Cassidy parked the car a mile from the suspension footbridge. Deep snow buried the road past that point. We still weren’t sure exactly where we were going anyway, so it didn’t matter. There were choices here, but it was obvious that the snow would decide most of it for us. Gulkana Glacier, College Glacier, the HooDoos, or head out by Gunn Creek and the Gakona?
I don’t remember exactly why we landed on Gulkana. I think we just kind of started walking that way. It was obvious along the way that College Glacier would be a no-go. Way too much isothermal snow in a narrow valley surrounded by thick vegetation. Visibility was better toward the Gulkana Glacier.
Before we made it to the bridge, we passed another hiker on his way out and stopped to chat briefly. He asked if we were mountaineering or hiking. “Just hiking for the day,” I said. He mentioned that he had just hiked up and along the moraine rib on the east side of the glacier. I confirmed with him that it was the moraine between the Gulkana and College Glacier valleys before we parted ways.
We noted his trip as an option as we continued across the bridge. It was Cassidy’s first time crossing it. It’s a big suspension bridge, and it bounces quite a bit (not at all due to me exaggerating my steps). The boards are spaced wide enough to see the creek below, or to occasionally slip a toe or heel through. Good fun.
Once across the bridge, we attempted to stay near the trail. Deep snow led to some bushwhacking through somewhat sparse alder and willows. As we slowly worked to the end of the vegetation, we spotted a big boulder with a few climbs on it and wandered over. I’d looked at it once years ago, climbed a couple of easy things, but never brought a pad out.
Continuing up to the divide, the view of the valley opened up in every direction. Summit Lake, further south, was mostly still frozen. The Gulkana valley and upper College Creek were buried in snow. We walked further along this high moraine than I had gone before.
Somewhere along the way, I felt myself finally relax. I often carry a lot of tension, mainly from work, but also from the constant hum of anxiety. Being outdoors helps, but often takes a while to sink in. I remember the relief hitting like a flood, and the tension never came back for the rest of the trip.
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Multiple times we pushed a little further, just to the next big rock, or to see a bit more of the view ahead. We finally turned around at a distant vantage on the Gulkana Glacier and the Gabriel Icefall.
The freshly melted-out moraine showed signs of life among the dark talus. Purple mountain saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia ssp. oppositifolia) poked through the dark talus in a few spots.
On the return trip, we finalized our decision to head to Red Rock Canyon to camp for the night and look for glacier caves the next day. We took a slightly different route down, fumbling through alders into the College creekbed and following it back to the bridge. We were at the car by about 7.
The road through Red Rock Canyon was completely snow free. That surprised me. We’d seen deep snow in the Rainbow Basin from the Richardson, and the Gulkana road had been buried that morning. I expected more of the same here. But, greenup was happening in the valley, and when we got to our camp, there were lots of flowers blooming.
After setting up camp, we got to making food. I had a rather flavorless Mountain House chicken fried rice. It was fine. While it was rehydrating, I photographed some of the eightpetal mountain avens (Dryas octopetala) near our cooking area.
(Dryas octopetala)
It was getting late and the golden “hour” (lasts much of the night this time of the year) was setting in. At about 11 pm, we decided to walk further up the road to see what the conditions were like and get a better view of the Canwell Glacier valley so we’d be prepared for the next day. The stream crossing was just a trickle, lower than I’d ever seen it. Odd, with how much snowmelt was running everywhere else.
Once the Jeep trail climbed out of the lower valley, we started hitting some snowpack, so we walked along a soft footpath instead. Along the way we kicked up a couple of ptarmigan that likely tried to distract us from a nearby nest. I think we hiked out for just under an hour before turning around after getting a good view of Institute Peak.
(Kalmia procumbens)
Getting back to camp a little after midnight, we stayed up chatting for a while before making a morning plan and heading to bed. It had been a long time since a day unwound me like that one had. Tomorrow we’d go looking for ice.
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