Buckskin Gulch - White House - Toadstools

Last April we had three weeks of rain, and I wanted so badly to get out of town and into some sun. This April we finally realized a decade long dream of going to the Grand Canyon. We tacked on a few side trips along the way.

We flew to Phoenix and then hit the road to Vermilion cliffs and Paria Canyon. Driving all day, we arrived in Page, AZ after dark, and then couldn't find our campground. Fortunately, I had gotten a good deal on an SUV so (after driving back and forth in the dark) we just pulled off of the highway and slept in the car.

In the morning we drove along a muddy, rutted road to the trailhead for Buckskin gulch. Mr. X negotiated the muddy road well, but we were both glad to have four-wheel drive. We were a little surprised when a Canadian couple bounced into parking lot in a little rented sedan. We hiked with Amanda and her husband for much of the gulch.

We hiked to progressively narrow canyon walls. Traversing cold water puddles, enjoying the sun reflecting on the ribbon-ed rocks. We spotted a mouse and marveled at the remains of flood debris more than 40 feet above our heads.

Knowing that thunderstorms were in the forecast, we hustled out of the canyon after hitting a dead end in the form of a boulder the size of school bus. On the way back we spotted some pictographs on the wall. 

The road had dried significantly, so we had little trouble getting back to highway 89. We stopped at the Whitehouse Campground for dinner and the host told us about the white conch shell formation up the second wash. The thunderstorm rolled through right above Buckskin Gulch.

We were also guided to the Toadstools. The weather followed us and we did not wish to be out in the open  with lightning.

We headed into Page loving the views of the Glen Canyon area, including the Glen Canyon dam.

Eagle Glacier

A few years ago, we tried this trail on a hot, hot day in June. About two miles in, Mr. X broke his toe and there went our summer. This time, we made sure Mr. X had proper footwear and we were off.

Actually, we didn't start until about 2 pm and since we knew we had at least 10 miles round trip, we were in a bit of a hurry. We quickly passed the wide flat trail near the highway and headed into the rooty, rocky, windfall laden trail on the edge of the Eagle glacier river.

We spotted woodpeckers and just the tips of devil's club.

We crossed the river and many streams and were amazed to find elaborate planking covered with roofing material about three miles in. We thrilled at the sight of a beaver dam, which was flooding portions of the trail. We loved the blueberry bushes on the edge of a muskeg. And got yelled at by a few Stellar's Jays.

We made to the Eagle Glacier Cabin, but it was occupied so we backtracked down the trail to eat our dinner - pbJ with raisins and bananas - at the lake.

On the hike out we managed to walk right up on a black bear. He totally played it cool and even let me take his picture after we got some distance from him. He stood completely still chewing his cud, pretending he hadn't seen us. When we got completely around him, he turned and crouched in a defensive position. It had to be the day that I forgot to pack the bear spray. Mr. X reached for a couple stones that he carried for the next three miles in case the bear followed us. Once we had to scramble our neanderthal tools were abandoned.

We were treated to sights of a porcupine, kingfishers, swans and the calls of an owl.

Benjamin Island

In Mid-May we paddled out to Benjamin Island to see the sea lions. We hiked through the woods, surprised at how many wind falls there were and also surprised that someone had left a campfire smoldering. The breeze likely whipped it back up. I got a good chuckle at the new signs posted. It's never my intention to get close enough to a 500 lb animal to feed it. No thank you.

It was a Friday afternoon and so we had the island all to ourselves. A little creepy. A little satisfying. There was no one to make us feel guilty about how much time we spent watching the sea lions. I enjoyed seeing the little pups nursing and the teenagers harassing each other. Mr. X liked the lion with what appeared to be an entire salmon stuck to the side of his face...err looks like you got a little something right there.

There was enough of a cold breeze that we hiked back to east side of the island to eat our sandwiches. Mr. X was impressed with the new benches someone has made. On our paddle back to boulder beach we managed to scare both ourselves and a solitary sea lion. He was minding his own business, diving and playing. Unfortunately our timing was poor because he surfaced about 10 feet from us. We were glad he chose to re-dive immediately. Crossing back to the mainland we had to navigate through some fairly deep waters that also happen to go from protected to less protected. I'll admit the rolling waves made me a little sea-sick and I couldn't enjoy watching the water birds until we got out of the wind tunnel. Then I was pleased to see bonaparte gulls, scoters, and grebes.

