Wow, it's been four days now in Denali, with six more to go. Polychrome Ridge was our goal
today, so we, more leisurely without running for the bus, got to a shuttle at 8:55, with our most
informative driver yet, Tim. He educated us about the wildlife area that is closed to hikers, due
to previous grizzly habitat needs; pointed out the chewed wooden signs the bears and cubs are
attracted to, possibly because of the kind of paint or varnish used. The next designed sign was
framed with nails, and these intelligent mammals developed these into back scratchers for
themselves. The cabin where wildlife biologist Adolph Murie lived on the East Fork of the Toklat
River, from 1939-1941, was pointed out to us. During those two years, he studied the wolves to
assess if they were destroying the Dall sheep and caribou populations in the park, as most
believed. His theory was that wolves were keen predators that help to maintain healthy
populations of the prey species, by taking out the old, sick and injured, making everything
around them stronger, healthier, more agile and alert. Part of us wanted to stay on Tim's ride to
Kantishna, the last stop in the park, where there are several private lodges, cause he is so
good, but hiking called. Mark said the ride is way too long, and not as stunning as our first
shuttle to Wonder Lake, anyways.
Polychrome Ridge
At the stop at Polychrome, we let Tim know we were off, so he knew how many empty seats
were available for others like us later, who picked-up the shuttles along the way, post-hikes,
walks, backpacking. This was Mark's fourth or fifth Polychrome hike, doing it two and four years
ago with folks like Christine, his daughter, and other families, couples he met in camp or on the
shuttles. We started up the steep narrow, mostly rocked trail, so one has to focus on each step,
and lean forward, not looking at your surroundings or view, until stopping; otherwise, this part
could see tumbling down with great injury. It took us about forty minutes to scale to the
outrageous ridge and out to the point that overlooks the symbols of the "Polychrome" dubbing:
the Alaska Range of multi-colors and varied heights, glaciered or not, with those sloping green,
green valleys of red, copper, golden mountains. The Toklat River, another of the myriad of
"braided rivers" throughout the park, streams flowing down the mountain valleys, and that great
winding park road with the forest green shuttles, tan touring and multi-colored lodge buses
provided the ground floor. I found a stone the shape of Idaho, and topped one of the four cairns
signifying the joy of accomplishment experienced by former and we current trekkers of the ridge
and point.
The wind fluctuated between whipping our hats all over the place, to milder, warm pockets of
stillness, as we walked over rocks and tundra on ridges heading east. For me, this was my first
ridge hike that I can recall, and the awe-inspiring Denali scape embraces, floods over and within
my senses. We really felt we were on top of the world, with each ridge presence. PBJs, sitting
on the soft, dense and colorful tundra, tasted so good, preparing us for the steep, long return on
the other ridge side.
Mark cautioned me about stepping consciously and slowing over the tundra on the descent, due
to uneven depths. The zig-zagging with our poles, helped to save my knees, and was a very
pleasant, buoyant way of hiking downhill. There were high shrubs further down, and I felt more
reassured with intentional talking, you-whooing, with our bells on walking sticks, since this
terrain was potential bear habitat. Higher on the ridges, we'd see occasional Dall sheep and
ground squirrel, and rare caribou scat. One of our ranger lectures focused upon the hunting
strategy of wolves and Dall sheep. Because the latter scurry up to the peaks, where grizzlies
are not fast enough to follow, evidently, the wolves, however, are fast and wily, and meet the
sheep from the other side of the mountain. No wolf scat today, and no sheep sitings either.
It was fun following the game trails, with only a very short bush-whacking through the tall
shrubs close to the road. We hiked for about four hours, and it felt a victory hitting the road,
waiting for the next shuttle to cart us home to Teklanika, after a 15 minute wait. With all the rain
we could see on other mountains, we felt fortunate to encounter only a few minutes of drizzle on
the ridge, and were so warm on the descent, that stripping off rain-gear was a relief.
Showers in "M" were heaven, our fourth day without (which has been fine, with sponge-baths
daily for me), in order to conserve for our ten days here. Luckily, there is potable water in the
campground, so we are not desperate. We do have to watch the grey tank limit, and will deposit
some clothes washing water down the toilet or the designated dish water drain the camp
provides behind the outhouses. For a campground, this is very conscientious, with recycling
bins, food storage and flammable goods closets, as well.
It felt wonderful laying down, listening to the afternoon rain for an hour, while Mark washed
some of his and my clothes outside, under the canopy. Stir-fry shrimp dinner, and listening to
Abba and Peter, Paul and Mary, warm and drizzling outside.
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