In this transient in-between seasons period, not only were we too early for Summer activities, we were also too late for Winter ones. However, the woman in the tourist office in Valdez took pity on us and we were able to rent out snowshoes even though they closed two weeks ago. Not only that but we didn’t have to pay to rent them out. That’s right, free! There’s not a lot you get for nowt these days, but snowshoes in Alaska when there’s ‘not much snow left’ is one of them. A relative term obviously. And we had a trick up our sleeve… a snow covered mountain pass and a glacier.
As we approached the Thomson Pass for our snowshoe hike, we were greeted by cloud cover. The sort of dense low cloud that makes it indistinguishable where the snow covered mountains end and the sky begins. The sort of weather we’d been expecting every day but hadn’t really experienced until now. I’m not complaining though (apart from the fact that I’m not allowed to complain about the cold or the weather – see “The Rules”). We’ve actually had better weather on this trip than when we previously came to Alaska in July!
So the ‘not much snow’ thing turned out not to be an issue. Plenty of snow up here. What was an issue, or maybe just a bit of a challenge (she says, in a positive gung-ho kind of way) was the depth of the snow and the inability of the snow to hold the weight of an average person without collapsing. Believe me, breaking trail in soft deep snow is exhausting. You start off confidently striding along, each step nonchalant and casual. This doesn’t last long before mother nature puts you in your place. Your place being ankle deep, knee deep or thigh deep in snow.
Ankle deep
Knee deep
Thigh deep
Before long, each and every foot placement has an element of caution – it’s unnerving not knowing how far you’re going to sink as you take your next step. The walking poles were no help either. With an even narrower concentration of weight, the poles offered an element of balance but were futile in any type of support role. After much of this, we realized the best way to get out of a deep snow hole is to roll out – using your other leg as leverage doesn’t work as that just sinks too. The deeper the snow, the harder it is to get out. So much for ‘not enough snow’!
At which point, Darren found himself buried beyond thigh deep. I’d say around buttock deep. It stopped being funny around now. Actually, it stopped being funny a while ago, but remained mildly entertaining for a while. His thrashing attempts to dislodge himself only served to drive his snowshoe deeper into the snow, like quicksand. After much tugging, he had the inspired idea to take the snowshoe off, extract his foot that way and then rescue the snowshoe. A great idea but still took a hell of lot of brute force to dig the snowshoe out. Time to call it a day.
At least where we rejoined our tracks on the way back, we had a choice of stepping in the same holes or making new ones. The going eventually got easier and we were able to appreciate the Worthington Glacier and absorb the extent of Alaska scenery engulfing us.
