Continued from the previous page.

DESCENT ATTEMPT #1 

While I was watching the lone ewe I thought I’d found a relatively quick way down to the truck, which was visible perhaps 1½ miles below me, on the southeast side of the mountain. The terrain didn't look like it would be that difficult to negotiate, although the first half of the descent would be pretty steep.

I walked a little farther down the slope I was on, scanning the terrain to my left as best as I could from about 1,800 feet above my destination:

When I reached the saddle in the next photo I looked over the terrain to my right, toward Denali, to see whether it looked suitable for a descent:

 

 

I knew it would be much shorter going more directly down to my left so I looked at the ravine, rocks, and vegetation below me as well as possible from the saddle, deemed it suitable, and took the plunge:

How hard can that be??

Ha! I went down 1,000 feet before running into impenetrable willow trees on one side and a rocky ledge that would have been very difficult for me to negotiate safely on the other side.

When the park website encourages visitors to hike off-trail, it's talking about the tundra and riverbeds, not the taiga or mountainsides below treeline!

Here are a few photos I took on the steep descent. I was concentrating on my footing through the rocks and low shrubs and didn't take very many pictures:

View of Mt. Margaret's east slope (L) and the west end of Healy Ridge (R)

 

I zoomed in on this photo from higher up. What looks like low shrubs in the center of the photo
 are 8-10 foot tall willows growing close together. The rock wall right center is 25-30 feet high.

When I realized this wasn't a good plan it took a lot of effort to go back up to the saddle where I started that descent, not just because of the rocks but also the steep grade:

 

DESCENT ATTEMPT #2

I apparently didn't learn much from that, however. The rest of the way down I made one mistake after another in route-finding, always thinking that the terrain would be easier to negotiate than it actually was.

I was trying to avoid going all the way back up to Primrose Ridge and tundra that was easier to negotiate -- a 500-600 elevation gain, ironically less than I'd just gone up and down in my failed attempt at a descent on the east side of the mountain -- and back west for over a mile to reach the trail I went up from Primrose Overlook. I estimated that route would be about 4½-5 more miles, with half of it on the park road.

It was very frustrating. I could see the truck to the east and the road to the south but couldn’t find an easy way down to either one. There was no clear trail, even one made by moose, caribou, or bears, and lots of what I now knew was thick brush and willow trees, not just tundra grasses and rocks I could walk through.

When I got back up to the saddle on the lower part of Mt. Margaret's ridge (above) I decided to go west and south but stay low through the vegetation. My goal was to reach the road below the rocky southern end of the ridge and walk back to the truck, either on the road or through the low shrubs just above it.

I estimated it was a hike of about two miles total if I could walk the shortest distance.

The first part wasn't so difficult but as I dropped lower I got into more and more willows and other dense vegetation. I made several forays down, had to go back up and over farther to the west -- and repeated the process several times.

The only good thing I can report about this foray into the "jungle" was the interesting scenery when my head was still above the vegetation! By now Denali was obscured by clouds (and the sun was behind it) so I focused my eyes and camera on the interesting rocks and colorful flora:

 

 

 

 

I avoided treed sections on the mountainside until I realized that was futile.

I finally just bullied my way through about a quarter mile of tall, dense trees and shrubs using faint animal trails:

I don't recommend this. I could see moose hoof prints (no bear paw prints, thank goodness) where limbs and tree trunks had been broken. Luckily I didn’t run into any grizzlies or moose in the thick brush. I had bear spray unlocked and ready to go if I needed to use it in self-defense.

I felt much safer when I emerged from the trees and could see around me again:

It's only August 15 and it's beginning to look like autumn in the park already.

Throughout this entire descent, even where the shrubs were below waist height, movement was slow and I tripped and fell several times because I couldn't always see rocks and roots. My trekking poles were useless in the thick willows, berry bushes, and other dense foliage. Fortunately my long pants legs and jacket sleeves prevented scratches and my clothes weren’t damaged.

I was in a hurry because it was getting later in the afternoon -- longer than I predicted to Jim that I'd  be out there --  but I had to be very careful. I was relieved when I finally reached the park road.

I took this picture of the slope I came down when I neared the road. I drew what I think was my approximate circuitous route (black line), necessitated by running into impenetrable terrain several times:

The red line was more like where I wanted to go.

Of course, it all looks easier and shorter in this photo than it really was. These photos are deceiving, as are long-range views of the terrain with just your eyeballs.

I still had 1½ miles to walk on the road to get back to the parking area. I ran slowly part of the way downhill toward the river (don't tell my orthopedist). No buses came by until I was a quarter mile from the truck so I couldn’t hitch a ride. I didn’t get back to the truck until almost 6 PM, about nine hours after I began hiking.

I think I would have been done one or two hours faster if I’d gone back the way I went up the mountain and I would have had about the same mileage as wandering in the wilderness during my "shortcut" – almost 13 miles.

ANOTHER CARIBOU

At about the same place I saw the two bull caribou on the road this morning I saw another one on my way back to the truck this afternoon. He might have been one of the caribou I saw this morning.

An oncoming RV bound for Tek stopped for him as he crossed the road:

 

I was about 100 feet from him and didn't get as good pictures that time.

I left my cell phone in the truck because there is no phone signal in that area (another mistake -- might have had a signal on the ridges). I was concerned that Jim was worrying about me. I told the ranger in the station at the Savage River bridge that I was late and wondered if Jim had notified a ranger yet. She hadn’t heard anything.

I was able to reach Jim by phone about halfway back to the campground. He was concerned but not outright worried about me yet because I've been underestimating running/hiking times since he met me!

I'm an eternal optimist.

REHASHING THE DAY 

Jim and I had fun sharing what we each did and saw today. He had a great ride of about 46 miles and loved the wildlife and scenery.

Me, too, except I was completely worn out and frustrated by my series of bad decisions coming down off that mountain. That could have turned out badly. There was no chance of getting lost. The main risks were encountering a large, defensive animal or getting injured off-trail in dense brush with no way to call anyone.

Thirteen miles is farther than I’ve gone in a while. I had a total of over 9,000 feet of elevation gain and loss in that hike with all the ups and downs I did. Unfortunately, I've lost the GPS track of the hike -- it would be fun to show you how I wandered up, down, and around those ridges and mountainsides!

Rock formation on southern end of Mt. Margaret

Jim and Cody went out to get diesel in Healy while I took a shower and ate some supper. Later I drove to Nenana Canyon to get the jacket I’ve been eyeing for over a week.

I was hoping it might be “on sale” by now since most of the other stores have reduced their clothing prices but it wasn’t. I thought the jacket was worth the asking price so I paid it. It’s a black and dark gray water resistant jacket with a hood. The whole thing reverses to dark gray fleece. It’s warmer than any of the jackets I brought with me on this trip. It zips up the front and both sides have zippered pockets. The jacket is machine washable and has a subtle embroidered mountain with the words “Mt. McKinley, Alaska.”

I just wish it said “Denali” instead of “McKinley.” Denali has so much more native historical significance than the name of a president who never even set foot in Alaska. Or maybe not, as I discovered in this interesting article I found later.

Meanwhile, I'll keep referring to my favorite mountain as Denali.

Next entry:  saying goodbye to Denali National Park and returning to JBER in Anchorage

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, and Cody the ultra Lab

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© 2012 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil