Oronaut

I don’t normally buy in to “redneck” things like big trucks, guns and cheap beer. But that’s not to say they don’t have their appeal and I can’t be persuaded to indulge once in a while. ;) While the lion’s share of the Montana crew gone those of us remaining wondered what to for another day in Central?

The first night was Weslley’s birthday, so we had a little party. Lots of good food and getting rolled around in an old wood spindle (who needs video games?). The next day we were to go shooting. The Tyrrells are consummate hunters, the dump is a perfect shooting range, and some in our group had never shot guns before, so it was perfect. After chilling for a while watching (awesome) family movies about hunting up north (and wrecking planes) we loaded up to go shooting at the dump. We blew up a bunch of bottles and cans with a full range of weapons: shotguns, .22s, a 44-magnum, a Glock and a high-powder hunting rifle. Good times!

Then on the way back we stopped at the power plant to get air in a tire and saw… the track rig. This monstrous machine, nicknamed “the Juggernaut”, started life as a utility vehicle for putting in power lines in rough, swampy terrain. The drill is still on the back and it does get used for this sometimes. However - perhaps when an old Ford truck cab was installed on it? - it has been co-opted as more of a recreation vehicle. The kind of recreation vehicle you can really only use in Alaska…

What amazed us even more than the bastard tank-mobile itself was that the owner offered to lube and gas it up so we could take it for a spin!

And he did. And we did. :)

It turns out its very difficult to drive (who would have thought?). Just a few low gears, no reverse, and really slow, unresponsive turning. A few of us tried to drive it, but Elise ended up being the best at it and piloted us around for most of it. What was fun though - and easy too - is just sitting on the back drinking cheap beer while the beast crawls through creeks and over tree! I told you a could be persuaded to the redneck side.

Our redneck fun took a sour turn though, only 20 or so minutes out. One of ours (Jess) was at the wheel when we were confronted with a suspiciously deep looking pond. Unsure of what to do we stopped, and looked to the Juggernaut’s owner for guidance.

“Go for it! Take ‘er in!” was our reply.

We went for it. And the pond was deep. The left side of the juggernaut dropped and pitched the whole machine over to a 45 degree angle. We all had to run for the high side of the deck to stay dry, just like the Titanic. The rig wouldn’t go any farther without threatening to tip all the way over, so we jumped ship. We blew it! Why did they let a bunch of inexperienced “kids” like us drive this thing! Our entourage of local supervisors (heh) were, if anything, just excited that we got it stuck though. This was an opportunity to bring out more toys to get is unstuck!!

They pulled the juggernaut out of the pond, and let us all get back in. “Just go around this pond on your way back!”

The juggernaut’s owner is also the Central Bar’s owner, so we all headed down there to celebrate. Besides the drinking, it was cool to check out the skins for sale at the store which the Tyrrells has trapped over the winter. Wolf, lynx, marten, etc. And the beaver mittens!!! Each mitten is one whole beaver. Makes you realize just how cold it gets up there in the winter…

And with that our time in Central was over. Time to begin the long drive home. After a quick dip in the abandoned hot spring we bid our farewells and hit the road.

Tags: beaver mittens, Central, Central Alaska, Circle Hot Springs, redneck fun, track rig
Posted in 4x4, Alaska, Outdoors, road trip | No Comments »

Leaving Valdez we headed to Central, the home turf of the groom of the wedding we just attended. The small town of Central is, well, basically in central Alaska as a matter of fact. It’s about three hours North of Fairbanks on the Steese Highway (NOT to be confused with the Dalton Highway/Haul Road to Prudhoe Bay) just short of where the road ends in Circle on the banks of the Yukon River.

As an aside (because it has nothing to do with Central), on the road from Valdez to Glennallen we were treated to perfect views of the Wrangell mountains - a sight I didn’t get to see last year due to the clouds. It was stunning. Freaking incredible. 11600′ Mt Drum, 16000′ Mt Sanford, massive, rounded 14000′ Mt Wrangell and 16000′ Mt Blackburn. Not only are some of these peaks higher than any in the continental US, but the road we were on was only at about 2000′. I’m not sure what it is about large, dramatic, geographic relief, but I love it. It’s powerful, and Alaska is loaded with “it”.

Anyway, Central is where, one year ago, I had floated Birch Creek with Luke and three others. This time there were about 14 of us who came up after the wedding so there weren’t enough boats for a river trip (or enough time). So what to do in Central with 14 guests? Well, the Tyrells have some bush planes, and everyone wanted to take a ride in them anyway, so a plan was hatched to use the planes to ferry everyone out to a camping spot for a few days. That way everyone would get a short flight and we could all experience a little “real” Alaska by getting off the road system!

They thought of the perfect place to fly us out to: the Yukon-Charley National Preserve. Not only did the Preserve have one of the closer landing strips, but it’s on the Yukon River and has an old gold mining dredge and other things to check out as well.  What’s the difference between a National Preserve and a National Park you ask? Basically, you can hunt on a Preserve. 10 of America’s 18 “Preserves” are in Alaska, unsurprisingly. The Yukon-Charley Preserve is one of the Tyrell’s bear hunting spots, which is why they were familiar with the area and knew it would be a good place to take some tourists.

So we got our camping gear in order and one plane load at a time we were all dropped off in Yukon-Charley. There were actually three planes involved in Operation Montana Tourists: the Tyrell’s Cessna 180 and Piper PA-12, and their friend Phil’s Piper Producer (a modified PA-22/Super Cub thing, I think). The first night we camped right near the landing strip beside Gold Creek and had a good old time swimming in the tailing ponds and hiking up the strip to the old gold mining camp, which is now a Park Service depot.

The second day we hiked down the old road towards the Yukon. Along the way is the old Gold Creek Dredge, a well preserved example of the many floating dredges which replaced panning as a more efficient way to extract gold from Alaska and the Yukon. These beastly “gold factories” were brought in via riverboat and horses piece by piece toward the end of the gold rush. They were assembled on promising streams and dredged up and down these remote waterways, pulled around by caterpillar tractors and digging themselves the ponds they floated in. They are impressive machines and a LOT of fun to climb around on. :)

After the Dredge we continued to the Yukon where we planned to stay at Slaven’s Roadhouse, a historic site where travelers going along the Yukon by dogsled or boat could stay and get a hot meal. It has been converted into a public use cabin and is very well cared for by the Park service, complete with interpretive information. We missed the turn off the road to the Roadhouse right before you hit the river, and since the ice in the Yukon had just broken up we found ourselves climbing over huge beached icebergs while trying to get to the river. It was a bit of a hassle with our packs on, but amazing since I’d never seen anything like it before.

Swimming in the Yukon and the rest of our stay at Slavens was very enjoyable, but many of our Montana party had to catch flights soon so we left after one night. We hiked back to the landing strip and were soon home in Central again. I cannot thank the Tyrells enough for what generous hosts they are. Even with 14 guests!! But even though most of the MT crew had to leave, some of us were able to stay a couple more days, and, let me tell you, from what I can tell the fun never stops in Central… :P

Tags: Alaska, bush plane, Central, Central Alaska, gold creek dredge, slavens roadhouse, yukon, Yukon River, yukon-charley, yukon-charley national preserve
Posted in Alaska, Backpacking, Cabins/Huts, Hiking, Outdoors, road trip | No Comments »

The morning before the wedding and the day we drove out of town we skiing up on Thompson Pass. The first day was only my girlfriend’s second day backcountry skiing ever, so we did a pretty mild and short run on the East side the road, on the shoulder of Odyssey. The second day was similar, but on the West side to mix it up, near the glacier. Both days were beautiful and sunny, with stunning views of the Chugach. Here are some pictures!

