THE HERBERT REPORT
We
got up a little later than normal on Tuesday, partially by design. The group of teenagers in our part of the
campground had been planning on an early start.
We thought it would be easier to let them cook and eat breakfast before
we got up. That didn’t really work out. They were running behind schedule, and the
cooking shelter was sheer chaos when we made our way over there.
Tuesday’s
forecast was for more rain, so we decided to do another low-elevation
hike. This one would be a mostly-easy
hike along the Herbert River to its source at the Herbert Glacier. We were looking forward to an easy hike,
since we were both pretty tired and sore from two tough hikes in a row.
When
we reached the trailhead, there was a sign saying that part of the trail had
been washed out by the river.
Unfortunately, there were no details.
I knew that most of the hike was easy, and the trail largely stayed away
from the river. However, the last ½ mile
or so to the foot of the glacier was considered more difficult, with some
scrambling required. My guess was that the
washout was in this section. I was
hopeful that we would at least get a good view of the glacier before we had to
turn back.
Most
of the hike was deep in the rain forest.
On a couple of occasions the trail came close to the river. At those points we were treated to views of
the mountains in the distance – though the peaks were largely obscured by the
clouds. The rain forest itself was
pretty though, with mossy spruce trees and a vibrant green understory. We also passed the remains of a late model
car early in the hike.
Later
on we passed below a high, cascading waterfall. It looked intriguing, but unfortunately views
of the waterfall were limited from the trail.
I thought about trying to bushwhack up for a better view, but ultimately
decided against it. It looked like one
that probably wouldn’t be worth the considerable effort that would be necessary.
We
reached the river after a couple of hours of hiking. We passed through one narrow stretch where
the trail squeezed between a cliff and the river. Was that the washout?? Just beyond, we were rewarded with our first
view of the glacier. After another 50
yards we found a more comfortable place to sit and relax, and the view was even
better. We took a break there to admire
the massive face of blue ice directly across from us.
I
decided to try to get closer. Christy
waited at our rest spot while I hiked towards the glacier. Before long I reached one of the river’s
braided channels. It was small, but
continuing required wading. The water
was cold, but tolerable. Once across, I
was able to follow sandbars for a ways. However,
before long I reached the base of a cliff.
Continuing ahead was impossible, as there was a large river channel
blocking my way. Attempting to ford it
looked like a bad idea. I scrambled
across one section of the cliff, but quickly realized that I would have to
climb higher. That looked sketchy, so I
headed back.
A
bit later I ran into a couple that had made it beyond the cliff. They said that the view was actually inferior
to the one Christy and I had enjoyed earlier.
At that point they still weren’t at the foot of the glacier. Another deep, swift river channel had blocked
their progress, preventing them from reaching the ice. From there, most of the glacier was out of
sight, blocked by a steep ridge.
We
returned by the same route. Christy got
a head start, and I didn’t catch up to her until I reached the car. We returned to the Mendenhall Valley and ran
a few errands. Back at camp we found
that the big group of teenagers had left.
Our new neighbors were a family with a young boy from Norway. I was intrigued that they had traveled all
the way to Alaska for their vacation.
We
cooked dinner before stubbornly attempting to enjoy a campfire. We sat under our tarp, which I’d erected next
to the firepit.
That way we could enjoy the fire and stay out of the rain. Unfortunately sparks from the fire threatened
both the tarp and our sleeping pads, which we use in our camp chairs. Ultimately that experiment was a failure.
The
rain continued all night. Earlier in the
week, the forecast had called for sunshine on Wednesday. That had changed though, as the rain was now
expected to persist until mid-day. I was
still holding out hope that it would clear off in time for us to hike up either
Mount Juneau or Mount Roberts on Wednesday afternoon.
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