Backpacking, Bears, and Blueberries



Don't mind the crooked picture. The rock obviously needs to practice his photography skills!

The weekend forecasted temperatures in the mid to high-70s.  Yes, summer decided to stay for at least one more weekend, so we had to take advantage of it.  Only in Alaska do you take advantage of every summery moment, and dread winter when it is only August 10th, while those in the lower 48 are suffering the worst drought the United States has seen in years.

So after work on Friday afternoon, we drove an hour north of Fairbanks to the Chena Recreation area and began our 15 mile hike of Granite Tors.  We made it an overnight backpacking trip so that we would be able to enjoy ourselves a little more.  This was my first backpacking trip in about 5 years, so I was pretty excited.  Lucky for me, my husband is a stud when it comes to camping/hiking stuff, and he packed my pack for me, so I didn't have to worry about it. 15 miles may not seem like a lot for a hike, but it was basically all uphill on Friday.  It was a challenge, and the fact that I was dripping sweat during the climb proved it, for I really don't drip sweat very easily! The best part about the hike up the hill was stopping every once in a while and turning around to look at the vast skyline and never ending rows of mountains.  You seriously could get lost out there! 



The mountains really just go on and on!

I was doing great until about 9pm.  We hadn't eaten dinner yet, and we had been hiking uphill for 3.5 hours.  We were only about 20 minutes away from where we were going to stay the night, so we kept on going.  It's a good thing we were almost done because Marshall looked back at me and saw that I was swaying as I walked.  I think my body needed some dinner!  We ate a couple of those freeze-dried dinners, but I have to admit that I was snacking on some of the pieces as we waited for the water to boil to cook the food.  I never knew freeze-dried zucchini and chicken could be so good! I think I was just REALLY hungry. 



From this view, you can't see how big the rock is...


And to think I actually let him climb to the top :) I guess I couldn't resist.

I slept pretty lousy because the temperatures dropped to probably the high 30s.  At least it felt that way.  I woke up in the night, crying because my toes were so cold. Marshall was so caring that he calmly taught me what I needed to do to warm them up in my sleeping bag.  I ended up not waking up until 10:30, when the sun was already high in the sky again and had warmed my face.  And as soon as I woke up, Marshall brought me over a hot bowl of peach cream oatmeal and then made me french vanilla hot cocoa.  That's what I call a wonderful breakfast in bed!

The second half of the hike on Saturday was nice, but not too eventful.  Except for the fact that we passed a guy who had come into close proximity of a bear a few miles previously to meeting us.  After hearing about that, I made sure Marshall, who had the bear spray, led the way. 

We were even able to pick blueberries for an hour, and got enough berries to make 9 cups of homemade blueberry jam.  I wish we were able to get more, because the jam is to die for!

Alaska really is a beautiful place.  How grateful I am for a healthy body so that I can just get up and hike 15 miles at my leisure.  And if anyone comes to visit, we will be more than happy to go on hikes with you so that you too can grasp how beautiful interior Alaska truly is!



I love the view of the tors in the distance.
I also love that our feet are in the picture because then
it isn't just a scenic shot!