Tokositna Packraft - 9.30.2017

It was 12:30 AM on Saturday and the six of us were bouncing down the Petersville Road. Between wildly swerving around potholes, and cringing as the Subaru scraped over loose cobbles, I kept imaging a very large brown beach ball bouncing down the road in front of us. I was seeing things, why would there be such a thing bouncing just out sight? Just in case, we sped up, and there it was - a brown bear so fat it could barely keep its belly off the ground as it bumbled down the road.

What a way to start the weekend! We camped just past the old townsite, and after shaking the ice off our sleeping bags, were chasing Nathan and Charlie thru the frosty willows and up into the Peters Hills.


At the ridgeline Charlie and Nathan were waiting for us.


We followed the undulating ridge north. Ahead we could see a flock of ptarmigan that had made the mistake of turning white before the snow arrived. Peering into the cloudy peaks in front of Mount Foraker, I kept thinking about the wild trip to Little Switzerland that Amy invited me on years ago.