Back to the Brooks Range. Here's what I looked like when I started out:
I'm headed to them thar hills:
First step into what I think is a grassy meadow: SQUISH, up to my ankle. Here's what I look like at that point:
I've read about the bog tundra, and how much a pain in the ass it is to hike across. Can't really be that bad, right? Right. Fortunately, only had to cross about a mile of the stuff before getting to a gravel river bed.
The gravel is tougher on the ankles and knees, but less fatiguing than the squishy bog tundra. Also, it's not really gravel, it's more like lots of big rocks. I had to watch most of my steps carefully to avoid tripping, slipping, etc. (the 60 pound pack was starting to feel really heavy.) Without having even reached any mountains, I was already hiking at maybe half my normal speed. Of course, normally I'm not carrying a 60 pound pack.
About five miles in, I set up camp
Next morning, my feet were numb, it was COLD, and it looked like this:
TO BE CONTINUED...
2 comments:
Nice use of the FU-man :)
Hey, are there grizzlies up where you are?
Why yes, they are quite common, at least as far as grizzlies go, though unfortunately, I did not see any in the Brooks Range. I did see several later on in Denali, but from many hundreds of yards away.
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