Aggie Fights Back

The Aggie lulled Gwen and I into thinking its skies would always shine and storms passed  quickly through.  The Aggie lied.  It would tempt and tease, deciding to clear up at nightfall after keeping us tent bound all day, deciding to clear up after returning from a long field day soaked to the bone, deciding to rain harder the further into the alpine we trekked.  The Aggie was making up for its soft demeanor earlier in the year.

Fortunately, we had a lighter work load this trip and could afford to stay in camp when it was really coming down and venture out in the evenings when the sun would poke through.  I actually enjoyed the down time, catching up on sleep and on books I have been paging through for the last few weeks.  

On the second day, the clouds broke for a brief moment and used it as my excuse to strike out upriver and investigate a hiking route I had been eyeing since first landing on the gravel bar back in June.  I had looked at these mountains every trip, every day, and now I finally had the time to pick out some hiking ridges.  The walk upriver was slow and meandering, not due to difficulty but because I was in no hurry to get to anywhere.  I wandered back and forth, crossing the river multiple times, and even squeezing in some time to sit and watch the water for a while, letting my mind drift.  Crossing the Aggie for the last time, I cut up a small tributary stream and through a thick band of spruce.  Blueberries were everywhere and perfectly ripe and plump.  I couldn't stuff them into my mouth quick enough.  Making it through the band of blueberries, I was deposited onto an open, tussock's tundra that led straight to the ridges I had been eyeing all summer.  They looked steep, but clean lines to the top and access to more ridges.  But, I would not scale them this trip as a heavy wall of rain was moving up the valley, engulfing camp and heading my direction.  Not the best time to be on steep, exposed scree.  I followed the base of the ridges, avoiding the water filled tussocks and re entered the spruce band further down river, again stuffing my face with blueberries.  The rain hit me in the spruce and didn't let up till I was nearly back at camp.  All I wanted to do was strip off my cloths and climb under my warm covers and sleep.

It rained fiercely on and off that evening and grey skies followed in the morning.  Gwen and I headed out in the morning to collect water samples, check the weather station, and take depth-to-permafrost measurements near the tributary mouth.  Due to the increment weather, putting off the alpine plots seemed like a good idea, giving us time to head up the Aggie River for some sight seeing.  After about an hour, we turned a large corner and the river began to open up, exposing higher mountains, a few with snow between their saddles.  It was interesting too see how quickly the landscape changed after only about two hours upriver from our camp.  The trees were thicker, the mountains began to grow taller, and the valleys more open.  Again, rain sped up the valley catching us about 2 hours from camp and spit on us the rest of the way back.  Hot food and warm covers again were the cure.  

More rain and more time tent bound the next day.  We were beginning to run short on time but decided to wait on the alpine plots one more day.  It is very exposed at those sights and you do not want to be caught in high winds and pouring rain.  The temperature drops and clouds can roll in, cutting visibility and making it hard to locate the study plots.  Later on in the evening, like clock work however, the skies cleared and the sun further clearer the sky of clouds.  I needed to stretch my legs from spending another day confined to my tent, so I hiked a steep ridge to a small peak named the Pygmy by other groups who have visited the gravel bar.  I got there right as the sun began to set.  With a snack of trail mix Nutella on tortillas, I sat and enjoyed the sight.  As the sun dipped below the hills, the temperature dropped immediately and as midnight approached, it was time to head back down to camp. 

Finally, Gwen and I had no choice but to trek up to the alpine plots.  Due to the pattern of weather clearing around 7 pm, we waited to leave until noon, hopping the rain would let up.  It did, suckering us into starting up and then punished us severely by pouring harder than it had all week.  We got soaked and emerged onto the high ridges in heavy winds.  Fortunately, the clouds cleared just enough for the rain to stop, and only the gps leading us to wrong locations kept us from finding the plots.  We finally found them by walking in ever widening circles from the gps points.  The view eased some of the frustration and after about two hours and a quick lunch, we were ready to start back down.  The alpine makes for a long day, about two hours up, two hours there, and two hours down, and reaching camp I was hungry and ready for dry clothing and a dry tent.  

Our final day on the Aggie, was spent returning to the lines I had investigated earlier in the trip.  This time, rain didn't prevent me from going further, and Gwen and I traversed up the steep ridges, gaining access to the upper reaches.  Ever peaky, once crested, led to a higher crest via steep scree ridges.  After a few hours, we came to the last peak in the chain before the scree dropped steeply to the valley below.  Panoramic views were in ever direction and we sat to eat our lunches on an isolated patch of grass.  The week was filled with rain and cold, but the Aggie seemed to acknowledge our patience with sun and some of the best views of the summer.  

thanks for the photo Gwen.

On a slightly sadder note, during one of our morning check-ins, Susan informed us that Sonny had suffered broken his arm, suffering a compound fracture.  He was nailing plywood up on fish racks at the culture camp, lost his balance and landed awkwardly on the ground below.  The bones pierced the skin, driving into the mud.  He was able to make a call for assistance and was quickly boated out and flown to Anchorage for surgery.  He's doing fine but unfortunately will be out of commotion for the remainder of my Selawik trips.  Could have been worse and glade he's o.k.