July 7, 2024.
3.1 mi. | 2040’ ele. gain | 3 hr.
The weather took a turn for the worse, but we decided to head up to Hatcher Pass anyway. I’d heard good things about the hiking there and the pictures looked amazing. But our drive up the road was far from scenic because everything was covered in gray clouds. When we arrived at the Fishhook Trailhead, where we intended to camp, Aaron discovered we had a screw lodged in the tire. It was looking like this adventure was a bust.
After spending an hour changing a tire in the cold drizzle, we cooked up a nice warm dinner and went to sleep, wishing for a break in the weather the next day.
But after sleeping in and having a lazy breakfast, the clouds showed no signs of budging. Needing to burn some energy, LeeAnn and I decided to get on our rain gear and hit the trail.
I knew the trail climbed 2000’ in 3 miles round trip, which is ridiculous, but we were game to give it a try. The “trail” consisted of a braided mess of mud runnels climbing a very steep meadow. We dug our poles and toes in to the muck to try and not slide down the mountain. Hiking straight up into the gray, we had nothing to see but our feet and the colorful wildflowers covered in water droplets. I could not believe the flowers! Valerian, paintbrush, bunchberry, lousewort, mountain-avens, I was in heaven!
We passed one party of three who also had the crazy idea to take a hike today. They took one look at us and wished us luck as we cruised on by. There was no time to slow down, we had to keep moving to stay warm.
Once we completed the muddy approach, the ridgewalk was a piece of cake and not a scramble as the route description had said. The hard part was behind us. We floated along the rocky top to where my map indicated the summit was, took an inside-a-ping-pong-ball selfie and retreated. I sent Aaron an ETA using my Garmin InReach so he could have hot beverages ready in the van when we returned. We took our time coming down, managing to make it back with only a few slips and butt-slides but no injuries.
The van door slid open as we approached and a sign welcomed us to the “Gray Ghost Cafe.” Aaron had a kettle of hot water ready and several beverage options were provided. It was a very sweet treat after spending the last few hours soaking wet. We changed our clothes, chugged down some hot coffee and made a plan for our last night with LeeAnn. It was so fun having a friend fly out to visit us on the road. She’s probably the only person we could enjoy living with in our van for a week!
We drove down the other side of Hatcher Pass into Willow, which I highly recommend. By this point the rain stopped and the clouds lifted enough to offer up mountain views. The road was not treacherous, as we had ben led to believe, and it was quiet and gorgeous. Being new to Alaska, it is hard to know how dramatic people are when they warn you about certain places and how much the timing matters. Perhaps the road is difficult to drive if it’s very muddy or icy, but in normal conditions just about any car could get through. Driving rural roads in Eastern Oregon has prepared us for just about anything.
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