Haines, AK

It's been over three weeks since I left Joshua Tree for Alaska. Wounds incurred from climbing the rough granite have healed, scabs have fallen off, and callouses have come and gone from my hands and fingers. I've recharged my mental batteries with excessive solitude and I miss all my climbing friends from Joshua Tree. I had 6 days in town before class started, so did lots of reading and went on a few savage runs and hikes and took a couple pictures. 

Battery Point...just a couple miles from camp.  I wish it was this clear more often.

Out for a run...This shot gives you an idea of what it was like when I ran out of the woods and was surprised by this sight. 

My first night here I stayed at the first campground I found. I didn't like paying for camping, but I kinda needed a shower (after 10 days of driving), they had a building I could use to escape from potential rain/cold, plus, I didn't feel like searching around. I couldn't afford the 15 dollar fee for more than one night, so after that I decided to just find somewhere to park overnight and slept in the truck. Camping for free in/around town is tricky, especially since it's a small town (pre-tourist season) where you can't really be anonymous like in a city. I drove outside of town a couple miles toward the state park which is still closed for winter. I finally found a section of road without roadside residences and parked/camped on the side of road, next to 3 feet of snow. I spent the days hiking or in the library. After a few nights of that, I went by the AMG office(Alaska Mtn. Guides, which is the same company as IWLS) again and asked them if they knew of any better camping options, which led me to Portage Cove campground which is where I am currently residing at along with three fellow students. It's right next to the water, there are always bald eagles around, and it's technically still closed, so they aren't collecting fees...JAM! I didn't go there first b/c overnight parking isn't allowed, as it is for walk-in/bicycle campers only. But someone at AMG recommended tenting there and just parking at the boat harbor about a mile away, which has been working out.

Enjoying clear weather at my current campsite, Portage Cove.  Reading a book called "Surviving the toughest Race in the World", about the start of adventure racing, especially multi-day events like Eco-Challenge, and its precursor, The Raid Gauloises. 

I am a week and a half into class now, and I have gotten to know most of my classmates and they're a good group of people. There are fourteen of us. A few people are taking it simply as the first step towards becoming professional EMTs (emergency medical technicians—the first step towards becoming a paramedic), but most of them are like me; aspiring (some current) outdoor professionals. Two people, Melissa and Shockey (from Michigan and Illinois), are doing semesters similar to mine, so I will have other courses with them. Mike (from Texas), one of the older students (mid forties), will be doing the Sea Kayaking course with me at the end of the month.

The class has been interesting and intense. My knowledge of anatomy and sports physiology has come in handy, but I am learning tons of new stuff as well. These first couple weeks are spent in the classroom, covering everything that a regular EMT, in an urban setting, needs to know; as though responding with an ambulance unit. It's all about assessing patients, gathering info, taking vital signs, diagnosing and treating emergency problems including those related to diabetes, heart conditions, asthma, Emphysema etc, and then establishing airways, providing or helping with oxygen and meds, doing CPR, and transporting. Yesterday we learned about pregnancy and how to deliver babies...which was enough to scare me away from EMS as a profession! We also covered heat and cold illnesses such as heat stroke and hypothermia/frostbite, which are both very pertinent to wilderness. Most of the wilderness aspect of the class will come after we take the state exam to be certified EMTs, on the 15^th. We will be going on a backpacking trip to learn about wilderness emergencies in the field.

Class has been going from 8am to 6:30pm with just two days off so far. I've been studying for an hour or so most evenings, and for several hours on days off. It doesn't leave time for much else, but total immersion is definitely a good way to learn a ton in a short time. I feel like it's sinking in pretty well. Our instructor, Ray, is from Hoonah, Alaska and has worked as a firefighter/paramedic for twenty years. One of the most knowledgeable people I have ever encountered, he seems to know absolutely everything there is to know about emergency medicine.  And most importantly, he can explain it clearly. Plus, he keeps interest and attention with consistent humor and outrageous real life paramedic stories (war stories, as he calls them) scattered throughout the lecture.

On our first day off last Thursday, a local girl in the class named Tara had us all over to her house in the evening. She is house sitting the place, and she has a sweet deal. It was a unique and charming house that feels like a cabin inside, with art all over and a stellar view of the nearby mountains; we were lucky to be able to sit outside and enjoy the view, since we had the best weather of the last two weeks on that day. Various people cooked...we had smoked salmon, fried hooligan (a small fish that is currently “running” nearby...a run is a population of fish that is heading upstream from the ocean, to spawn), some stir-fried veggies that were picked from the yard, some fresh baked cookies, and a couple types of beer that several people brought from the local brewery. It was a great time and a much needed break from class.  

Now....back to studying.  I'll probably post again after getting certified, before heading out into the bush.  Thanks to everyone for reading :)  I've have really enjoyed this blogging biz...Everything is more fun when I know that other people are going to be able to enjoy it too.  

At the summit of Mt. Riley.  The town of Haines is visible below, in the center of the photo.  Chilkat river on the left, Chilkoot inlet behind me, on the right.

Hiking through snow without skis or snowshoes is hard... mad post-holing.  Fortunately only the second half of the trail was under snow.

The lower section of the Mt. Riley trail.

Roads to Alaska

Death Valley.