Mining ruins

The spring whether has bit me like a bug. I can't get enough walking or hiking or relaxing on the beach. One evening I convinced Mr. X to follow some off the beaten path instructions I had found on the internet. There are some old prospector relics north of the West Glacier Trail and I wanted to find them.

Since Mr. X loves bushwhacking, this really wasn't a sacrifice for him and lucky for me, while it wasn't a beaten path, there definitely was a path the whole way. No windfalls to climb over, no trail tape or other markers necessary.

We found the broken glass, tin plates and cast iron pots.

We found the foundation of an old building -- maybe a prospector's cabin. I was delighted to find the trench and heavily veined rock.
A nice walk in a nice forest.

Lena Point

We have a new neighbor who likes to go out Friday nights. The going out isn't a problem, but the coming home at 3 a.m. is. The fact that it's now light at that time means if I'm woken, I'm up for day.

One Saturday I needed to get out and Mr. X and I headed out for a short hike to Lena Point. We were glad to see John Mikesell's Eagle Scout project is still around. Mr. X says though that the base needed some rocks so he carefully scrambled down the cliff face and hauled a couple large rocks up to use as foot stools. He found some prehistoric insects living on the rocks. He was pleased. I was a little grossed out.

While working on rocks, we spotted a large male orca. And then two more. And then a pod of three with a calf. All told we watched a dozen orcas pass by the point.

Pt. Bishop Trail -- Thane

For Martin Luther King day, Mr. X and I decided to try the Point Bishop Trail which is at the end of the road on the south end of town.

We hadn't previously taken this trail as I had heard it was unmaintained. There are some areas that appear to have be preparing to wash out and there were a few windfalls, but the for the most part it is well maintained. Of course we were in rubber boots and full rain gear, so the muddy, root-y portions were ignored.

For the first mile and and half we were hiking above the Gastineau channel and frequently heard the calls of water birds. Eventually we split off and headed away from the water and into the forest. We wound around moss covered mountains and crossed crystal clear streams running quite quickly in our mild winter weather. 

I was nervous about frosty board walks, and narrow canyons, but thoroughly enjoyed the hike. We had to turn around though because the weak January sun was dropping low, and we didn't want to be out in the dark. We'll go back again and hope to be able to launch the rafts and some point along the trail, perhaps on the Taku River. 

Dog-sitting and Alaska Day

We had ten days walking and hiking with a 15-year old gordon setter named Zoe who lives in downtown Juneau. We had our share of homegrown carrots, lunchtime walks, Taku winds, smoked salmon, and urban bears.

The bear made its appearance on the first night. We were heading the same direction and I wasn't too keen on following him while holding the leash on a dog that could pass for a shaggy bear cub. We tried to go walking in daylight after being stuck waiting for the bruin to head off into someone's yard.

We took Zoe on a 5 mile, 1800' hike to the tram on Mt. Roberts to celebrate Alaska day (we also walked her part-way up the lower Dan Moller trail, but there was frost and ice so none of us really enjoyed that one).

All along the way, we were greeted by others who were amazed by her stamina. "Yes, us too. No, we can't take credit for her health, we're just the sitters."

I was pretty nervous - as in I just can't watch that - when she'd venture too close to the cliff edge...she's deaf and getting cataracts... But she really enjoyed being off leash for a few miles.

At the top the wind had picked up and so we cancelled our goals to hike farther up the mountain.

The last quarter mile of the hike I was calling and clapping and offering treats, just hoping Zoe would return to me to get her leash back on. We waited for her to turn back but she just continued down the trail toward the parking lot. Did I mention that she's a bird dog that never figured out cars? At the road she made a bee-line to greet a stranger. Fortunately she timed it just right to avoid any traffic and finally saw me racing toward her, treat bag in hand.

Trail work

Our ward did a day of service for the State of Alaska Parks Department. When the day turned out to be miserably wet, we still had a blast. 

September 20th, we headed out to Point Bridget State Park to do some trail work. All decked out in rain gear and rubber boots, we shoveled pit run into wooden frames like this one.

