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Katmai National Preserve → Port Alsworth, AK 1.5 mi (2.4 km) |
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De plane! De plane, everyone!
This morning, we were up and at ’em, reporting for breakfast at 7:30 sharp, because we didn’t want to keep the pilots, who were going to take us out of the wild, waiting! There was just one hitch in this plan: Lupine Camp was completely surrounded by low, thick fog, impassable for a bush pilot in mountainous country! As you might expect, when in the wilderness in general, Alaska in particular, you’ve got to be ready for the weather to throw some curveballs!
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Naturally, the top question on everybody’s mind as we packed up camp on schedule and wound a wide and circuitous route across three snowfields and streams—instead of walking 100 yards straight to the lake shore—was “What’s the longest that anyone’s been delayed for weather?” And no one liked the answer at all: six days in the Arctic! So even though we had a fun, whimsical encounter with a fox frolicking on a snowfield, the question of whether we’d be out here for days, with empty bear barrels, was on everybody’s mind, especially since today was Ross’ 65th birthday!
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The 10:30 pickup time passed, 11:30, 12:30… We played more Contact, and I learned about something called the Green Glass Door, which will let squirrels and otters through, but not beavers! Maybe I don’t want to go through the Green Glass Door anyway! It wasn’t until 2:22 PM, after games had finished and snacks had long been depleted, after clouds had thinned and thickened, risen and fallen, that we finally heard the most encouraging sound of all: propellors! Glenn Alsworth was swooping down to Mirror Lake, and we were not going to be spending six more days out here after all!
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Unlike when we arrived, there was only going to be one plane taking us out in batches. Tim divided us into groups, with me, Ross, Helen, and Niko-la in the first group and Tyler, Marie, Stephanie, and Brian in the second group. And we took off into the sky, spotting, almost immediately, a grizzly bear a mere half mile west of where we’d spent the morning and most of the afternoon! Not much farther, we startled a second grizzly on the mountainside and hoped the plane could drop us off and get back to Mirror Lake before the bears did!
We soared out over Gibraltar Lake, then Lake Iliamna, as the tundra transformed into thick pine forest, the cloudy gray water to sun-kissed turquoise. Circling around, we made another butter-smooth landing on the surface of Lake Clark and arrived, once again, at the doorstep of the Cranberry Cache coffee shop!
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The clouds were low here too, but the advantage that Port Alsworth has over Mirror Lake is the sheer size of Lake Clark and its relatively sheltered location against the elements. Glenn took off to pick up our second half, who, because of limited space available at the Farm Lodge, would be shuttled to an AirBNB over by the Lake Clark visitor center. Meanwhile, Tim checked got us checked in and set off on a mysterious errand!
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After most of a week in a tent, the cabins at the Farm Lodge might as well have been palaces! Outside, the whole complex smelled of freshly stained wood, and folks were out filling planters with annual flowers! Every cabin faced the water, so no back alley dumpsters for us today! Our instructions were to relax, shower, and meet up at the pavilion at 5:30 before our scheduled dinner in the main lodge an hour later.
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Wow! These cabins had two floors! While Ross was in the shower, I took a look around. There were more electrical outlets and USB ports here than I’d ever seen in lodging before! There was a coffee machine, a couch, and a nice, covered porch where clothes and shoes could dry reliably! Truly, it’s the little comforts that stand out most when you’ve been living out of a tent all week!
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Upstairs, there was a loft! I’m a sucker for lofts, even if there are other rooms available. It made me think back to a really lovely one I stayed in during my trip to northwest Idaho… After setting up my spot, it was my turn to use the facilities, and boy oh boy, hot water after a chilly afternoon sure perked up this beaver! It seemed to have perked up everyone else too, because when we all reconvened at the pavilion at 5:30, everyone was so spiffed up, they seemed like whole different people! That’s when Tim’s mysterious errand revealed itself: our guides had snuck some wine to Port Alsworth, and Tim had somehow found the time to whip up a strawberry cheesecake to celebrate Ross’ quinsexagennial, or sapphire birthday! So we all toasted to this milestone and a trip well made, looking back on fun moments and the crazy things we made it through, before heading up into the Lodge for a real feast!
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With dinner and dessert satisfyingly in our bellies, and our breakfast and lunch requests logged on checklists—and yes, they said, you can check all the boxes—we met up on the lodge’s deck to discuss the plan for tomorrow. We’d be meeting up at 9:30 to hike the only trail in Lake Clark National Park to Tanalian Falls. “But wait!” I called out. “If we stop at Tanalian Falls, we won’t actually set foot in the park!” “Ok,” said Tim, “8:30 for anyone who wants to make the extension to Kontrashibuna Lake.” And that was a deal for me!
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After a short walk along the shore to appreciate the reflections of the Aleutian Mountains on the pristine surface of Lake Clark, I tucked myself in to a real bed for the first time in a long while and despite the curtain-less windows and late night light, I fell into a pretty sound sleep, ready to charge up for one more park and one more adventure!
Alsworth that ends worth!
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Total Ground Covered: 33.0 mi (54.7 km) |
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