Home

10%

Talkeetna Mountains

Alaska

By Yes Mom I'm Alive

ALASKA

There was a brief moment of time in summer of 2021 when vaccinations were rolling out across the United States, mask mandates were lifting, and there was cautious optimism that the pandemic would soon be behind us.

It was during that short-lived window that I was in bed, scrolling through social media, and saw a post from Chulengo Expeditions: "Anyone feeling re-energized and ready for new adventures in this moment of reopening? We just had two cancellations from our Talkeetnas Fly-In expedition, July 9-16...so if taking a bush plane far into the mountains to spend a week hiking through vast, open mountains catches your interest, get in touch! We’d love to have you."

I had never been to Alaska. I had never flown in a bush plane into the backcountry. I had never even heard of the Talkeentas.

So I signed up.

DAY 1

We met as strangers in Anchorage, crammed our backpacks into two small cars, and set off to the Meekin air hangar to catch our ride into the backcountry.

THE LANDING

As we approached a flat valley, our pilot Mike circled the area, craning his neck to look out the window. He soon spied what he was looking for: a thin neon pink ribbon tied to a stick in the ground – a makeshift backcountry windsock.

When the wheels touched down in a surprisingly smooth landing, I let out a yelp of joy. My excitement for the moment was only briefly tempered when Mike turned to open the doors and said, "Whoops, I forgot to lock 'em again."

PLANE CARAVAN

Shortly after we landed, the second plane flown by Mike's son-in-law Matt arrived carrying three more members of our team. Mike left and returned an hour later with the final members of our team.

MAKING CAMP

After throwing our packs out of the plane, we said goodbye to Matt and Mike. We watched the planes get smaller and smaller, quieter and quieter, until the only sound in the valley was silence.

We were alone in the backcountry for the next seven days.

Our New Backyard

We set up our respective tents at the base of a black-lichened rock moraine and then gathered together for lunch and a brief orientation on bear safety.

One of our guides Christian explained that each of us would carry a canister of bear spray on a holster and we would store all of our food at least 200 feet away from our tents. Some members of the team expressed concern that we did not have a gun. Christian explained that bears in this remote area do not commonly associate humans as a source of food, but rather as a threat as most humans who come here do so to hunt. He said it was more likely that if a bear caught wind of us, they would high tail it the other direction. I wondered if we would even get to see a bear – that question would be answered just a short 24 hours later.

After lunch we decided to go on a hike to explore our new backyard. It was my first experience walking on tundra biome – patches of low-to-ground vegetation like heather, sedges, and lichen.

As we hiked, I found myself constantly alternating between looking up at the grand mountainous expanse and looking down at the minuscule tundra flora at my feet.

TALKEETNA GLACIER

We eventually left the soft mossy ground and started up the rocky moraine wall in hopes of a better view of the glacier tongue and its surrounding peaks.

DINNER

We split into two groups to alternate cooking meals. I was on the first dinner crew. We made something resembling curry lentil and rice burritos. I am used to eating dehydrated backpacking meals when in the mountains, so a stove-cooked meal was a real treat.

After some tea and good laughs about Jon sharing his chocolate, we headed to our respective tents for the night.

DAY 2

I woke up to a thick, soppy cloud covering the valley. I was glad I decided at the last minute to pack my 15-degree sleeping bag; it got cold last night.

I walked over to the kitchen tent wearing all of my layers and a look of unease on my face. I was greeted with hot boiling water and coffee; everything was good again.

NORTH VALLEY

We were originally going to set out on the second morning, but our leader Nadine was waylaid on a glacier with poor weather. The new plan was to spend a second night at camp and wait for her to join us the next morning, weather-willing. I felt bad for Nadine, but I was glad to spend another day exploring this beautiful area.

After breakfast the clouds parted just in time for an outing to the northwestern side of the valley.

TALKEETNA RIVER

A GRIZZLY!

On our way back to camp, Christian spotted two caribou in the far distance. We laid bellied-down on a mound and watched the pair cautiously move closer to us, curious by our presence.

Suddenly, out of the corner of our eyes we glimpsed something running from behind us – a grizzly bear!

By the time we pulled out our bear spray from our belts the bear was already well ahead of us, darting towards the caribou. He didn't stand a chance; the caribou sprinted off in the opposite direction.

Defeated, the bear took off up the moraine and disappeared out of sight.

(Next time I go to Alaska I am bringing a telephoto lens!)

SUMMER LIGHT

We made it back to camp buzzing with excitement about our exhilarating wildlife encounter. We crowded under the kitchen tent and ate a hearty dinner of pesto pasta while sharing our highlights from the day. (It was the bear.)

Around 9:30 p.m we retired to our tents but I am too mesmerized by the soft, Alaskan dusky twilight to turn in just yet. I walked around and took pictures of the diffuse light on the surrounding peaks.

Day 3

We woke up on the third morning to the most wonderful surprise: pancakes! Karen made batch after batch for us on the camp stove as we drank coffee and eagerly awaited Nadine's arrival.

Around 10:30 a.m. we heard in the distance the faint buzzing of the plane getting louder and louder - Nadine was finally here!

When the plane landed, Nadine jumped out, greeted everyone with a bright smile, and immediately started readying us for the day ahead.

After taking a team photo we set out to make up for lost time.

RIVER CROSSING

The day started almost immediately with a wide river crossing. My feet would not be dry again for the next five days.

LUNCH

Our hike that day was a mild glide up and down countless tussock-covered hills and cross a half-dozen cold creeks.

