About an hour later we were on the trail...if you could call it that! For the next three days we bushwhacked through squishy tundra bogs, dense low lying willow forests, rocky stream beds, and over crumbling mountain passes. All along the way, berry patches were spread throughout the tundra like a carpet. THEY WERE EVERYWHERE! If we hadn't brought food it would have been very easy to live off the land for a few days! Chris stopped so many times to pick and eat these delectable candies of nature that Lauren thought it high time to make a poem about his affinity for blueberries. They are soooo much better than the ones we buy in the store. They are very sweet and a little tart, and even the squishy past ripe ones are delicious! No wonder the bears love them so much!
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There once was a man named Chris
a chance he would not miss
to travel to the land that was so merry
and this, my friends, was the Land of Berry
In this land there was no law
so many a berry he snatched from the bear paw
Quick and nimble was he
as he ran over rocks and down the scree
Angry were the bears he had robbed
so they started a great bear mob
Bears of all age
Full of red rage
Soon plotted their quest
they vowed no sleep or rest
Until the stolen berries were their own
and their teeth picked clean with his bone
As their stomachs rumbled
away down the hills they bumbled
Happy and satisfied was Chris
with his belly full of bliss
He sat down to ponder
and his mind began to wander
As the night grew deep
he soon he fell asleep
The bears were delighted
for it was the robber asleep they sighted
As they surrounded
his heart pounded
He awoke in a cold sweat
face to face with a big bear he had previously met
He fell to his knees
and began to plead
Please don't eat me
for I am all bone as you can see
It was pity the bears felt
and soon their hearts began to melt
The big bear said we will keep you intact
but we need to make a pact
In this land, you will abide by this one law
you will never again snatch from the bear paw
This was the deal
that Chris would not steal
Chris was relieved to be alone
as the bears began their trek home
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All that day we hiked until the sun began to sink low and disappear behind the mountains. We hiked up a ridge of Polychrome Mountain and continued on down into the valley from its saddle. On the top we took many pictures of the Alaska range, or at least what the clouds were not obscuring from our view. We have rarely seen the sun while we have been in Alaska. The Autumns here are cold, wet, and very foggy. When we had come down from the saddle we traversed laboriously through the spongy tundra and thick willows. Finally we turned down into the valley where the river was flowing and its banks were wide and gravelly. There we camped, made dinner and went to bed.
Chris slept soundly for most of the night but Lauren was frightened by the night noises. She often thought an animal or several were outside the tent, making mischief. She was certain that the tail of a wolf had brushed against the tent and for several minutes did not dare to breathe. In the morning, still frightened, she would not even open the tent door in fear that something may attack her! Chris got out, looked around, and found the wolf's tail! It was our permit attached to the tent! As the wind blew in the night it made the permit scrape against the tent wall. Silly Lauren! I am actually ashamed of the fear that paralyzes me at those moments. Not that the fear of a wolf or a grizzly is not a rationale thing. It is that the fear consumes me and I give into the anxiety of my thoughts and forget to have faith in God. I know how powerful and big he is, and yet the cracking of a dry twig in the night causes my heart to falter, and doubt the strength of his promise. It is something I am trying to give to God, my Ultimate Protector. The next morning we decided to make better use of the natural path the river bank provided. We continued on down until we came to a wide river plain. According to our topo map it was the East Fork of the Toklat River. We planned to use it to guide us towards a low pass called cabin pass. We saw caribou in the distance, but they never came close enough for any good pictures. That, unfortunately, was all the wildlife we saw. We were very loud and often yelled "Hey Bear" or, "Da Bears" or, "How about a big bear hug", to prevent surprising any bears in front of us. We were advised to do this by the rangers. It was incredibly annoying and frustrating as it took away all the peace and serenity of the place, and scared all the wildlife away. We crossed the pass safely and descended to the main body of the Toklat River through a very steep but pretty valley. It was sheltered enough that the birches and willows grew tall, providing for us an easy passageway under there boughs. The fall colors were all around us and when we came to the main river, the river plain was enormously wide and filled with glacier streams braiding there way downstream. Many times we had to cross these streams. Icy cold was the water, although no more than thigh deep. Our feet and toes were numb and bone white by the time we set up camp and made dinner. We went to bed as it began raining. Whew!
It continued all night. The following day started well as we followed the river until we had to ford more streams. We must have crossed the streams 20 times until we finally reached the road. Once there we ate our lunch and waited for a bus to take us back to the main entrance. It came an hour later. The views on the way back were breathtaking!
When we reached the car we did what we could to freshen up and changed into clean clothes. It has been almost a month since our last real shower. Ewwww! We don't smell very good, so we are trying to avoid people more and more. After we finished packing our gear we drove to Anchorage. The views of the Alaska range were so beautiful! The peaks were all shrouded in mists and clouds. Often a peak or range of tall peaks would thrust its way through the cloud covering to reveal its jagged snow capped ridges. Never did Mt. McKinley show itself to us, to our dismay! The highest peak we saw was Mt. Foraker (17,400 ft) which was still very impressive to behold, and it left us to imagine the majesty of McKinley that would have soared to a height of 20,320 feet! All capped with glaciers and freshly fallen snow. Winter is just around the corner up here in Alaska! As we neared Anchorage, two peaks, of which we do not know their names, reared up from the coastal plains and were engulfed by a sea of clouds! Lauren thought she was driving into Never Never Land. She was disappointed that instead of Never Never Land, she drove into the parking lot of Target, where we set up the Jeep for sleep. Not nearly as exciting. Today we have been running errands and hanging out in Anchorage. We will be heading for Kenai Fjords National Park this evening.
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