Hike in the Clearwater Mountains in the Alaska Range (Day 3 of 4)

Hike in the Clearwater Mountains in the Alaska Range (Day 3 of 4)

By Troutnut on July 8th, 2013

Our third day hiking was wet and cold all the way through. The temperature was in the forties (Fahrenheit) and the cold drizzle didn't stop all day. We had decent raingear, but it's impossible to keep everything dry in this weather. My wife Lena didn't have waterproof boots, so her feet got soaked, and I ended up with water sloshing around in my boots after ferrying her and all our stuff across an unexpectedly rain-swollen creek. We had long since given up on our original plan to complete the hike in three days, and covered plenty of ground on day three just to make a four-day finish viable.

Photos by Troutnut from Clearwater Mountains in Alaska

Crossing a tributary of Windy Creek. My waterproof leather boots & Kuiu gaiters kept my feet dry here, but I had less luck in the thigh-deep holes of whitewater in rain-swollen Windy Creek itself a couple hours later. From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

Where are chest waders when you need them? From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

Crossing flooded Windy Creek below the beaver dam From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

Steep descent from the second pass From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

Caribou highway From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

Brush to cross in Windy Creek valley From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

Pretty alpine meadow From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

Third night's camp. Looking down-valley toward upper Windy Creek. From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

Caribou trails From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

Rocky mountain pass From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

View beyond the second pass From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

View to the third pass From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

Tundra rose (Potentilla fruiticosa) From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

Lone bull caribou. This mid-sized bull is grazing in the upper right corner of this picture, in a high meadow above a cliff half-way up a mountain. From Clearwater Mountains in Alaska.

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Comments / replies

Jmd123	July 31st, 2013, 11:16 pm
Oscoda, MI Posts: 2473	WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, Jason this stuff is just really mind-blowing!! Too bad is was sooooo damned cold and wet but the scenery is just beyond belief...BTW, what you call "tundra rose" up there, Potentilla fruticosa, is called "shrubby cinquefoil" here in Michigan, and it is considered a "calciphile", a plant that loves an alkaline, high-calcium soil, as in fens or alkaline wetlands. In fact, we saw it in bloom on our last field trip in my Field Biology class today (their final exam is next Wednesday) to a wonderful place called Tuttle Marsh (one of Spence's favorite birding places!). Yep, learned that one in my Boreal Flora class 29 years ago... Jonathon
	No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...

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