Geology work: Rainy Pass

From Bill:
Got some last minute work from my friend RC breaking rocks and collecting dirt. It sounds unglamorous but it involves flying around in helicopters in remote parts of the Alaska range, traversing cliff faces and hauling around big bags of rocks. Pretty fun, definitely a break from the routine. This machine is the A-Star, fun flying.

RC and I were work buddies for a few days because we aren't scared of things that people should be, like rotten exposed cliff traverses and rockfall. On the 2nd day the clouds came in but our Kiwi pilot Sam was supremely unconcerned as all of us passengers were sweating bullets. Flying in thick fog in unfamiliar mountain terrain was a new experience for me, but Sam and RC knew the area, and through the magic of a badass pilot and GPS we ended up exactly where we wanted to be. At the end of the day no climber can resist 5' of rock climbing- probably a first ascent!

Off in the distance on the flight back- the Kichatna spires. Mostly unexplored, big granite icy peaks, what more could you ask for, right?

Lunchtime...back to front: Dale, Kyle and RC. The other folks: Phil, Andy and Zach (no pictures unfortunately) were on the other side of the peak collecting samples.

And then the weather came in- we were almost out of food and snowed in, less than 50' visibility and darkness loomed. As our time for pickup came closer we began to laugh defiantly in ther face of a potentially bad situation. No, none of us brought adequate bivy gear or even headlamps, of course not. A funny bit of group enabling ensued and the grand plan was to walk into the dark back towards the lodge over a whole lot of Alaska terrain. Thankfully, the weather parted enough for our pilot to pick us up on time. No problems, right?

A few days later everyone else took off for Anchorage, Phil (the head honcho who hired me) Kyle and I flew around into the Tordrillos to collect dirt and put it into little bags.

This little chunk of granite was on a tributary to the Hayes glacier- always on the lookout.

Looking across the Hayes glacier, enjoying the sun and an early lunch.

Fun work, helicopters + mountains = good idea

Raise the Argo!

So the story goes...there I was, after an enjoyable morning glacier hike with a few clients, walking toward the Matanuska intent on crossing yet again and making my way home for an afternoon of fishing, hiking and a little work, when Davis, the Nova shuttle driver, pulled up in his tracked Argo and offered a ride. I put the kayak on the back of the vehicle, crawled in and we puttered down towards my standard put-in. Davis offered to drive me right up to the very bank of the river, and I thought a little Argo ride might be the ticket for that particular day. As Argos are an amphibious vehicle, the ride included a small slack-water crossing, nothing too crazy. This time, however, the Argo bobbed decidedly the wrong way and before I could fully understand what we were getting into, we were bobbing into the main current of the mighty Matanuska, cold glacier-fed water and all. A quick glance at Davis confirmed that no, this was not a planned occurrence. I took the time to zip my life jacket and focus on the task at hand, which was to keep the aquatic (but not river-worthy) vehicle from upending in the fast and variable current. Riddick shot me a dirty look as he ran along the shore with us, but was soon forced to endure the sight of us floating around the bend.

I acted like a rafter and high-sided for all I was worth. I felt relatively comfortable as I had a kayak and was wearing a life jacket, but Davis seemed to have a whole bunch of things on his mind on top of worrying about swimming 35 degree ice water as we moved farther and farther away from Hick's Creek. Treads churning and plowing through a wave train, Davis turned to me and said 'if this thing goes over I'm coming in that boat with you,'. I nodded my agreement. Anyway, just as we were settling to the unprecedented routine, the river braided and we washed onto a gravel bar, stuck in the middle of the river. But hey! I had my kayak, so after an hour or so later of hiking and hitchhiking we were back around the fire at Nova Hick's Creek camp laughing about it. I decided to stay roadside of the Mat that evening. The next task was to recover Davis's small but expensive ATV. There was no road or trail where the Argo ended up, which meant we had to suck it up and drive the Argo back into the Mat, on purpose this time.

The players, right to left....Galen, Davis, Gareth.

Galen offered to help Davis recover his Argo, and Gareth and I discovered that we had nothing better to do. I brought Riddick along too to make up for his being ditched earlier.

Gareth



Starting to figure things out

Galen gives it a try

And Riddick hung out in the boat, waiting for dinner

Again, just figuring.....

Davis drove as far down river as he could, to minimize the time floating in the main current

It was a funny little scene, overall

You can take the man out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the man

Galen rowed, Gareth minded the line between the Argo and the boat, Davis drove and I shot photos. Galen's idea was to use the boat to ferry the Argo around in the current, which worked pretty well.

This is stricly an improvised technique. It is good to have raft guides involved on things such as this.

Probably not in the owner's manual

.....and Riddick sat in the boat.....

Lend a hand

What was that all about, anyway? Right after this, I dropped my camera in the Mat river, but it was found eventually

Davis had a .44 revolver, so far Riddick isn't a big fan of firearms

After loading the boat and rehashing, it was all over. Just another day in the valley.

Hints of winter

It's dark for a few hours now, and it has been dropping below freezing occasionally, on clear nights. This fire quickly overheated the Yurt, reminding us that there is still a good chunk of time before the stove will be needed, but it was nice to lounge around and have 2-hour meals like in the winter.

Endless river crossings

Not quite water dogs

One braid left

Commute

He gets a little anxious



Finally carried my camera up to the Yurt and got some pictures of what's involved in getting home on foot with dogs in tow. The first is the river crossing, I'd estimate we've crossed the Matanuska river 75 times since moving there. Sunny Jim fits right in the packraft, Riddick not so much.

So for now I'm at Nova working on-call every day, looking for rocks on the river bar, rock climbing at the Weiner Wall, pulling porcupine quills out of the dogs' mouths-still learning!-and watching my first plants sputter and cough their way out of the soil. It has been freezing at night on the glacier and occasionally snowing back in the Chugach. Fall doesn't seem very far away.

Upper Matanuska Valley

Panorama of the Mat Valley from the Lion's Head. It is the area I've been working in since June.

Glacial terrain + easy access + crowds = entertainment. He was fine, not one of my clients. Another day at work.

Looking into the Chugach, up the Matanuska Glacier from Lion's Head. This is my backyard. So much to explore.

Climbed Lion's Head after work to catch the Matanuska Valley filled with some good lighting. You can see a sliver of Bench Lake just left of the small land hump center picture.

Riddick now associates the boat with freedom, and climbs right in. No life jacket yet for the dog, but it is a good idea.

All dogs love the Bench......Tim, Katie and Matt settle in. Furniture all of a sudden makes sense.

Every once in a while, friends from Anchorage get a wild hair and drive to come visit. Hewette, March, Gilbert, Matt and Vilhauer came up for a night of sitting on the floor and drinking wine.

Riddick is the new dog, my new dog, a different model from Jimmy. Betsy took her time picking Riddick out from the shelter. This one comes when you call and isn't quite as 'complex' as Betsy's dog. He will climb down cliffs without fear (or even looking), swim the Mat river if needed and loves a long commute in the morning. A good backcountry dog.