail was mostly underwater. Then, ten miles in, the Teklanika River was raging, at least four feet deep with huge standing waves, no one or nothing was going to get across that. And, Mattie almost got swept away in a little side stream of it. We turned back.

This time Erik and I planned to do it when we figured there would be good snow (there was), warmer weather, and a long day. We met at the end of Stampede Road, where plowing ends, at 0830, and hit the trail at 0900. Unfortunately, a moderate chinook wind was blowing. This is when south flow aloft moves over/through the Alaska Range, into the interior, bringing warmer air. But the wind funnels through the gaps/canyons of the Range, and can be quite strong. You can see some drifts on the trail right behind me here, this is just as we got started. The wind was a good 20-40 mph in exposed locations. It wasn't too cold, about +25F, which helped out greatly, due to an unforeseen incident at mile 13 of our 42 mile day.

Unfortunately, I had chosen to try out some new, short, lightweight, classic racing skis, which I plan to train on next ski season. I was told by Dave Lokken, the knowledgeable salesman at our sports store, that he takes his out sometimes in the back-country, so I thought I would, thinking their lighter weight and design for fast movement would make the trip go faster. With the wind though, the trail on the first 13 miles in had drifted over in many areas. This was tough going, breaking trail with these short skinny skis. Worse yet though, these skis are very unstable on an uneven surface, especially on a fast downhill without tracks, so I fell many times during the day, spraining a wrist, and aggravating some old foot, knee, and hand injuries.

The day was going well, in spite of the conditions, and my falls, Erik and I were having a great time chatting and enjoying the scenery, and of course, our co-editor Mattie couldn't have been happier, being free to romp, roll, and roam to her heart's delight. But, at mile 13, we had to skirt some overflow ice, from a small stream (overflow is when still-flowing water under ice-covered streams/rivers sometimes is forced up and over the ice). I took off my skis, since they aren't metal-edged for grip on ice, and plunged in up past my knee in icy water. Crap, this was not good, 13 miles in, on a 42 mile day. Fortunately, since it wasn't bitter cold, we decided it best to see if I could dry out enough to keep going. Had it been below zero, we would have had to return immediately. But, between some extra clothes and socks I had with me, I was able to dry out the boot somewhat, and though my foot stayed damp and cold, frost-bite was not imminent.

After crossing the Teklanika River, ten miles in, Stampede trail winds up a side drainage (where I got wet) for about 3 miles, then out over rolling terrain, the rest of the way. With the ceaseless wind, my wet foot, the painfull falls, and plowing through drifts, I wasn't sure we'd make it by 330 pm, our planned turn-back time.

Finally, at 315 pm, there it was! Mattie reached it first, of course. Some snowmachiners were already there, they had passed us a few miles before (thankfully breaking trail for us!). But they only stayed a little while, then Erik, Mattie, and I were able to check out the bus by ourselves.

Alot of snowmachiners over the years have come out to the bus, as have dog mushers, and a much smaller amount of skiers. With all of these visitors, some of whom haven't been very respectful, the interior of the bus is a mess, full of grafitti (some meaningful though), broken pieces of it, old camping waste and material left behind, and various other detritus. This is looking up to the front of the bus.

Erik is leaning up against the old bed, that Chris used during his stay, and which I sat on for a few minutes, warming up my wet foot. I think people are still sleeping on it, judging by all the refuse around. You can see the plaque on the wall the McCandless family left, on the right-hand side. The barrel stove there would be quite warm, except most of the windows were broken, and so the cool chinook winds were blowing through.

This was my best Chris McCandless imitation, a little eerie in retrospect for me, considering all my near-death experiences I've had over the years, two in the past two years.

We only spent about a half-hour at the bus, we had a long 21 miles back in the wind ahead of us, and it was getting near 4 pm. I was cold from my wet foot, and of course once we stopped moving, we started to chill pretty quickly, with our slightly sweaty layers on. Of course, we had a wind-proof shell on to wear when we stopped moving, but even with those, it got chilly fast.

But, the way back was beautiful, in the late afternoon/early evening sun. This was about 5 pm, a few miles on the way back from the bus. It was pretty windy there on that exposed slope. There she is, Denali in her 6195 meter (20,320 ft.) majesty, crowned by a banner of blowing snow from the mild south flow aloft.

Here is a large area of overflow near the Teklanika river. As you can see, we were able to ski around it. But you can see some actual liquid water over the ice. Terrible footing there!

We had an energy break at 6pm, then our dinner break at 7 pm, when our mileage was up to about 36 miles. Mattie got her extra large dinner with smoked salmon then, since she had probably already covered 70 miles! But during these breaks, with the wind, I got really cold, thanks to my wet foot mainly. So much so, that I was in the first stages of hypothermia, with uncontrollable shivering at the dinner stop. As soon as I finished eating, I told Erik I had to get moving, and took off fast. I warmed up enough to become comfortable and lucid within a mile or so, fortunately.

The last several miles we enjoyed better trail conditions than on the way in, thanks to the snowmachiners. This really helped, since we were somewhat tired, and the chinook winds were still blowing. We turned our headlamps on around 9pm, and finally reached our vehicles at 1030 pm, 13 1/2 hours and 42 miles after our start. It sure felt great to get back to warmth and our creature comforts, but we had an unforgettable day, with some (mis)adventures, and a great workout in a wilderness setting. The moose, caribou, and wolves were all in hiding though, our only wildlife encounters were several snowshoe hare, which Mattie couldn't get near. Mattie surely had to have covered 70 to 80 miles, with all her running around, but she stayed fresh and alert to the very end. Amazing, considering she hadn't had much exercise the previous few weeks, while I was away in the lower 48. It was a somber experience as well, seeing where Chris M. spent his last days, we just wish people would have been a little more respectful there. Cheers.