Hello all, I am alive and well after my first trip in Alaska. I took twelve kids, ages nine to 13, into the mountains to go backpacking. Trailside has been known to have easy trips in the past, and kids will just stop coming after about twelve. So I was excited to see a whole bunch of my old campers waiting for me on my first week. They had all gone backpacking before and were ready for a challenge. I was ready to step up to the plate to facilitate a challenging adventure. I planned to take them up and over Little O'Mailey Mountain, through the Ballpark, down a scree slope, and down a snow field to Willawaw Lakes. We would cover fourteen miles in three days with about two thousand feet chnge in elevation.
It was a formidable challenge to begin with and even harder once we found out the trailhead was closed. The Glen ALps Trailhead was closed due to road work until the following day. We were directed to another the Upper Huffman Trailhead that would add an additional two miles up hill to our already difficult hike. The initial whining began earlier than I anticipated and I started to have my doubts about the kids strength levels, but I recognized that the first mile is often the hardest mile.
We made it past where we should have started had the road been open and had a good view of Little O'Mailey and it was daunting. There was still snow beneath the grey rocky peak pulling up into the sky out of the tundra we were standing on. I knew this was going to be hard for little legs so I had already planned to hike in short intervals with chewy bars and rest breaks in between. We made it half of the way up and found some snow. The kids looked intimidated so we had a snowball fight. Then we practiced our glisading (sliding on the snow while standing). More Chewies and then more hiking. I practically had to push the last kid up, but we all made it to the top with the help of a generous kid that came back down and carried the last kid's pack up.
The Ballpark is a long patch of tundra that has a gentle slope with many false summits. We hiked it and I began to notice alot of the kids spacing out. It was now obvious we had a large range of abilities. The fast kids did not want to stop and wait, but I knew that we had to. They just did not understand the meaning of teamwork.
Eventually we made it to the edge of the ballpark and the begining of the scree slope. Here there was an indentation into the earth the size of a rock quarry called Deep Lake. Here we waited for everybody.
We gave a safety briefing before we attempted the slope. Some of the kids were intimidated by us calling it the most dangerous part of our journey, but it was. I knew that if they were scared they would be careful. Their cooperation and comunication skills were perfect as they carefully picked their way in between boulders and small rocks sliding beneath their feet. I brought up the rear because I had the first aid kit. The last kid to go was very nervous and dependent. He said that he could go no farther so I encouraged him, but he could not budge. So I stood in front of him and had him hold onto my hiking poles and we slowly made our way together. It was insprirational when he let go of my poles and hiked down the second half by himself.
Now we only had to slide down the snow field to get to the bottom of the valley and make camp at Willawaw lakes. I was a bit weary about taking the kids down it until a group of day hikers came down behind us and slid down it with their dogs. After that it was impossible to keep the kids off of it. So we all made it down safely except one girl that slid off the edge and hurt her wrist. She cried for a minute and then calmed down once she realized it was not broken. She just needed to rest and ice it.
So we made it there and got to spend three days surrounded by mountains with dall sheep and lakes with overprotective nesting gulls.
The hike out was seven miles long and mostly down hill through the valley alongside the Campbell Creek.. They all made it in their own time. I knew they could do it. I always had faith in their ability to overcome obsticles even when they did not. What a journey.
This is Christophe signing off. Be well and live fully.
