Saturday, July 9, 2011

Earl Brothers Devils Pass Bike Ride

My youngest brother, Robert, wanted all the brothers to get together for a trip.  He decided we should ride our bikes to the Devils Pass cabin on the Resurrection trail, near Kenai Lake.  One of the brothers couldn't make it, but the penultimate and ultimate youngest (Howard and Robert) and I could.

It was a little over 10 miles up and took us a little over 5 hours.  It was grueling for me, but I had a really good time.  It was a fun ride and good to hang out with the "twins".

Almost above the treeline.




About 3 miles to go, I think.





There were a few steep drops near the trail.  Not too bad except when I was really tired and weaving.



Lots of stream crossings.  Nothing too bad; we didn't get wet.


The twins had told me that this trip was "nothing", "easy" and they'd "ridden it both ways", but they neglected to mention that they had done this when they were 22 years old...  :-)

There were a few snow crossings that DID get our feet wet.  One was hard enough for Rob to ride most of the way across, but most were a consistency where you would sink too deep if you carried your bike, so a bit of a slog.



Almost there...


Break at the top of the Pass.



Welcome sight!


It took us almost 5-1/2 hours to go the 10.2 miles.


The best pound and a half I ever carried ten miles uphill on a bicycle...



We walked back up towards Hope a bit and looked at all the Hoary Marmots around (a LOT of them),  Saw wolf or giant dog tracks and a bear track but nothing much more.  An eagle carrying an ermine flew by and there was a hiking party of two that went by on the main trail but that was it.

Nice views in every direction.



Robbie brought a stove and some fuel  so we had some freeze dried food...


... and I used up the remaining fuel for coffee in the morning.


 Heading back home. 


Lots of fun downhill.

 

There were a couple really nice rock crossings.  It must have been a LOT of work to fit these rocks together.






Rock balancing crossing.


Better than a rock balancing crossing.





On the way out we saw a couple bear hunters and a couple hiking parties but surprisingly few people.

Great lunch at Summit Lake Lodge and then I went home to hobble and lay about for a week.  :-)

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Earl Boys Cookout - Part 3 - Knik Flora, Fauna (well, a Bug) and an Airplane.

Jake took all these great shots up the Knik during our cookout.  I won't distract with comments other than the first photo is a White Spruce.  I took some seedlings from under it over 15 years ago and they are about 3 feet tall in my yard now.



















Sunday, May 1, 2011

Earl Boys Cookout - Part 2

After we walked around by the river, we came back and went for a walk over on the moraine.

View of the plane coming back...


Glacier Views...


Primary Photographer Jake.








We came back and the fire was ready (but marginal) so we had some dinner.


Primary Pilot :-)


The route home - straight out this way!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Earl Boys Cookout - Part 1

Jake and I headed up the Knik for a cookout late last summer. It wasn't the best of weather but a nice trip. I posted on Facebook and Twitter to see if anyone wanted to join us, but didn't get any takers.

Stay with me through the first few photos - they get better.

Heading out of Palmer.


 The view up the Knik.



The strip was a lot worse than I remembered.  Most locals call this the "picnic" strip because there's a plywood table there, but my Uncle and his friends call it the "Glasstar" strip because of some incident I didn't witness :-)


 I got crossed up on that big bump in a crosswind and later discovered I'd blown a brake which was a big part of the problem.  Jake said "I thought we were going to crash".  I said, "Dude, I've come lots closer than THAT". 

We had a hard time getting wet wood (that we'd brought with us) to burn, but finally had it going.


So we took a walk while the coals developed...


It's fun to walk around there - pretty open and lots of great views.  Looking back (obligatory plane shot, can't resist, sorry)!


First we walked down to the river and up toward the glacier.  Probably won't go all the way down to the river THAT way again - tiring scramble back up the loose gravel.  :-)




To be continued...