Fortunately for us the rocks had be helicoptered in, so after our six hours of work we only had to carry back the empty bags for the state park to reuse.

We had people of all shapes and sizes. At one point I was explaining to a four and six year old how they could go into the trees and pick out clumps of moss to re-vegetate some of the eroded trail. The four year old started out enthusiastically, dropping tiny pieces of moss down the middle of the trail like Gretel from the old fairy tale. The crew chief bust his gut laughing at them.

I was relieved when about three hours into our project a couple Tongan men arrived, and they led the gravel bag dragging team like they were hitting the grid iron.

Afterward Mr. X said his back was sore and he injured it further helping some senior citizens cutting down a tree the next week. I may have had a run in with the shovels on Mr. X's shoulder. Thankfully my hat took the brunt of the impact. The next day I was shocked at the soreness of my fingers from all the shoveling.

When we hiked out to the Blue Mussel Cabin in January, we were pleased to see our efforts peeking out under the snow.

Blueberries at Eaglecrest

On one rare sunny Saturday in August, Mr. X and I met up with Brad for some berry picking at the ski area. There were people and pets all over the place picking blueberries, cloud berries and who knows what else.

Walking up the maintenance road less than a half mile we found an abundance of berries, including the sweetest bog berries tucked against a steep incline just off a ski run. We dyed our hands and one of us - the seat of our pants - purple in our pursuit of a blueberry tart.

The sun shone and a light breeze kept us comfortable. Blueberries for Sal may or may not have been quoted. Before we knew it, three hours had passed and our buckets were full. Pausing for a quick snack break of cheese and crackers I questioned why we hadn't brought camp chairs for tail-gating in the parking lot. As we slipped downtown to drop Brad off we ran into other friends who showed us their stained hands and reported that their 15 year old pup was napping after frolicking with a ptarmigan.

And then we went home where I make my first tart.

Memorial Saturday: Mt. Juneau

After eight years of living in Juneau, we finally hiked Mt. Juneau. We wondered why we hadn't done it sooner, the views throughout the hike are stupendous - rather than a hard slog through trees and it's really a quick jaunt - not a 10 hour ordeal like some other alpine hikes I know. 

We drove to the Perseverance trail head and started with only one other car in the lot.

 We had wonderful views of Mt. Roberts and downtown almost the whole way. 

Of course then dark clouds rolled in and I remembered that every other time we've planned or attempted this trail, the weather didn't cooperate. That's the trouble for us; if the weather looks good in the valley, it's not necessarily good downtown.

I've heard that the trail is so much better now that Trail Mix put in switchbacks, reducing the tough scramble up the steep slope. 

This was our first real hike of the season and I just plum didn't trust myself or my shoes. The trail crosses a couple of waterfalls and during spring melt this was enough to set my teeth a-chattering. Mr. X walked straight through. I did more of a scramble.

Despite the hot temperatures and sun we had throughout May, several snow sheets were still in place. I don't mind the one below in which there is a bit of grass at the end. Those other sheets that end in a sheer drop-off were not my favorite.

A nice view of Gastineau Channel to Stephen's Passage.

For most of the hike it also felt like we were on our own, hiking by ourselves. We did leapfrog some Portuguese hikers a couple times, but they ended up skipping this snow sheet and heading up the old trail - straight up the mountain. I was was wishing we had tried that route on the way down.

Once on top we explored the old wreckage left from a proposed Mt. Juneau tram (pre-Mt Roberts). The building was full of four feet of blown snow.

We sat down in some mostly dry heather to chicken salad pita sandwiches and chocolate and almonds overlooking the mountains of the Juneau icefield.

The wind gusted and it was cold. Another hiker had warned us on his way down that it was cold and he was having trouble warming up. I was glad that we had packed layers since I had been removing all the clothes I could on the way up, but when my thumbs went numb, I was happy to pile on my hat and neck gator and jacket.

On the way down we greeted a number of hikers on the way up. Several asked if they were almost there or how many snow sheets there were. One wanted to hike the ridge line to Granite Creek Basin, but I mentioned that there was a cornice on the ridge since they were worried about the snow sheets. Apparently some hikers in town wouldn't be dissuaded by that, but if you're worried about snow sheets, you probably would worry about a cornice, at least that's my logic.

