Expedition Journal--July 25

Rachel Flood
Tonight we are camped at the confluence of Alignment Creek and the North Fork of the Koyukuk River. We left camp this morning at 10 a.m. The first stretch of the hike was much like what we encountered on the first day of hiking. There was one major stream crossing early on. We decided that we would all be better off to remove our socks and cross just in our boots. That method seemed to work very well. We took our first break after about an hour of hiking, which was pretty good timing. Just a little bit further was this massive gulch. When I first looked at it, I thought that there was no way to get down it. The gorge was very wide and the walls on either side of it were just really rocky. We took our second break on the top of the ridge that preceded the gorge. To sit up on that ridge and to look out over the valley and across to the infamous Mount Doonerak is something that I won't soon forget. For the first time on this expedition, I realized how precious wilderness is. I could see the magic and mystery of this area. Looking out at the valley, I tried to imagine how Bob Marshall must have felt when he was here exploring this vast wilderness that no man had ever seen before. He said in his book that he felt selfish having this place all to himself. I can see why. After we'd all had our dose of photo-taking and gawking at the view, we began our descent. We chose to walk down an area that was covered in tundra, although it was still very steep. It was very difficult to keep my footing as the ground would just go right out from under me. It was sure a relief to get down. We took our next break at the confluence of Barrenland Creek and the North Fork. It felt great getting down something which I had once deemed impossible. I would have like to just stay in the riverbed for the remainder of the hike, but there was risk of getting blocked in by the river. It was also pretty grown over and noisy so staying down was not a very safe thing to do in bear country. We climbed up and up and up. It seemed that way anyway. I was pretty worn out after we got up out of the brush, and my knee was bothering me as a result of all of the sidestepping that I had to do to get down the gorge. Just down the ridge was the confluence of Alignment Creek and the North Fork. I'd have to say that I was pretty relieved to set up camp and rest for awhile.

Today was probably the hardest day we'll have out here. It was great, but I'm glad it's over.

Vanessa Bacher
I finally discovered the excitement that was buried deep down inside of me from months ago when I realized we had won this dream trip. I felt this overwhelming rush of excitement when we climbed our first Arctic peak to the top. I felt like I was standing on the top of the world looking down on lands that had never been discovered by humankind before. I experienced this feeling for the simple reason that I was gazing upon the most untouched terrain that I had ever witnessed. It was not only then that I realized I had a true passion for the outdoors but later that night when Cleve was teaching us about the Leave No Trace project. That discussion really inspired me to want to teach people about it back in Colorado. I really got a lot out of our hike today even though it was a bit of a challenge for me at times.

I'm a little nervous, but also excited for our hike tomorrow because today we only hiked about five miles plus a huge peak, but tomorrow we are planning to hike nine miles through pretty tough terrain. I know that after I hike that far tomorrow I will be so relieved, that I had made such a huge accomplishment. Cleve made an excellent point today that if you motivate yourself you'll rarely regret it.