Alaska! Man: 0, Wild: 1, Part 4

Here's what I saw from the top of the Continental Divide:





And a rainbow! Because it was SNOWING.

And here's a strange little wildflower that was growing in, what seems to me, the most improbable of places, midway up the "extra" mountain I climbed:

I don't know whether these photos do the view justice. As I wrote in my log book, "I need a new adjective." Breathtaking doesn't suffice. I really felt like I was on top of the world. I spent an hour, maybe more, just sitting there and trying to take it all in.

However, as mentioned before, I was having a lot of trouble finding good hiking routes with the available topo maps. Several times already, I had run into impassable areas, forcing me to dejectedly double back, sometimes for some very uncomfortable distances, before finding a route that worked. So not only was I hiking at a greatly reduced speed, the unpredictability of the route kept adding hours to my trek.

So here, at the top of the Continental Divide, I had a decision to make. I could continue down to the other side, venturing into the Gates of the Arctic. Or I could go back. Faced with the overwhelming fatigue from climbing up the Divide, and considering the various times already I almost fell, not to mention the times I caught myself nearly twisting my ankle, I decided that continuing alone was too dangerous.

So I headed back, looking for a better route. As I mentioned, there was precipitation. It wasn't really snow, more like ice pellets. But that's fine, because while it was cold enough for ice, at least I wasn't getting wet!

However, as my altitude decreased, the ice pellets became water pellets. My rain gear was working ok, but it was about time to camp anyway, so I set up my tent, had dinner, and went to bed hoping to wake up to some nicer weather.

TO BE CONTINUED...