It seemed like Mr. X knew everyone out for the hike. A number of people stopped did a double take and said, "Hey, that's [Mr. X]". When we got back to the parking lot it was overflowing. A popular day to be out and about.

I was glad that on the way down I had regained my hiking confidence and I hope this season will be a stellar one.

Ebner falls as seen from Perseverance Trail

After returning from our trip to Hoonah and Tenakee, I learned that a woman went missing that weekend on the neighboring Mt. Roberts and major search occurred through the holiday weekend and beyond. The loss is startling and distressing. It's made me wring my memory in the hopes that I remember something or someone on the mountain, but we didn't see anyone matching her description and in reality, we were probably a day late. It's a reminder of how precious life is and the risks of going in the back country even if it's less than a mile from downtown.

Alaska day

October 18th is Alaska day. I celebrated by going to the Berry Patch cabin at Eagle beach. Mr. X was sick with a cold and had a presentation for work the next Tuesday so he opted to stay home in bed. Friday was a rainy day. I packed up some books, a camp chair and some goodies. I chose not to overachieve by cooking pizza over the campfire or haul the gear for dutch oven cooking and instead just have a nice relaxing day.

At the cabin, shortly after I'd burned through all my t.p. trying (and failing) to light the oil stove, I noticed that there were a dozen seals playing in the river just in front of the cabin. So I sat on the porch and watched them leaping out of the water, throwing their flippers in the air. I then turned my attention to my book and heating water for my hot cocoa. Only the best. Double chocolate with marshmallows.

An hour later I realized the rain had truly stopped so I decided to take the little loop trail from the Eagle beach campground to the Eagle glacier trail and around the backside of the Methodist camp. Mr. X made sure I took the bear spray when I left the house, but I forgot to take it on my hike. Biologists are saying that most bears are denned up already, so the precaution was mostly for human encounters...since the only people I saw all day were moms with toddlers, I'm pretty sure, it was okay the spray stayed in the cabin.

Almost directly behind the Methodist camp I found this toadstool. It was about ten inches in diameter and I was amazed that no one had come and crushed it yet.

I walked through the muskeg on the planked trail loving the red and orange colors of the grasses, the green and gray witch's beard hanging from the trees and the misty fog floating low in the sky. A perfect mix of fall. I crossed the highway back to the park and saw three eagles fighting for dominance; the two juveniles had to give up their perch. A couple of grebes paddled their way against the river current.

After my hike, I popped up some corn only to run out of stove fuel which meant that those chocolate covered graham crackers weren't going to be s'mores. When it got too dark to read my book, I packed my bags and headed for the car, satisfied with my trip "out-of-town".

Blackerby Ridge

After hitting the Labor day sales at Fred Meyer, Mr. X and I decided to take a hike. Mr. X called B and we settled on Blackerby ridge for the day. After lunch we set off on the trail.

Despite the rainy weather we had the previous days, the trail was in pretty good shape through the woods. We took our time, talking and sharing movie recommendations. At one rotten tree on which we were marvelling at the pumpkin colored fungus, we were greeted by a short-tailed weasil. This little guy was orange brown with a buff underside. He zipped around investigating who we were and what we were doing. Mr. X says he was saying, "I can take you!"

We finally broke out of the trees and trudged out way through the now trail with stream running through it. Mr. X and B stopped to eat blueberries. We then crossed a mushy meadow and climbed some more elevation to a drier meadow. We sat down for a rest and a spruce grouse flew up next to us. After checking us out she proceeded to eat blueberries within 6 feet of us. They aren't called fool hens for nothing.

We hiked up the trail another 100 feet and then sat down for a luxurious dinner with ptarmigan glacier behind us and the Mendenhall wetlands, Auke Bay and Lemon Creek area below. We had a cheese and apple plate, cracked pepper trisuits, chocolate and nuts, Chicken and rice, Chicken ala king and the thing keeping us going through out - red vines. B did some after dinner entertainment - reading Ender's Game.

On the way down the mountain we stopped and picked some blueberries. They were nicely sun ripened and although the easiest spots were picked over, the hardest spots to reach still had large berries, just waiting to be picked. We filled my nalgene bottle. And Sunday I made blueberry muffins to share at a potluck dinner.