AWC Day 4

Day 4:  Susitna River to Upper Fog Creek

What a find!

     "You ready?" I asked.
      "Tally-Ho." He said, and with that we were off.  At the start of our fourth day of 11 plus hours of continuous hiking we were starting to hit our stride.  Our pacing was well matched and we would trade the lead often.  When one of us  was leading the follower could relax a bit and just follow.  Sometimes leading through bushy country can be mentally draining; You are always searching for the “right” way.  
   Within a mile of leaving Deadman camp we spotted a giant caribou rack.  Both antlers were still attached to the skull.  It was obvious that this ol' boy died not long after the rut.  We were seeing a lot of caribou sheds now most of which were very small and reminded me of the one the Grinch tied onto his dog and then cut down-to-size with a saw.  We established a habit of tapping each one we passed-by.  By the time this journey was through we had tapped hundreds of antlers.  
    Before descending into the Susitna Canyon we crossed a huge flat area carpeted with low lying tundra. It was a joy to walk on and as it angled towards the Susitna and we knew that our easy walking was probably coming to an end.
     

Rocky outcropping before dropping into the Susitna
drainage; lovely hiking by anyone's standards.

Imagine our surprise when we discovered that the descent to the river was not only easy but amazingly beautify. We snaked our way down through stands of spruce and fields of ferns. We climbed over rocky outcroppings laden with wildflowers of white and purple and yellow.  The aromatics of the summer's full plumage were intoxicating and familiar as we picked our way down, down, and down until finally we popped out onto the Susitna that was glowing in the sunshine below us.  

Descending to the Susitna.

    We were happy to discover that the river was very mellow at this point.  It was hard to believe that just 15 miles below us was the beginning of Devil’s Canyon, a class V juggernaut.  We leisurely inflated our rafts, took off our shirts, and hiked up a little way upstream.  From there we ferried across the mighty Su.  The other side of the river looked steep and thick with foliage and we knew that it would be a battle to overcome.
   

Nice work Artie!

“Okay Steve, lead the way.” Art said.  We were all packed up and ready to tackle this hill.  I made my way off the beach and grabbed the first alder to move it out of the way.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I noticed that right in front of me was a caribou super-highway leading straight up the hill.  We followed it up the first pitch and could see that it kept going. As luck-would-have-it we were able to ride it out right to the top.  It was an amazing windfall and we couldn’t believe our luck.  I imagined that if our trail was so easy to find there were probably many such trails all along the area that the Nelchina caribou herd use each year.  It was a wonderful climb up and off of the Susitna River. 

Topping out of the Susitna Canyon.

     “You know that we would be under water right now if the Susitna Watana Dam was in place.”  I looked below at Arthur and to the river below and couldn’t imagine such a thing.  The dam project, one of the worst ideas to ever come out of Juneau would decimate the salmon runs.  I know this because every other dam of this magnitude has done exactly so.   As we crested the top of the canyon I couldn’t help but ponder the future of the Susitna River. 
     After topping out of the canyon our route led us through some less favorable terrain.  We made our way through spongy swamps scattered with dwarf spruce.  It was miserably hot and by the time we got to the Fog Lakes we were bushed (no pun intended.)  We decided to pitch the tent in the shade, sleep for a while and possibly take-up a night schedule.  We had both done this on Denali and if this weather pattern held, it would be a smart move. We slept for a few hours, packed up and headed up the hill.
     We made steady progress up to a high point several hundred vertical feet above the Fog lakes.  Finally we topped out and could identify the next pass that would keep us on our route.  From there we would pick our way up the valley through the headwaters of upper Fog Creek. 
      Near the pass we encountered a small stand of perfectly formed dwarf spruce; They were like Christmas trees.  Their shape was perfectly formed triangles and made them appear like full sized spruce trees that were much further away.  It was weird when we got close to discover that they weren’t far away, they were just really small. For some reason I couldn’t get the Wizard of Oz’s Munchkin classic “We represent the lollipop guild” jingle out of my mind; I’m weird, I know.
     We set up camp in a wide saddle of the upper Fog Creek drainage.  From here we could clearly see our route and it was glorious.   This would be considered Upper Fog Creek camp.