National Pass to Nicoli Creek

It was a spectacularly beautiful morning, and I was glad that we had decided to camp in the pass. It was too brilliant to rush the morning, so we sat in the sun and savored the gorgeous views.

Mt. Blackburn and Donaho Peak

 

From the pass we followed a rock glacier about 2,000+ feet down to McCarthy creek. The sun was glorious and we took our time blowing up our boats and eating lunch.

Caitlin at the Bottom of the Rock Glacier

 

Neither of us really knew much about McCarthy creek other than people have packrafted it. It's a pretty low volume river, and the water levels were low because of the cool nights and dry days. It started off fast and splashy, and never really let up. We portaged a canyon section that looked fun but without helmets or throw bags could have been epic. A super worthy float that I could see doing as a sweet day trip from Mcarthy...it would have been better to not have overnight packs.

Caitlin on McCarthy Creek

 

We left McCarthy creek where Nicolai creek came in and walked the stream bed up until it started to canyon out. From there it was in and out of the trees, relatively slow travel, but nothing extremely unpleasant. When the sun was close to setting we left the trees for a bare patch of river bar and set up camp.

Gotta Love the Trees

 

It was clear and cold, the stars were amazing with no light pollution.



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McCarthy to National Pass

Caitlin and I parked at the end of the road and proceeded to have a yard sale sized gear explosion. Now that we had an objective we could finally pack. We lucked out and caught the shuttle from McCarthy to Kennicott the last day it was running, saving ourselves a boring 5 mile road walk.

Caitlin Flattening Her Boat

 

Initially our idea was to head up to the Bonanza mine and gain the ridge then take that to National Pass, but when we popped above treeline we realized that we should just head up National pass directly instead. Its so cool to wander in the mountains and see old remnants of mines, it was a whole different world up here a 100 years ago.

Walking Through Kennicott

 

The weather was amazing. Crystal blue skies with occasional traces of whispy clouds. It was HOT outside, especially walking uphill, panties and sports bras seemed like plenty of clothing. Although those pics are pretty cute, I'm a bit to modest, and Caitlyn's were even funnier than mine : )


Mt. Blackburn and the Root and Kennicott Glaciers

 

When we got to the pass we debated heading down to McCarthy creek, but it was already in the shade, plus our view from the pass was amazing. So we enjoyed the last couple hours of light swatting black flies and eating dinner.

Caitlin at Our Campsite

 

Caitlin saw a bear on her way to get water, it was a ways away, but as we watched he came closer and closer. We felt validated for bringing 2 cans of bear spray instead of 1. It took the bear about a 1/2 hour to traverse the mountain until he was directly above our tent. Both of us had been debating how much noise we should make or wait till it got closer to really let it know we were there. Luckily for us he headed back up the mountain instead of down to the pass where we were...definitely took a little while to fall asleep!



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