Monday - Day 2

Resurrection Pass Trail, Alaska - When we crawled out of our sleeping quilts at 6 a.m. this morning all I wanted was coffee. Jason had finished off the last of our water overnight, so I sent him down to the creek to fill bottles. There was no real hurry this morning since our next destination cabin was supposed to be only a six-mile hike away.

We lingered over the last of Sherry’s cookies, played a second round of cribbage (another loss for me), and began slowly packing up the backpacks. As we packed, I started a running list in my head of things we forgot, like a needle for my blisters, and things we don't need lug on PCT - like my extra pillow.

The weather today was cool and misty with clouds hanging low over the mountains. The trail turned out to be longer than promised - 7.5 miles instead of six. The elevation came in short but stubborn stretches. Little red flies hovered around us most of the day, irritating but thankfully not biting. 

 

East Creek Cabin is smaller and set a bit farther from the water. It has a sweeping view of the surrounding mountains. Jason got another fire going in the woodstove when we arrived while I stretched out sore feet and set up bedding.

We were both pretty tired today. Cool weather and getting used to carrying heavy packs will take time. For dinner we tried out our Thanksgiving in a bag concoction - a mix of stuffing, dried cranberries, fried onions, and chicken. It is surprisingly good. The kind of heavy backcountry meal that tastes better than it has any right to after a long day of walking. 

We didn’t last long after eating and went to bed before 8pm.

Sunday - The Start of Something (Possibly) Painful

Hope, Alaska – Our morning started with an 80-mile drive to Hope for the start of a 5-day hike on the Resurrection Pass Trail. The weather was cool and grey, but without rain, and Turnagain Arm looked calm enough to trick us into some pre-hike optimism. Steve and Sherry drove us to the trailhead with Frankie the dog sulking in the back seat clearly aware he was going to be left behind this time.

For the record, I weighed in at 182.4 pounds this morning. My pack added another 20, Jason’s 30, not counting water. Numbers on both scales that felt way too high especially once we started walking.

Our departure from the North trailhead turned into a bit of a comedy. Steve insisted on a photo shoot to commemorate our big sendoff, while we frantically tried to start the GPS tracker, dig out our trekking poles, and look somewhat like we knew what we were doing. We finally signed the trail log for a five-day hike 39 miles from Hope to Cooper Landing and stepped out into the woods feeling mostly disorganized.

The first stretch of trail is a little under 8 miles to Caribou Creek Cabin following along the banks of Resurrection Creek. It's a pretty walk but I'm sure our legs would probably swear it was much longer. It took us four and a half hours, and I spent at least half that time wondering if I had packed too many snacks for the trip.

Caribou Creek Cabin sits above a swift little creek, surrounded by spruce and the smell of wet earth. It comes with dry firewood, a decidedly stinky outhouse, and a wood stove that quickly became Jason’s new best friend.

J started a fire while I made us coffee, and we sat on the porch for a little while letting the quiet settle in. We finished the evening with a few rounds of cribbage that I lost as usual.