A few hours in we stopped at a rocky bank for a snacking lunch of tortillas, cheese, crackers, and avocados and fistfuls of trail mix and peanut m&ms.

LAKE CAMP

By our third night together we settled into a comfortable evening routine: Upon finding an agreeable spot to camp, we'd heave off our bags and fan out to set up our tents. Someone would eventually point at a nearby high mound and declare it "Poop Mountain" (upon telling this to my husband Jeff he chided us for missing the obvious opportunity to call it "Poop Butte"); those of us carrying the team dowels would place them in the dirt at its base.

We'd then enjoy some downtime to read, nap, or – for the incredibly brave amongst us – take a dip in the nearby lake or river stream.

Then, sometime around 7 p.m. we'd regroup under the kitchen tarps for dinner and conversation about every topic under the (never-setting) sun.

DAY 4

At breakfast, Nadine made several vague and conflicting references to the mountain pass we would climb over that day, the crux of our 60-mile route through the Talkeetnas.

One minute Nadine would say, "It'll be fine! Totally doable!" with reassuring confidence, and five minutes later she would casually drop some foreboding comment like "Even NOLS won't let their students go over this pass...[pause]...you'll see."

As we prepared to set out, I had no idea what to expect for the day.

To the Pass

We divided into two smaller teams: Team A and Team B. I was in Team A with Nadine, Paul, Bill and Maddy. We set out first, with Team B giving us a 15 minute headstart.

We started along the river before gaining elevation into a wide moraine. The morning was tedious as we traversed across unsteady boulders and up loose moraine piles.

THE PASS

As we walked through the seemingly endless moraine, I scanned the horizon looking for an obvious path up and over the steep cirque wall of rock and snow in front of us. I didn't see one, but I trusted that Nadine did.

TOP OF THE PASS

With Nadine leading the way, we kick-stepped up the slope. It was pretty damn steep, and our 40-something pound packs didn't help. But with a little mettle and a lot of swearing, we successfully topped out on its narrow ridge.

We followed an animal trail down the other side to a small glacier pool, where we rested and ate lunch while waiting for the second team to join us.

RAIN CAMP

There was a great feeling of relief when we arrived to the rocky tributary we'd call camp that night. Weather was moving in; we dropped our bags and quickly got to work setting up our tents.

I had just put in my last stake of my tent when it started to pour. I dashed inside my tent and huddled into my sleeping bag. I contemplated skipping dinner to stay in my cozy cocoon, but my hunger pangs eventually won out. We huddled under the kitchen tents and enjoyed a hearty pasta dish with mushrooms sausage. After, we drank tea and played cards before turning in for some well-earned sleep.

DAY 5

It was still raining when we woke up, when we ate breakfast, and when we broke down camp. We headed out from camp dressed in full rain gear – jacket, pants, and gloves.

Within 5 minutes the clouds dramatically parted and the sun came out. We stripped off our rain gear and stuffed it back into our packs.

10 minutes later, it again started to rain.

This cycle repeated many times that day.

RAINBOW CAMP

Our camp for our penultimate night was a magical spot nestled within some rolling grassy hills. After setting up our tents I found a private part of the creek to bathe and wash laundry before taking a short nap with my tent door wide open.

For dinner Nadine and Karen made us pizza and calzones – a meal I previously did not think possible in the backcountry!

To top off an already wonderful day, after dinner a giant rainbow arced over our camp. Like I said, it was a magical spot!

DAY 6

Our sixth and final hiking day started off innocently enough, with a clouded sky and a gradual loss of elevation as we followed Caribou Creek. As we dropped lower and lower, the soft tundra and treeless expanse slowly transitioned to stonier ground and denser brush.

LANDSLIDE

The creek bed eventually narrowed and forced us onto the bench above it. We traversed along the bench until suddenly we found ourselves standing on the edge of a huge landslide that wiped out the entire face of a mountain. A wide gully of flowing mud separated us from the other side.

We climbed a little higher hoping the gap would narrow, but the terrain became only more precarious. Nadine and Christian scouted for a safe passage across. I watched as Nadine hopped from one unsteady boulder to the next before – ploop! – she fell waist-deep into the mud.

CROSSING

After Ben extricated Nadine from the mud, some members of our team found a narrower gap lower down. We created a human chain to cross the deep pools of mud and muscled our way up the side of the gully.

CRUISE TO THE END

We stopped at a nearby stream to wash the mud off and eat lunch before setting off to finish the last few miles of our trip. We criss-crossed the river a half-dozen times before joining an old ATV track. We cruised the last few miles to camp, singing little jingles and talking loudly so as to not surprise any bears or moose in the willows. We saw caribou and bear tracks in the sand and the skull of a Dall sheep who appeared to have fallen off an overhanging cliff.

LAST CAMP

The ATV trail took us all the way to camp at the makeshift airstrip where we'd be picked up by Mike the next morning. We set up camp in the thick bushes and rain.

DAY 7

On our last morning, we ate a smorgasbord breakfast of grits, lentils, tortillas, oatmeal, cheese, and whatever else was left in our bags.

After, we packed up, took a final group photo, and waited for the planes to take us back to the hangar, back to a hot shower, and back to real life.

RETURN FLIGHT

Thank you Chulengo!

Thank you to Chulengo Expeditions and our wonderful guides Nadine, Karen and Christian for this amazing trip in the Talkeetnas. Chulengo hosts backcountry tours in the Aysén region of Patagonia and in the Talkeetnas and Brooks Range in Alaska. I highly recommend Chulengo, and I look forward to continuing to explore these regions with them next year!