We slept in a bit with the knowledge that the trail was done and we had only some little cleanup things to do in the morning. Justin and I (Melanie) made cinnamon rolls out of some homemade bread gone wrong the night before and—much to our surprise—they were absolutely delicious. The “huevos rancheros” created with the remainder of the eggs and salsa made for a filling breakfast. We then split into two teams. One stayed at camp and cleaned up some trash that had been left behind years ago when someone lived at this spot. There is an old collapsed shack in the woods behind our campsite, and the trash looked like an old burn pile in the middle of a gorgeous forest. Justin and Michael made up an entertaining story about who these people were based on the tin cans and bullet casings they picked up. It made for a great dinnertime story.
The other team headed back up to the geoblock site to finish up some drilling so things would be neat and clean for the project to resume next year. We only completed what needed to be done in what Andy projects will be a three year project. Some of us were curious where the trail would ultimately lead, so in the afternoon mist we began our hike beyond our geoblock finish line to the end of the trail.
It took a couple of hours to reach “the end” which was a black rock beach on yet another beautiful Alaskan bay. The hike itself was quite challenging. One of the main reasons the geoblock trail ITN is building is so important is that the ATVs have cut so many trails through the wetlands that the many areas were virtual mud pits. When the geoblock trail is complete, they will reseed these other “social trails” to restore the natural beauty of the forest. Jasmine was the mudpit’s first victim. Shane and I could hear the laughing far down the trail and when we came upon Jasmine, her left leg had sunk in mud about an inch away from the top of her boots. Before the boys agreed to pull her out, they took time for a photo op and video. A few steep hills later, Hayley met the same fate, although she sank boot deep with both feet. And like Jasmine, she took it in stride, laughed it off with the rest of us, and kept on walking. We are so proud of how tough our New Yorkers are in the backcountry of Alaska!!
The hike was quite challenging but the beaver lake, the bear tracks, and many scenic overlooks made it worth it. We felt like we were truly “in the wild.” When we got to the beach, the mist had become heavier, but we just put our hoods up and went about our rock skipping contests and beach exploration. We found a small wooden cabin up in the woods, another buoy swing, and an outhouse with no door. The cabin had a number of bunks in it, and on a high wooden table by the only window rested some sort of animal skull. It was a little creepy but mostly utterly fascinating. Talk about living off the grid! There was no one around though, so perhaps this was someone’s hunting cabin or something.
Down on the beach we found a complete otter skeleton! We speculated that a bear had gotten it and dragged it up on the beach, which would explain why it was so far from the water.
I could have sworn that our hike to the beach was mostly uphill, and was astonished by how many hills we had to climb on our way back. We were all pretty beat when we got back to camp. We ate a hearty dinner, and most of us turned in early. Another great day in Alaska!
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