Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic 2024

This was my first attempt at a wilderness classic and there's actually a lot to unpack (metaphorically, I’ve already unpacked and re-packed for a different trip in the physical realm). Most of my trips I would say fall into slow and heavy. I move one speed, and can pack on the weight at that speed. I've probably spent more time backpacking in the rain than the sun, because I walk in any weather that’s safe. Which turns out you can pretty much safely walk in anything. My stuff is always water proofed and ready for a downpour, whether it's a March ski trip or a June packraft with a good “forecast”. For these reasons, the lighter systems of the classic were very foreign to me. It was a solid learning process thinking about packing more calories into weight, where we could cut weight, and ways to be efficient with different things. Rowan and I ended up bringing a 50deg quilt to share, an emergency blanket, a slingfin shelter, two foam pads and didn't skimp on full rafting and safety stuff. Our packs really didn't feel heavy at any point during the trip, but I think increased weight probably adds up on feet a lot more than I'm used to when you're doing this many miles a day. 

There were 28 participants. We started from little tok on ATV trails and then crossed little tok river back and forth. We missed the ATV trail turn off but walked through some bushes to find it. We did a little tundra walking and then dropped down into a creek bed to continue up to the top of the pass. We camped a little after the first pass around 11p with three groups around the same vicinity, probably around 29-32 miles in. Three weeks prior I had strained a tendon in the outside of my foot and couldn't put weight on it until a week before the classic. I had done a three mile hike that week but otherwise wasn't sure where it was at for walking. I started to have the same tendon pain through the pre-loaded ibuprofen around mile 15 which made me nervous.

The next morning (Day 2) we started walking at 7a and came upon a different group of three packing up camp that we hadn’t seen the day prior. We cut across the right side-hilling up to the second pass and then the third pass. Coming down from the third pass my middle toes were really hurting. Rowan had brought topical inbuprofen that I had applied to my tendon and it hurt for a few miles here and there the rest of the trip, but otherwise was fine. Apparently the walk it off philosophy could have some merit, we didn’t learn this in physical therapy school. I took my shoes off and my middle toe nails were pushing into my toe nail beds and discolored. I buddy taped them to my second toe and this seemed to help for the walk down Platinum Creek, but we did have to stop a couple times for foot care. I also changed my socks because my shoes were mostly dry at this point. This part of terrain was mostly a creek bed with minor water amounts in it and then we came upon at ATV trail that cut us over to where we could put in to Platinum Creek. We were able to raft 10 miles of the river, definitely scraping rocks along the way. When we got to the put in there were two groups we hadn't seen since the start transitioning. A few miles in there were some bigger rocks and features that made me nervous about the future river, but it mellowed out. In general it was a lot of scouting around corners and portaging around wood. We ran into a group along the way walking Platinum that said they got 13 holes last year. Somehow they were walking about the speed we were rafting, while crossing the creek back and forth. While Rowan and I may have needed to be more creative with crossing creeks given our height, our size worked in our favor for rafting low water without getting holes or needing to stop as much. We ran into another group along the river that was patching a hole. 

We got to the end of Platinum and pulled out to cut the corner and put into the Nebesna River. We grabbed some clear water from Platinum to filter since Nebesna was silty. We cut across braids to the right side of the river over a couple miles, and pulled out near a dry drainage prior to Cooper Creek. We saw a group heading into the woods and two groups pulling out of the Nebesna ahead of us. We took the drainage for a bit, cut through the pushes into Cooper Creek area, found a place to camp a few miles up, and made a fire. We probably walked 29-32 miles this day as well. I had a few blisters by this point that I taped, and my shoes felt pretty tight on my feet. 

We slept 11p-5a, starting the process of crossing Cooper Creek back and forth by 5:30a (Day 3). It was cold water and we were in the shade behind a mountain the whole time. Rowan was cold. I was potentially cold but the weariness of knowing the sun would eventually hit us made me really grateful that at least I wasn't hot. The last two days I had been super hot, which made me realize how in-tune I am with my body in heat is in it's infantry compared to my in-tune-ness with cold and moisture. 

We were glad we were crossing Cooper earlier in the day since it looked glacial, which meant that it could rise with the heat of the day as things melt. We didn't have to pair up for the creek crossings but we did ditch into the bushes a few times or back track to find better spots. We took a left off Cooper and headed up towards Blue Lake. There was no wind flow as we followed a small creek up, and the sun had hit us at this point. Eventually I started to overheat and wasn't sure if I was drinking too much or little water, or having too much or little electrolytes. I took my pants off to hike in my underwear and wet my space cat visor and hair in the water every fifteen minutes. Then I actually messaged Liz to see if she had any other hot weather tips (lol). We walked up a few boulders to Blue Lake which was really pretty. There was a trail along the right side and some air flow. 