Most people would call a 3300 mile drive to Alaska an adventure. And yeah, it felt that way leading up to it, as I tried to foresee and prepare for all the issues I would, and could, have to deal with. And along the way there were unknowns, like where I was going to stay for the night. But everything went more or less as expected. So looking back, it just feels like a long ass drive! The truck performed admirably; unfazed by the distance or the climbs. I ended up camping at rest stops almost every night, which relieved a lot of worry. It also meant less wilderness feel, but there's still a lot of private property along the hwy south of the Yukon, meaning fewer legal places to park overnight. Plus there was so much snow in most places that the little stream-side gravel bars (free campsites) I was looking for were all buried. This time of year, the traffic on the highways is minimal, with even fewer folks stopping by the rest stops, so it was actually pretty much like regular car camping.  My only concern, once up north, was wildlife.  The rest stops were so isolated, with 15 minutes or more going by without a single vehicle passing by in the middle of the day, that I pretty much felt alone in the wild. I wasn't sure if bears were out of hibernation yet, but at my first stop in British Columbia, I confirmed that indeed they were. As I was starting to cook spaghetti on my Coleman stove, set up on the picnic table, I watched a black bear mosey out of the tree line about 200 meters away. I got a good look at him (and a couple bald eagles flying overhead) with my binoculars, but he had no interest in me so I just kept an eye on him as I prepared another roadside dinner.

The solitude was a nice respite from my highly social weeks at the campground in Joshua Tree. Starting in the morning, there was always someone to cook breakfast with, we climbed during the day, had a few join for dinner in the evening, and more folks joined for campfires. I liked everyone I met there, and overall the experience was one of the highlights of my life. But after two, and then three weeks with no time alone to gather my thoughts, I was mentally drained. I am way introverted, and this experience confirmed that occasional (not total!) solitude is essential for me--like food and sleep. I learned that I need to be more proactive in making time for it, instead of letting distress build.

Needless to say, a ten day drive from southern California to Alaska provided more than enough alone time. I even spent one whole day at an empty campground next to the Stikine River; that was day eight. When I first walked up to the beach scoping the place out, I saw a Moose, with calf close behind, walking across the frozen river about a quarter mile down stream. The weather was decent enough to sit outside and read, and write, and I made another tasty dinner, with sweet potatoes. Up to that point, I had been crawling into the back of my truck for bed around dark (after 9), but I felt compelled to make myself a campfire that night. I'm glad I did, because I was blessed with clear skies and no wind, so I had my first look at the night sky from almost 60 degrees north latitude (Wichita is at 37). 

The next day was much less cloudy, and I was getting into even more mountainous terrain on the last couple hundred miles of the Cassiar highway, toward the northern region of British Columbia, approaching the Alaska Highway in the Yukon. I had to keep peeling my eyes away from the brilliant white peaks surrounding me in order to keep an eye on the road, especially because I was encountering numerous groups of caribou--apparently grazing--in the middle of the road. I paid almost six dollars a gallon for gas a couple times in this stretch, but the options are particularly limited this time of year, with the summer roadside attractions still closed for the season.

Caribou, clearing the road.

My last night on the road I stayed up late again to see the stars. The sun is going down around 9 right now, but because of the latitude, it takes a long time for it to get far enough below the horizon for it to be really dark. So it's not totally dark until after 11...and I think it was the darkest night sky I have seen because I saw an awful lot of satellites and meteors. Then I was astounded when I realized that what I had initially thought was a wispy cloud, was flowing and undulating. I had never seen the northern lights before, because it was never dark enough last summer, but I knew it was.  The aurora steadily grew, stretching ribbons of white light--some loose, some tighter--all the way across the sky. I spent a couple hours standing around my truck with my neck cranked back, gawking at the sky, as the water puddles around me were freezing over and I was loosing feeling in my toes. 

One of the real pleasures of the last few weeks that I try to remain grateful for has been the freedom from any schedule. I stayed up late admiring the night sky...so I just slept in :) I only had 300ish miles to go, so I wasn't in any rush. After a 150 more miles on the AK highway, as the St. Elias Mountains loomed to the west, I turned south on the 146 mile long Haines Highway--aptly named since that's the only place it goes. This stretch, skirting Canada's crazy mountainous Kluane National Park was the most impressive...I have never seen so much snow in my life. The forests of spruce trees had given way to treeless hills and mountains, blanketed with what looked like dozens of feet of blinding white snow. 

(wrapping this up...)  Near the US border, the road finally wound down out of the winter wonderland and met up with the Chilkat river for the final 50 miles or so. The weather was nice in town, and I finally paid for camping, with a helluva view, and enjoyed a much needed shower. More about Haines in a day or two, I think this post is more than long enough!

Mount Shasta, in Northern California.

Mt. Washington, in Oregon.

Oregon woods.

Typical campsite...a rest stop in British Columbia.  With truck in tailgate-kitchen mode.

The actual campsite I stayed at, next to the thawing Stikine River.

Entering Yukon Territory.

St. Elias Mountains, part of Kluane National Park, home of N. America's 2nd highest peak, Mt. Logan.

Haines highway.

Winter wonderland.

Oceanside camping in Haines, AK.

Into Canada

Wireless wasn't so hard to find in BC :D  Bad news is, Canadian customs made me hand over my apples; last year it was oranges...what the hell? :D
It has been a beautiful drive all the way and the truck is doing great.  I'll be stopping near William's Lake, a tourist town, for the night.  I hope to be noticeably further from civilization tomorrow.

I have driven 1870 miles from Joshua Tree.  I think I have about 800 to go.  Weather has been cloudy almost the entire way with occasional rain.  Haven't seen snow since Oregon, and it's still pretty mild temps up here at 52 degrees north latitude.

Heading north

I am leaving Joshua Tree today and it's like leaving home.  I have met so many good people here, and I've had a blast climbing and hanging out for the past few weeks.  It's difficult to imagine that things could get any better, but I am pretty stoked for my drive and for my summer in Alaska.  I'm thinking I probably soaked up enough sun here in the desert to last me for the next month or so of coldish weather up north.