Adventures in Onionism

I am in Washington DC now. I'm staying with my friend in Adams Morgan. I start work on Monday. I'm very happy to be reunited with my dog and my girlfriend. I had to buy a new wardrobe because almost all of my posessions are in storage, and I don't want to pay to pull them out more once, so I'm trying to buy a townhouse ASAP. To distract myself from important work and life things: 1) Does anyone want to buy my size small ULA Epic? It's still in good shape after one  month of use in Alaska. I think the pack is well-designed, but I should have purchased a medium. If you wear a pack that's too small, the load lifter straps aren't effective, and you can't get the weight off your shoulders. 2) My Tarpent Contrail has met its maker after 8 or so years. Or at least the zipper has. (If you set up the shelter on a muddy/sandy glacier, just DO NOT use the zipper. It's too delicate for that kind of dirt!) If I buy something to replace it, what should it be? I...

And for my last night in Alaska, I'm stealthing behind the Fred Meyer in Soldotna. Hitching out of Homer was a little hard, as the speeds were high and I got dropped off from my first ride at a bad spot with auntie in everyone's eyes and then narrow shoulders. Now after a good ride to Soldotna, I'd rather camp and get an early start, and it's actually not a terrible spot. Actually, I don't really know that, since I got here in the dark. But I'll have a chance of one more night of northern lights this way. 

One of the best days of my life. I'll tell you about it later. 

I flew from Tustumena Lake to Homer today. I could have (a) continued on my original route, with seriously terrible bushwhacking, (b) found the map at the cabin last night and tried a potentially boring but easy but potentially almost endless bushwhack route down old house trails on the Funny River (c) run into the hunter with a boat I met and asked him for a ride, and he was willing or (d) kept my plans to fly out, since I didn't haveuch cell service to cancel anyway. I went with D. The views were even better than I imagined. Homer is a cool, funky little town with an odd mix of tourists, fishermen, and outdoorsy types, but a bit too spread out. What next? I don't know. I have to be in DC to start work on the 17th.

Awful bushwhacking to start the day. Amazing tundra all afternoon. Awful bushwhacking to end the day. Staying at the Emma Lake fish and game cabin. And I'm flying out tomorrow. I got reception up high and realized, hey, I can take an air taxi, because that's part of the Alaska experience, fly to Oakland in a couple days, and the government will fly me to DC to start my job next week. I've had my fun, but I don't want to bushwhack anymore right now. 

4 mfing miles as the crow flies. Descent to Benjamin Creek difficult. Found game trail, tried to take it upstream to get above cofluence and avoid the canyon below. (This definitely would have been a good idea on the day I floated the Yanert and had to deal with Dick Creek to get there.) However, the game trail improved, and when I gave up and headed downstream, and eventually hit Benjamin Creek downstream of the canyon, the creek was chill and pretty easy to cross. Then I crossed and went upstream on Killey River, and didn't really know where would be best to ascend to the alpine. All I know is a creek way on the other side that I'm aiming for, but not what drainage or anything to take to get there, and everything is steep and brushy. After a false start, I chose the least steep contour lines I could find, and eventually found a game trail, which I named Hallelujah Game Trail. But it ended at a small knoll, and I'm not really above treeline yet, unfortunately. More bushwha...

Good day. The river was foggy and cold when I woke, but I couldn't fall asleep again, so I packed up and paddled off. The canyon was fun to run again, but not quite as exhilarating as the first time. Crossing Skilak lake was mostly drudgery. I picked the shortest line for safety's sake, but when the lake stayed chill, if not glassy in the middle, I adjusted and got to shore right where the Cottonwood Creek trail goes up. My pack is stupid heavy, so the climb wasn't that fun, but above treeline the view of the lake was stupendous. Glad to be hiking again, in  wilderness. Then I contoured around some lakes, sometimes on game trails, sometimes bushwhacking, to try to get to Benjamin Creek, where I might find game trails to help cross the Killey River valley. We'll see. Could be a lot of bushwhacking, and down in the valley it would be awful. My camp is exposed but I have a great view of the valley below. 