My left big toe was hurting at this point and seemed to have building pressure under my toe nail. I was wearing Salomon's that were a half size too big, but my foot swelling had made them feel very very tight. I took out my insoles and walked the rest of the day without them in to hopefully increase the space in my shoes, and changed my socks because my toes were getting white and fluffy. We walked up a gravel bed (a little uncomfy in shoes without insoles) and then a tundra trail. The views up here leaving Blue Lake were also gorgeous, and we walked with two groups. We continued down to Notch Creek. Rowan and I transitioned and tried to put in right away. We heard later that one group did successfully do this a few hours ahead of us, but Rowan and I were hitting rocks pretty hard. The current was fast enough to push us into rocks with force, but most of the river was really shallow. We got concerned about holes in the boats even with keeping pretty low air in them, and decided to pack up and walk in our dry suits. It was nice to have dry feet while walking and we camped a few miles down Notch. We potentially did 23-28 miles this day after our Notch escapade burned up some time.

The next morning (Day 4) we were moving by 5:30a and my left big toe pressure had grown. I had trouble getting my toes into my shoe, and each step was really painful. I should have taken our needle or knife heated with a lighter to my toe nail, but we were in our dry suit bottoms and it didn't sound appealing to have a hole around my foot during later dirty creek crossings. I did start to try cutting a hole in the top of my shoe but didn't get far (weird moment). We saw a group boat by and realized we were walking too far down Notch. Rowan and I transitioned and put in, then only having to get out of our boats three times on the way down. We found the group at the pull out. I assume they had to get out of their boats more than we did (pro star fishers, slow walkers - at least me). I had clipped my toe nails right before the trip, but with three days passing I feel like I needed to do it again. One of them had nail clippers so I tried to make my nails super short. When I was doing my left big toe nail a bunch of puss exploded from under my toe nail and it felt much better. We walked in our dry suits to cross Cross Creek (haha). And then along a trail that had some swampy elements to the Chisana. It was still super hot, but dry feet made my toes much better. And I was on day three of experience with heat while backpacking (practically an expert now), so we continued in our dry suit bottoms. For Chisana we kept our packs out and clipped to the perimeter of our boats. We crossed what seemed to be 30 braids and then walked a few miles to trail. We then walked around a few trails into Chisana, in potentially not the most direct way. Coming into Chisana our body's felt on the up and up, probably because our feet had been dry all day. Jamie had flown into Chisana, wanting to do the second part. She brought me a pair of socks since I had dropped one in Platinum (attempting to dry it on my life vest before the water got spicy, stupid idea). Not sure if this counts as a "re-supply." We socialized with some Swiss friends she had met who were super nice. We probably spent too much time here chatting, re-taping our feet, and eating. We continued on up Geohenda Creek with Jamie. I had hiked the whole day until Chisana in my dry suit without my insoles in, so my shoes were dry. Knowing you have a dry suit with you is like knowing you brought your own mobile home. It makes me feel so safe on the go knowing moisture can’t get to me. I wonder if snails or RV owners can relate to this. 

The first few miles felt great but then we started crossing Geohenda Creek. The water was super muddy and it felt like dirt was getting rubbed in my open toe wounds. My whole left big toe throbbed. We camped around where I had pre-pegged mile 100 on Gaia (with a lot of straight lines, so more likely 105-110). 

This morning (Day 5) I was really tired, my feet hurt, and my left knee was swollen. Luckily this day was a little cooler without much precipitation (Ayla's best weather). We walked up the rest of Geohenda which felt like forever. I hiked in my dry suit bottom again for dry feet (I really don't mind wet feet but it seemed to make my foot pain twice as bad). We turned off onto the "Pack Trail" that we followed up to Solo Mountain Cabin, and I changed out of my dry suit. Some was nice trail (looked very appealing to bike), and some was tundra or swampy. It seemed it took forever to reach it, and we didn't find a good trail for awhile after the cabin. It could exist, but we weren't on it. It was a lot of tundra bush type whacking until we finally hit an ATV track down to White River. Rowan had also had rotating blister, knee, hip etc pain. Her right knee had been hurting and for fifteen miles she was lifting her pant leg up with her right arm to step. She's suppose to get right elbow surgery at some point, so her right elbow started to not love this. Near the end of the day she decided she didn't want to slow us down or injure her knee permanently. We organized a pick up from a strip close to us, and we stopped earlier that night to sleep at the area we would part ways. 

After logistics of splitting up gear and updating everyone, we went to bed around 11p. Big shoutout to Liz for continuing to be my logistics person for everything outdoors. The next morning (Day 6) we woke up around 6a maybe.. I have no idea. But the extra sleep made me feel way better. It was slightly raining and I hiked in my dry suit again with no insoles. 

