 muse_chik's Alaska Travelogues | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | Anchorage or Bust! | May, 2005 |  8 | | Granite Tors | July, 2005 | 8 |
|
| Page Views: 123 Last Visit to Alaska: July, 2005 | Granite Tors by muse_chik - last update: Jul 6, 2005 |
What were we thinking??? | Granite Tors in the distance |
Known amongst my friends for being adversely oriented towards nature and all things nature related- I shocked both myself and a good friend of mine when I suggested we spend the upcoming fourth of July holiday hiking at the local hiking trail, Angel Rocks. This idea quickly grew to the more difficult Granite Tors trail. While we initially planned on hiking only part of the trail, we ended up deciding to hike the entire 15 mile (25 kilometer) trail- up through the spruce forests, along the ridgeline, to the top of the mountain to see the magnificent granite tors that jut out along the skyline.
A pair of sore knees, a number of tumbles, and nine hours later- we had completed the hike- and stumbled back home for some much needed bed rest. |
|  | The initial trail followed the Chena river- nice and boardwalked, blueberry bushes on either side. This quickly gave way to an uphill climb through the trees, minus the boardwalk, with constant awareness to the sounds of the forest should any bears be ambling by. |
| Further along the path... |
| | |
| | Everywhere in the forest you could see the effects of last summers fire that swept through this region of the interior- but no region so obviously devestated as the very top- where the trees were virtually nonexistent and blackness prevailed. |
| A shot of our progress... |
| | The trail consists of 10 miles to the top- where the granite tors jut out eerily from the flat land surrounding it, and a five mile descent back to the trailhead. Nature's own stonehenge, if you will.
The tiny white speck in the distance of this photo was our starting point- my car parked directly below it. |
| Our shelter from the elements |
| | We ventured on through rain and shine- and were quite happy to stumble across this shelter towards the top of the hike. A nice place to shake off some of the rain and rest our backs from the weight of our packs before continuing on to the tors. |
| | Finally. The Tors.
Of course, by this point, we were too tired to attempt to stumble across the Tundra to reach this particular outcrop of stones.
Tundra walking, for anyone who hasn't experienced it, is difficult, to say the least. Soft, marshy ground and wobbly plants with bases narrower than the tops make for treacherous footing.
I took a number of tumbles making my way across this patch of ground! |
| | We finally came across some stones that were nearer to the trail- and took the opportunity to climb up.
Moments later, the fog rolled in, and within minutes- we couldn't see a thing. Nothing to do but bundle up against the cold and set out through the fog- hoping not to lose the trail in the haze. |
> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]
| muse_chik's Alaska Travelogues | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | Anchorage or Bust! | May, 2005 | 8 | | Granite Tors | July, 2005 | 8 |
|
 Comments for muse_chik about Alaska | | | | |
Docu2001 Sun Oct 9, 2005 10:59 UTC
The Granite Tor hike looked exciting ... | RickinDutch Wed Sep 21, 2005 19:15 UTC
Birthday greetings from back home! Hope you're having a great time! | Pavlik_NL Thu Feb 24, 2005 12:06 UTC
Alaska ... hmm, tempting, yet so far away ... please, tell us more of your wintertales. Greetings from NL, Paul | flyingkiwi Sun Feb 6, 2005 10:33 UTC
I hope LFK remembers to bring his winter woolies! ;-) |
|
|
email me
add as friend
