Last night around 8pm Tanveer and I began what turned out to be a five and a half hour, 13 mile hike. The trail we took, the Gold Mint Trail, follows the Little Susitna River to its source. It begins within the forest and gradually rises in elevation above the tree line, ending at a glacier (which we did not make it to). The plan had been to stay out for three hours or so, but we kept going. Tanveer, who is ten years younger than me and bikes 40 miles a day, kept a very brisk pace. Around six or seven miles in, I had to plead with him to turn back...I was already exhausted, we brought little water and no food, and we still had to hike that distance out.
Throughout the hike, as we passed through the thickets and brush, we constantly shouted "hey bear!" We didn't want to run into or surprise a mama bear and her cubs. This reminded me of the documentary Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog's portrait of grizzly lover Timothy Tredwell. He lived with the bears in Alaska, guess what happened to him? Luckily we didn't run into any bears.
Haaaa!! Love it! Yes, no bear encounters please! I was telling Jon about your blog, and he asked where you were living. My reply was, Umm, the middle of nowhere, I think? The pictures are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHiking in the dark??? What's that like?
ReplyDeleteWell it wasn't dark...from about midnight to 4 am, its like dusk. It gets darker, but not dark enough to see stars.
ReplyDeleteAnd Tiffany, this state park is about 18 miles from Palmer and Wasilla.
OMG I didn't realize the sun doesn't quite set. That must be very strange.
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