I got bored with the lower Kenai River. After I put in this morning, there were a few nice spots with more golden eagles and fish and loons and ducks, but we were out of the drift zone, so all the boats were motoring around and pretty soon it was private property and houses on both sides. There was one bit of excitement at Naptowne rapids, which I got out to scout first. Then I chatted with a local fishing guide who discouraged me from hitting the rapids dead on ("5-6 foot wave train, which could flip your little boat") so I just skirted around them and missed most of the fun/danger. The waves were in fact large, but I'm guessing it would have been fine. What are my drysuit and pfd for, after all? If I'd been with a friend we would have run them repeatedly since it's easy to pull out right after and walk a trail back to the top on public land. After that, I just wanted to be done.  Nearly solid private property, and the river was chill enough that I could get out ...

Woke to the sound of boats and fishermen. Well, that was after I woke several times to shooting pains in my shoulder from trying to use my PFD as a sleeping pad. The fog on the river was beautiful, but too cold for me to get up. So I slept in a little more, packed up, and paddled. The river wasn't tight yet, I apparently hadn't passed Jims Landing yet. Once I did, the fun started. The rapids were really a blast. I was comforted to know that the fishing boats run them, sincd then there were bound to be a bunch of people around in case I got in trouble. No worries, all went great and the rapids were over too quick. Then I had a slow, laborious paddle of Skilak Lake. So slow. I almosy asked the passing fishing boats for a tow, but instead I just hitched from Upper Skilak Campground to Lower Skilak Campground, skipping six miles (and as many hours?) of paddling. Got back in and paddled a quick mile (no headwind! Setting sun and jumping fish and loons) to where the lake becomes a ri...

Lovely day on the Kenai. The lake was slow going this morning, so I pulled out at the power station. There's an access road, and I was thinking I'd just walk it, but then a truck rolled by right as I came to the junction and who wants to carry a heavy pack 10 miles on a hard gravel road when you could be rafting? So I caught the ride to Cooper Landing, bought some snacks, got some info on the river, and put in. The easy part from Cooper to Sportsman's Landing was easy. Camped just below there, tackling the canyon tomorrow. Trail I can walk if I don't feel comfortable running it. Saw several bald eagles and then three huge golden eagles. Huge, I tell ya. Sportsman's Landing is also a sight. So many fly fisherman. The river does stink a little with dead fish, but it's all good. The weather has become fantastic. Clear skies last night, possibly again tonight. Come on Aurora Borealis! 

Did I mention there was a fun bluegrass band in town and that Hope is really cute? I camped at the bar campground which is right on the water, Turnagain Arm. In the AM I took my time getting a breakfast burrito, reading more of East of Eden, and addressing some postcards. Some young local hikers I met gave me a ride to the Post office and I picked up my raft and some food. Luckily I'd actually sent myself a decent amount of food, so I didn't have to hitch to a grocery store. Instead I hitched to whichever of Cooper Landing or Primrose, and thus whichever end of Kenai Lake I could get a ride to. Primrose was the winner. I wanted to paddle some of Kenai Lake first since it's flat water, and I figured I could get a day or two in to test out my new drysuit, which I just picked up at REI in Anchorage the other day. Unfortunately the wind was against me all day, but other than that everything worked out great. I probably didn't start paddling until 2:00, but that's OK. It...

Seward to Hope done. Had a nice campsite near Resurrection Pass last night, easy day over the pass and down today. The pass was nice, but mellow. Nothing too exciting, but mostly clear skies. It wasn't all under tree cover, but some. My feet hurt a little, especially on the hard gravel road into town from the trailhead. Hope is small. I stopped at a diner ("Food on Second") for some sandwiches, and the bar has live bluegrass tonight.  I could camp at the bar for $10,  or just stealth somewhere. I need to hit the PO, and then hitch to a real grocery store tomorrow. I had 12+ days of food when I was in Denali, but I planned poorly and sent a bunch of it home instead of here to Hope. Oh well, it's only money and time! Pleasantly surprised to actually get data reception on my phone here. I only just now realized that Google Fi is just the best of Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular, not Verizon or AT&T. So mostly I don't get any data service. John and Daisy have gon...