My friend Debby’s mom passed away when Debs was a young teen, but she remained very close to her mom’s sister Mary Ann. They had years of fun adventures enjoying life together. When Aunt Mary Ann passed, she asked Debs to do one fun thing with the estate.
Debs chose a blueberry picking trip into the Wood River Drainage where her hunting camp is. There was room for Debs, the pilot/owner Alex and two others. I’m beyond grateful that I was in one of those back seats when we lifted off from Fairbanks.
We went south towards camp, but turned in over the Gold King area where a forest fire had been burning for much of the summer. We were all happy to see recent rains had finally extinguised the fire, and looking at the burn patterns in the wet forest area was really interesting.
We flew into the Wood River valley and picked up her friend Bonni, who lives in this cabin with her husband Bruce. They have lived here for years, previously working summers at Denali and wintering here. Now they’re here full time. Bonni was a musher in her younger days, and has traveled up and down the Wood River in winters via dogsled for decades.
Bruce and Bonni were waiting for us on the riverbed when we arrived to pick her up.
One of Debby’s requests was to fly over all the cabins she will ride to next week. It’s time to take the horses in for hunting season. For decades Debs has ridden in and never known exactly what condition the cabins would be in when they arrived. Would there be snow damage, grizzly damage, or has one just fallen over like this one above has been trying to do for years? She was super happy to see it’s still mostly standing, and will provide shelter from the weather and bears for one more year when they get there.
We flew to the area where we belived the best berries would be, and sure enough, landed in a patch as abundant as we could have wished for.
We were up on an area above Cody Creek, where there are three benches that are on the route from Cody Pass to Wood River. During the trip in with the horses, we always walk past this area late in a day after climbing over and down a mountain pass. There is never time to stop and linger and enjoy these amazing wild blueberries. This day there was all the time we wanted.
Bonni made me a picking tub which I hung around my neck so I had both hands free to pick and collect the wild blueberries.
We spent about two hours at the first stop. It was tiring in the northern terrain. The blueberries grow best where it’s a little wet, and also where there are plenty of tussocks. Climbing up and down and around for two hours took a good bit of energy.
But we also had to keep an eye out for bears. Debs and Alex both were armed, but like Bonni said (and she knows, living in this part of the world), “those bears can be on you in a flash”. So we watched while we picked. This is a zoom shot up in the hills above us, checking to making sure this wasn’t a blonde grizzly (it was just a shrub of some kind).
The picking was plentiful and soon enough the sun came out and unbelievably the day got even better.
I did choose to be a little indulgent here. When ever do you get to do a selfie with a helicopter in the Alaska mountains? I chose now.
And of course what kind of a girl’s day is it without wine and snacks? Cheers To Aunt Mary Ann!
After a couple of hours we decided to look for another spot. First, though, Alex and Debs decided to take a trip up over Cody Pass. Debs had never seen it from the air. This is the creek wash on the right and the horse trail on the left on the east side of the pass.
And this is the way down on the west side. That’s Healy Creek at the bottom, and trust me this is way steeper than it looks. It’s about 10 steps up, then stop and rest, for a long trip up and over this pass. But we’ve made it and the horses have made it every year. Coming out in September can be really dicey since there can be snow and sometimes whiteout conditions at this elevation.
At the bottom of the pass is “the bus”. It’s not the Chris McCandless bus from the book “Into The Wild”. It was hauled in there long before my first ride in 1986, and now is pretty much trashed. We used to stop there for lunch on the way in, but now it’s so messed up the horses don’t want anything to do with it.
We came back up and over the pass. This is what it looks like as we’re heading into camp, with the Wood River Drainage in front of us. This time, though, we had plenty of energy and time left for more blueberry picking.
We stopped at another spot and grabbed our bins and picked away for another hour.
It was great fun and camaraderie. How often do you get photobombed by your helicopter pilot?
The views were epic as we looked about, still watching for bears. But also getting to slow down and appreciate what we would be seeing if we were riding in on horseback exhausted from just crossing the pass.
Even Alex got serious about bringing home a bucket of wild blueberries.
We were all just having fun enjoying this amazing day.
On my wish list for the day was a trip up over a glacier. I had been on a flighseeing trip with a pilot when Debs and I had worked at Bradley Lake in the late 1980’s, and have always wanted to see another glacier from above. We’ve seen plenty from ground level during our travels in the boat and trailer, but seeing them from the air is an entirely different event.
So Alex took a right turn at the end of Cody Creek and went up to the headwaters of the Wood River. Debs’ dad had owned land up there many years ago, and Bonni had worked up there at a lodge for many years. Neither had seen the area from the air. Alex flew us up to the glacier that feeds the Wood River and we saw some ice caves at the bottom.
The glacier was gorgeous and the crevasses were amazing but I didn’t have my camera ready during the quick trip up and back, This is the front of the glacier.
We headed back down the Wood River and went in to check on the other cabins that Debs and Chris hunt out of. This is one they’ve used for years. I’ve only been up there once, and would love another chance to see this beautiful area again. The cabin sits really low to the ground, but Debs got enough of a look to know it’s in good shape for hunting season.
We got a quick look at main camp at Wood River. Chris had just been in the week before so she knew all was well there. Rob and I had enjoyed time there earlier in June also.
Our pal Emery had been to Yohelah the week prior and brought a delicious bottle of champagne with a label that said “Do Epic Sh*t”. He knows Yohelah has done some Epic things, but honestly I believe this trip was up there in Epic status.
Even the flight home exceeded expectations. I can’t count the times I have flown between Alaska and Seattle, but it’s a big number. Rarely does it deliver views like this.
And because we hadn’t seen enough glaciers while we were there.
Here’s a look down at Fletcher Bay and our little house in the woods on Bainbridge. We flew right over on the way home.
Mount Tahoma was out to greet and welcome me home.
Then there was the mass of humanity when it was time to board the ferry back home.
Where were we? This first map is high level Alaska. Fairbanks is the top red marker, Wood River Drainage in the foothills of the Alaska Range is south.
Zoom in closer you see Fairbanks at the top. Wood River main camp is south, in the upper right of the valley, Cody Pass and Cody Creek are on the far left, and Wood River headlands glacier in the bottom right. Cody Creek is where we picked berries and flew up over the pass.
There aren’t enough words to fully express my gratitude for getting to go on this trip. We were literally cheering into the microphones in the helicopter, having so much fun. Exceeding expectations is an understatement. Truly Epic, in every way.
Pix from the trip are Here
