Valerie and Mom at the top of the mountain (Resurrection Trail/Turnagain Arm in the distance)
I
slept extremely well, and the temperature was perfect (Bree later
told us we
were the first guests to build a reasonable fire in that cabin, also
the first
group of all women!). When 9:00 rolled around, I thought I'd
better get
up, and managed to unintentionally rouse everyone else in the
process. The
morning was chill and we lit a fire outside again, sitting around it
drinking
tea and coffee and eating eggs, bacon, and sausage for breakfast late
in the
morning. The clouds had lifted to a high overcast, exposing the
tops of
almost all the
mountains. The horses, who had roamed all night
(Bree was
up several times to check on them), were finally resting. They
stood and
lay around the compound in what appeared to be total relaxation and
exhaustion. Frisco fell asleep on his side with his nose stuck
straight
down in the grass and Ebony lay completely on her side with her teeth
exposed,
wheezing softly while she slept. Ranger, her attentive boyfriend,
watched
over her quietly. Orca, however, was with us at the campfire to
our
delight and entertainment.
The morning stretched into early afternoon
before we started talking
about our
options for the day. Bree told us we could do whatever we
wanted.
We could go for a short (i.e., four hour) ride if we wanted to, or go
on one of
several hikes, or stay around camp. Although I think Jeannette
and I
would have happily mounted up, it was getting on in the afternoon and
we weren't wildly enthusiastic to ride again, so we opted for the
hike.
There was the ridge behind us, which would have been a gentle climb,
but I
pushed for the mountain on the other side of Afanasa Creek at the
bottom of our valley, a
triangular shaped, barren mountain covered in rocks and alpine
vegetation. We'd seen a black bear on it the day before.
Bree took us across the
creek via
a log just upriver from the horse crossing, through a few hundred yards
of
scrub on the other side, and up to the base of the alpine zone, tying
some
survey tape to a small, lone spruce tree to guide us to the trail on
the way
back. We saw a mother ptarmigan with white wings and a bunch of
barely-flying babies on the way. The scrub brush we were hiking
through
all along the bottom of the mountain (and in wide swaths everywhere in
site)
was dead or dying, big patches of dry gray twigs without leaves.
We later
found that it was affecting both the unidentified shrub and the willows
that
shared its habitat. Bree said it was a phenomenon she'd seen only
in the
last couple of years. Nearby were healthy green patches that
further
puzzled us.
Even
from this low vantage point, the view was
beautiful, especially
looking
down the valley toward Hope. Vicki, who later realized she'd
mistakenly taken a
night time strength antihistamine, stayed there and fell
asleep on
the soft bed of moss and lichen. Jeannette 
and I headed up
together, followed
by my mother and Valerie, climbing the alpine slope with relative
ease.
The cauliflower-like white lichen was prevalent, along with mats of
crowberries, mosses, and many diminutive alpine flowers in bloom.
We saw
marmot holes, but no marmots. Jeannette
and I reached the peak in
about
an hour, followed shortly by the others. The view was
spectacular.
We discovered that the mountain was more of a single peak than the
start of a
ridge like I imagined. On the other side to the west we could see
the
full length of another rounded valley. To the south, a narrow
saddle
connected us to another bowl which we later explored in search of
caribou (to
no avail). To the north we could see a portion of Turnagain Arm,
18 miles
away near Hope! It was a wonderful hike. On the way down we
encountered another mother ptarmigan and her flock of young ones; she
was gray
with large black spots, camouflaged perfectly and very beautiful.
I heard
them b-gawing before I saw
them. From up that high, it was neat
to see
the tiny compound far below, no other sign of humans anywhere (we were
well off
Resurrection Trail). I tried to figure out what prompted Harry A.
Johnson
to build at that particular location on the hillside, but came up with
nothing (not having explored the area very much). Every place
(notwithstanding soggy ground and steep inclines) looked like a
marvelous
locations to build a cabin.
Back at camp, Bree broke out the cheese, sausage, and crackers, and
Orca made
such a nuisance of himself that he got hobbled. We ate sockeye
for dinner
that night and, for dessert, Bree brought out two crazy grilling
inventions for
the s'mores, cast iron contraptions she had not yet
mastered.
The two square cast iron parts were slightly smaller than a piece of
bread,
each
about an inch deep, and hooked together on one end. Two long
handles,
which
latched together while cooking, were attached to the other end.
Bree
suggested we make s'mores inside by lining them with tortillas and
roasting them
over the fire. A couple people in the group tried this with some
success--they certainly looked beautiful--but I made a traditional
s'more while
the others were grilling. This did prompt some pretty amazing
breakfast
ideas, though, and plans were made for our next meal before we drug
ourselves
to bed.
 L'amor naps |
 My buddy Ranger looks on |
 Ebony fast asleep |
 The horses are exhausted (Valerie) |
 Kona grazes nearby (Valerie) |
 Scout, Orca, and Kona graze (Vicki) |
 Valerie and Orca (who is licking up spilled coffee) |
 Jeannette and Orca |
 Geraniums and paintbrush nearby |
 Afanasa Creek (Valerie) |
 Vicki naps on the tundra |
 Jeannette on our way up the mountain |
 Amenome? |
 Cool liches and mosses in the rocks |
 Valerie and Mom hiking up (campground visible behind) |
 Jeannette on the mountainside |
 Camp is tiny from up there |
 Jeannette, Debbie, and Mom (Valerie) |
 Ptarmigan |
 ..... |
 Gus and L'amor grooming again |
 Orca portrait (Vicki) |
 Mom cooks s'mores |
 Our bunks (Vicki) |