Rowan started off towards a cabin we had seen near the landing strip coordinates, with the plan that she would message us when she got there about shelter. We were taking the sleeping stuff, so we wanted to make sure if the plane didn't come she wouldn't be left without shelter. Jamie and I walked toward the the White River Middle Fork (some people might have called this Lime Creek?). We inflated and boated one eddy to the next. The current was pretty fast but not unmanageable. In past years people had gone downstream to wade across, or somehow waded across where we had popped out. The rest of the White River basin travel was really nice, and we found hard packed sand that was comfy on the feet but also efficient to walk on. It looked like most others had too, because there were a lot of friend foot prints. We took way too long trying to cross Flood Creek. We checked out up high and then eventually went low, which then was an easy crossing. Eventually we came to Lower Skolai lake and the walking got muddier and more shifty. We went too high at one point and had to back track to find a route that wasn't down an ice cliff. This terrain was a bit of slow going and we finally came out around Upper Skolai lake which didn't seem to exist anymore. We walked the right side over to meet up with the Goat trail. In hindsight, we could have cut across the basin and I think it would have been more efficient. We walked up the first bench of the Goat trail and camped where I had prior on a trip last year. This put us around my mile 139, which had a lot of straight lines on the track so maybe 145 of walking zig zags? I had changed out of my dry suit half way through the day, and my feet were starting to feel like they were settling into my new walking life. I felt pretty good overall, even if I was still hobbling and my shoes still felt like tiny children's ones. 

 

That night was really cold. We were around 5,500-5700' range. When we woke up there was a snow dusting about 1,000' above us which validated what the temperature felt like to us. It was drizzling a little bit. We had 20 miles of walking left until Toby Creek, crossing the Chitisone and Toby Creek, walking 5ish miles to Glacier Creek and then rafting some miles to May Creek Road to walk into McCarthy. Jamie felt we should go down to the Skolai strip to fly out given potential rising water levels if there was rain, lack of sleep, and the battery life of our phones. We had done 20ish miles days the last two days which had put us a half day-a day behind. Initially we had planned that coming out Sunday would also be okay, but it did mean we had less extra battery power than planned (poor budgeting on my part). We headed back down and then over to the Skolai strip and waited to fly out. We were able to see some of the teams we hadn't seen since the first day or two back in McCarthy.

In general I’m pretty atrocious at bailing on anything in life. Which isn’t to say I have a high risk tolerance, especially in water. But I’m hard headed otherwise. However, I did the classic for the reasons I do other trips. To learn about myself, others and nature. The two arbitrary points don’t change the learning and seeing what my body could do. It was a good lesson in contemplating if I have too much pride and a whole bunch of group and outdoor dynamics. 

Overall, I learned more on this trip than I have in awhile. Logistically and philosophically but the following is logistical. In hindsight, I would wear shoes with a wide toe box that were a full size too big. On the Aniakchak trip last year I used shoes that were a size and a half too big and didn't have problems with the increased space. I would bring more socks that usual, nail clippers, and it would be cool to find a system to keep my mid-thighs down dry without wearing the bottom of my dry suit (cost wise). Going in, doing almost 30 mile days with some transitions and route finding etc and an overnight pack seemed kinda insane. I was in some type of discomfort the whole time, but it was more manageable than I thought it would be. I have had trips where I've thought "I want to go home", so probably due to the weather I wasn't having that bad of a time since I didn't think this to myself. I figured I would need to take time off walking or running after the classic, but overall my tendons and ligaments feel good. Actually better than two weeks before the classic. Weird that some toe nails and foot swelling are what bugged me the most, but these are quick heal problems. Travelling through this much terrain each day had it's pros and cons. I felt I wasn't appreciating the scenery as much, but it was also wild to look around and see how far we had come in one day. 

I had reservations about this being an organized "thing." Since college I haven't participated in races, and have enjoyed the complete lack of any competition in my life. I have a lot of respect for friends who participate in races, but for me I have found activities with a high level of collaboration have been really rewarding. The interplay of mutual trust, propping each other up, sharing skills and information, and bonding with others over difficult situations is probably my favorite part of moving my body now. The whole event was rewarding in this sense as well. We found out two other woman were doing the classic a month before and shared all of our route information and packing thinking between our groups. They even messaged us to give us a heads up about how they navigated crossing White River. The groups we ran into we had great conversations with and it was super fun to cheer them on. It actually felt like a fun game seeing who we ran into and hearing their interactions with other groups. My favorite part of this experience was the people. 

I’m very grateful to Rowan and Jamie who I sort of suspect largely did this event for me, and who were great partners. I also reflected a lot on Katie (in Antarctica) and Erin (has an ankle injury). No they weren’t on this trip, you didn’t miss that detail. The mutual trust and experiences we’ve shared in the past has really showed me what a skilled, patient, capable, tough, level-headed and communicative outdoors person looks like. 

Trip variations to and from Chisana are plenty given it's an inexpensive flight. Could you bike the pack trail? Blue lake, Nebesna, White River, there's a lot you could do in this area using part of this route.