Tags: Backcountry Skiing, Chugach, Odyssey, Skiing, summer skiing, Thompson Pass, Valdez
Posted in Alaska, Backcountry Skiing, Skiing, road trip | No Comments »

At last we arrived in Valdez. When we got there it was - as it often is - cloudy and rainy but it was exciting to see our friends and catch up and drink and generally have a good time. We were to stay at a neighbors house just across the green space from the Bride’s house, and what a house this was! The entry was full over impressive hunting trophies and the basement where we would be staying… let’s just say a REI store wishes they had this much gear. Kayaks, skis of all sorts, climbing gear, a wall of sleeping bags, a homemade rowing skull… the works. It was incredible. And there was a sauna! The sauna really sealed the deal.

The next day the Wedding Party got busy doing wedding stuff, so we had some time to roam around. Some highlights were walking on the beach at low tide, exploring the docks, eating miscellaneous fried seafood at the Alaska Halibut House, a drunken beach bonfire and a short ski day on Thompson Pass which I will talk about later… but the thing that intrigued me most was the house we were staying at. We had mostly been hanging out with Montana friends, but while chilling with the house’s residents (the daughters at least, home for the summer from various schools) I learned it was the castle of the late Andrew Embick. The name wasn’t familiar to me, but if I were much of a kayaker or climber it probably would have been. While I was there I greatly enjoyed flipping though Fast & Cold, A Guide To Alaska Whitewater, which he wrote. The guy did so many Alaskan whitewater first descents, it’s crazy. He also wrote Blue ice & black gold: A climbers [sic] guide to the frozen waterfalls of Valdez Alaska, a lesser known work about ice climbing around Valdez. I think he even started the ice climbing festival there. And in addition to being an all around bad-ass outdoorsman, he was a Doctor. An article I found online at the Alaskan Dispatch best sums up his life and death, but I bring it up because staying at his house added some extra - and very wild - Valdez flavor to our visit.

The day of the wedding finally arrived and LO, and BEHOLD, the weather was clear, beautiful, and perfect in every way. The ceremony went down without a hitch on the beach, framed by the magnificent Chugach glinting in the sun. The cast and characters assembled on the beach were a riot, ranging form very nicely dressed people, to folks wearing what was obviously their only tie (with a stain on it), to t-shirt clad locals just stopping by. The reception at the Eagles Hall was a hoot as well, consisting of good friends, good food (Moose ribs!), hours of wild dancing, and good times all around. The Alaskan Wedding this whole trip revolved around was everything I hope it would be, and would have been worth the drive by itself.

The day after we (as in: everyone who came to the wedding who wanted to) we treated to a short raft trip down Keystone Canyon! It was one of those early season deals where the guides are getting back in practice and need guinea pigs, so you get to go for free. The water in Keystone is fresh snow melt this time of year, and glacier melt the rest of the summer, so we had to suit up in ultimate-dry gear. The float was short, but fun with a few big splashes and great up-close views of Bridal Veil and the other magnificent waterfalls into the canyon.

Lastly, we were able to pull a few strings and work the “local” angles we had and secured some sea kayaks for a brief jaunt out of the harbor. The good weather held the whole time we stayed in Valdez, so it was a real treat. The last time I went sea kayaking in Valdez we got dropped off at Shoup Bay, which was awesome, but the winds kicked up on our paddle home and it was a little scary. Not this time. Clam water and blue skies. We saw some Eagles, and maybe a seal. Mostly, I just don’t get to spend much time near the ocean living in Montana, so I always enjoy the novelty.

Finally, on our way out of town, we did another short ski day on Thompson pass, but I’m reserving the next post for that so as to include extra pictures. Let me just say now, though, for the record: skiing on the pass, sea kayaking, whitewater rafting, seafood, [ice] climbing, towering beautiful peaks all around… on a sunny day in the summer, Valdez is pretty much heaven on Earth.

Tags: Alaska, Chugach, Keystone Canyon, rafting, sea kayaking, Valdez, Whitewater
Posted in Alaska, Boating, road trip | No Comments »