Dropped In The Wilderness Of Alaska | Lost & Found EP.11
Hello everyone and welcome back for an exiting episode of Lost & Found (episode 11)!
Before we ever left for Alaska my brother Erick and bonus sister Julie invited us out for a unique experience. Erick and Julie hunt to provide themselves with the entirety of their meat needs. Julie was drawn from a lottery based system to hunt for a Mountain Goat in a very specific area in the backcountry of the Kenai Wilderness. They assigned her to an area to hunt a goat because the numbers are closely monitored and managed to keep the populations strong. In order for Julie to access her goat, their hunt would require being dropped off by float plane.
Doing laundry so we have clothes for our backcountry trip
MAK trying to clean out our fridge before heading into the Kenai Wilderness
I'm not sure if you’ve gathered this yet, but we’re “YES” people. If something intrigues us, we do everything in our power to make it happen. We made plans with Erick & Julie to hop on the plane with them and join them for the 5 days they’d be in the backcountry. While they were hunting Owen and I wanted to use our time exploring the drainage top to bottom to see what all was out there.
The flat plane that took us into the backcountry
The day we all met in Soldotna to fly out was Owen’s and my anniversary! It was the perfect adventure to mark the occasion!
We loaded all of our gear and a week’s worth of food into the plane to head into the remote reaches of the Kenai Wilderness. As I mentioned we were assigned to a specific drainage for Julie’s hunt and with the pilot we planned which lake we’d land on for our drop. According to the pilot it was rare, if ever, people flew to where we were headed. After our drop we had five days for Julie to “fill her tag” then we would have to wait for a weather window to open before we could send a Garmin inReach message to the pilot to come get us. The only tricky part was that there are less than 50 days a year of good weather out in the mountains so we’d have to be strategic with our pickup.
I won’t be sharing the name of the flight service we used for this trip because we can’t recommend them. The owner, and our pilot out was rude, he doubled the price to fly us the day we arrived, then threatened to not take us on the day of because clearly we didn’t want to pay double the arranged price despite the fact we had the price in writing… I don’t like to talk bad about people but it wasn’t a great experience. And frankly, a little scary that that person was who was leaving us in the remote reaches of the backcountry.
View from the plan flying to camp
View of a glacier on our way to camp
Despite the chaos with the pilot, the flight was mesmerizing. We’d spent a lot of time studying this area on elevation maps in the planning process of this trip. I always love comparing what I thought a place would look like to what it actually ends up being in person. On the way in we flew over sprawling glaciers and high peaks all of which I wanted to explore during our stay.
MAK & her brother Erick looking over the landscape
As soon as camp was set up on the edge of the lake we ventured out on foot to find a high vantage point so we could plan how we all wanted to explore the area. For Erick, Julie and their coworker Pat they were trying to study where goats were in the valley and how they traveled as their mission was solely focused on the hunt. Owen and I were happy to explore with them, learn how they read the land all while figuring out where we wanted to try to go in the area.
So you can see where our camp was!
We decided that we’d spend the rest of the day with the group before trying to hike up and down valley to glaciers we’d seen from the air. Out there we saw just a single old fire ring made of rocks. Otherwise there was no evidence of human traffic. Never in our lives (Owen’s and mine) had we been in a location as remote as this. Out here there are real consequences if something went wrong. To some, that may sound scary, to us it creates a hyper awareness of our surroundings that can only be compared to a flow state. Translation: We love this sh*t.
MAK loading film
Erick, his wife Julie and Owen surveying the valley
Owen through a hole in the ice
After climbing the hillside to get the lay of the land we ventured to the far side of the lake we were camped on where we found massive snow drifts that were holding strong from the previous winter. We joked around, we took our time, and we (obviously) had the place to ourselves. It was an incredible day.
Six year anniversary pictures - 35mm film
Six year anniversary pictures - 35mm film
On the way back to camp for dinner Owen and I stopped to take some obligatory anniversary photos. They’re sappy, but what can I say, we love each other.
At camp we enjoyed dinner and a unique sunset. Before going to bed, the group split a little celebratory whisky to cheers to six years of marriage and adventure!
Morning of day two and the last of our good weather
How the weather started
How the weather progressed
In the morning we woke to a beautiful day. We didn’t know it yet but we got spoiled because it wouldn’t last long.
We spent the day exploring down the valley because that is where the hunting party was. We wanted to be close to them in the event we needed help if they secured a goat. Our goal was to make it to the glacier however we were stopped short by an impassable creek ford that was too deep and fast moving to safely cross. By the time we made it up to the hunting party they had a goat and were working on getting it off the mountain. The weather quickly turned on us and the afternoon became an all hands on deck experience. Sadly there are no pictures or videos from anyone that afternoon. The wild and rain came in sideways, we had to make the trip to our camp on the far side of the lake multiple times, and had to make and eat dinner in our tent.
MAK looking over the barely visible lake under ice
This is also how I learned, the hard way, that my rain jacket was no longer waterproof. The results left all my warm layers wet and with the storm raging outside, no way to dry them off. That night I went to bed scared of how I would cope for the next few days. I run cold, and seemingly my body looks for a reason to be cold and stay cold.
When we woke up we pulled a weather report on our Garmin inReach and realized that the following day was our only opening for a pickup in the foreseeable future. We sent the flight service a Garmin message to let them know we wanted a tentative pickup for the following day.
The glacial lake up valley where it would appear 3-4 glaciers terminate
Owen and I were sad that we were not going to be staying the full five days, but were very understanding that we needed to work around the weather more so than our desires. With that, we set out up valley for our last day of exploring.
This was also how I planned to stay warm for the day. All my clothes were still wet and I knew that if I wanted to be warm, I needed to keep moving.
Four miles up valley we found a lake that Owen had spotted from his side of the plane. He mentioned that he’s seen. a body of water with surrounding glaciers and boy was he right. This lake seemed to be the terminus of three or four glaciers that were vailed in fog and mist.
It was one of the most beautiful scenes we’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing, and to know that so few people have laid eyes on the place is still hard to wrap our minds around.
The crew!
Back at camp the hunting party was resting after their tough day before. It was fun to return to camp warmer than I’d left and find them in high spirits. Being that it was our last night I thought it would be appropriate to take an explorers portrait of everyone.
The next morning after receiving a confirmation Garmin message from the flight service we sat and waited for the plane to come over the horizon. Through the mist a new, and much for personable, pilot arrived to take us home.
Our returning plane
Our returning plane
This experience was a first but hopefully not last for us. It was so wonderful to be dropped off and left to our own devices for the first time. There is something really empowering about knowing that you’re capable of not only thriving but feeling completely at home miles away from civilization.
Drying out gear after our return from the backcountry
This seagull swallowed a fish that was too big and walked around like this for a while before flying away… ?!
Thank you so much for joining us this week! Hard to believe there is only four more episodes left in the series. See you next week, same time, same place!
Love, MAK
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