Basic Expedition
June 7-11, 2002
Our expedition started in Anchorage, where we were met at our hotels by Bob in the Outward Bound bus. There was a slight delay as not everyone had gotten the message about the meeting time moving up one hour, but we found everyone and headed south the ~130 miles to Seward. We sat on the bus, looking at the scenery and getting to know one another. The trip did not start off on the most auspicious of notes, as the van stalled out on a hill and wouldn't restart. Bob dealt with this setback very calmly and professionally, however, and we were soon on our way again.
Upon arriving in Seward, we unloaded the bus and met our instructors. One of the first orders of business was to divide the group of 17 into two smaller patrols. Our patrol was then reintroduced to our instructors, Mark and JD. We then went right into gear issue, where we got our backpacks, sleeping bags, pads, and so on. We also divided up the group gear and food, and somehow managed to fit all of this into our backpacks. After a few days, getting our packs well packed became second-nature, but at first it was sometimes difficult to get everything packed compactly and evenly, yet still be able to get at the items we'd need during the day.
The sheer amount of gear was intimidating. Everyone was carrying their sleeping pad, sleeping bag, crampons, ice axe, helmet, climbing harness and kit, clothes, extra shoes, tarp, and a share of the group food. Other groups items that were divided up were three ropes, a glacier kit, three tents, the Mega Mini Mid (a simple tent we used as a dining room/living room), stoves and fuel, first aid kit, and so on. It was a lot of weight, and our packs were filled to capacity.
With our packs filled, it was time to go! We piled in a van for a short ride to the trailhead. We started our course with a five-day expedition up the Lost Lake Trail. At the trailhead, we lucked out by meeting a local who was out walking his dogs. He told us about a bridge that had been recently built just below the trailhead, which saved us a river crossing. The trail was very nice, working its way along the side of a valley above the river. At various spots, run-off from the ridges crossed the trail and there were a few spots where we had to wade across.
After a bit of hiking, we stopped to do some foot first aid. Few of us were used to carrying such heavy loads, and of course we were all wearing stiff, heavy mountaineering boots. A few people had the start of blisters, which we treated as best we could. Erik, especially, was troubled by blisters the whole trip but luckily everyone was able to carry on.
We continued up the valley and above the treeline into snow. I was really struggling with my pack by then, and was hanging on but not feeling very good. As it grew late, we found the camping spot we had been aiming for. While some people learned how to set up our tents in the snow, others worked on learning about the stoves and getting dinner started. We set up the Mega Mini Mid too, but the weather was nice and we didn't need it. It did seem cold, however, and everyone piled on layers. We had dinner, and then headed to bed.
The tents divided up naturally, I think, and we stuck with the divisions we made for the rest of the trip. Brooke, Jess, and Gina took one tent, Mike, Matt and Adam took another, and Erik, Dave and I took the third. The tents were nice North Face all-season tents, and fairly large for someone my size but too small for Erik! At least they were designed with two doors, but getting in and out was always a hassle, especially for the person in the middle.
The next morning, we continued up the valley. I was very relieved to learn that after the second day of hiking, we were going to make a base camp and work from there for three nights. It seemed nice in the morning, but the weather deteriorated and by the time we stopped for lunch it was raining and windy. We set up the Mid just south of the lake, where we were intending to cross the valley and hike along the shoulder on the other side. We piled in the Mid and huddled inside, trying to stay as warm as possible while eating lunch. The wind was really beginning to pick up, and the Mid really get buffeted around badly. No one was very interested in moving, especially as the rain turned to snow and it got colder.
But, what choice did we have? We dragged ourselves out of the tent and headed across the valley and up the other side. It was pretty steep at times, and we hadn't learned how to plunge step or use our ice axes yet. By the end of the trip, terrain such as that would not have gotten a raised eyebrow from any of us, but at the time it was a new experience. We continued south along the ridge with the objective of setting up a base camp from which we would work for the next several days. We were doing OK but people were getting a bit tired and the weather was poor, so it was good to get to the camp.
Despite the weather, we got the tents set up quickly and put in some time building snow walls to protect us from the wind. Getting some hot food was also a top priority! Our camp was set at the bottom of a short slope on one side with a frozen river under the snow on the other side. At times, we could hear the water running underneath the ice and snow.
Across the river was a broad, steep slope that we had snow school on the third day. We started with learning how to kick steps, and how to properly hold the ice axe and use it for balance and stability. But the most important task was to learn self-arrest techniques. The first method was to learn how to self-arrest with an ice axe. Then we moved on to self-arrests with an ice axe from various positions. Finally we learned how to plunge step and glissade. It was an enjoyable morning and a welcome break from carrying packs all day long. The view from the side of the mountain was beautiful, and the camp looked amazing from that distance.
That afternoon, we started to learn how to travel in a rope team on a glacier. We learned how to tie into a rope, and how to position ourselves within a team to protect each other from falls. Of course there were no crevasses where we were, but we practiced and occasionally someone would pretend to fall and pull someone off their feet, to get us used to self-arresting without having to think about it. From there, we went up the slope and took turns having one person self-arrest while the rest of the team tried to pull them off. It was pretty amazing how much force it took to move even a single person under those conditions.
The next day, we had planned to summit attempt Mount Ascension. We were all set and on our way, but the weather did not cooperate and soon we were walking in a whiteout. We didn't even get out of sight of camp before we realized that it wasn't going to be possible to climb the peak. Instead, we practiced whiteout navigation and compass skills. After a little practice with that, we headed for a wind-lip near the camp to practice crevasse self-rescue. This was one of two techniques we'd learn for extracting ourselves from a crevasse, should we fall in. We practiced self-rescue by climbing up a steep snow bank using our prussik and Texas kicks. I had some trouble with this, because my Texas kick was tied at the wrong length.
The next morning, we struck camp and retraced our steps back down the valley. The weather was quite a bit nicer than on the way in, and the trip was much easier. Besides the fact that all our packs were lighter because we'd eaten our food, we also had a downhill route. As a bonus, the day's hiking started out with several nice glissades - one of the major perks of mountaineering. We stopped for lunch near where we'd camped the first night, and were back in Seward in time for dinner. There was a kayaking group at base camp, so we stayed the first night in our tents at a nearby campsite with the other patrol.
The next morning, we started our resupply and had our service project. We went to a weir operated by the Cook Islet Aquaculture Association, a group that studies the salmon population. We helped them count the smelt moving downstream and sample the salmon running upstream. It wasn't very busy there, however, so it felt more like a photo shoot for us than a real contribution to what they were working on. But we enjoyed it and Jess especially was excited to hold the large salmon.
We had a very nice salmon dinner that night, then settled down in the Weatherport for the night. Part 2...
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