I know in my last blog I said we would do two hikes today…my mind was willing, but my body needed a little rest.
Our hike was an out and back 7 mile total hike on the Gold Creek Trail out to Gold Creek. A person can continue on all the way out to Shoup Glacier which turns the hike into about 24 total miles. If you were to hike all the way out to Shoup there are a couple of cabins you can stay at, which can be reserved.
Apparently they have been getting a lot of rain lately because the beginning of the trail was all mud for about the first mile. I think everyone had a few close calls to doing at least one face plant. Fortunately we all made it through the low area and up on the side of the mountain. Now that we are out of the mud the only thing we had to worry about slipping on was bear crap. Which there was plenty of. The side hill we were walking on was constantly crossed with bear paths working there way down the side of the mountain. So we all made sure we watched were we stepped and talked a little louder than we would normally do. The end of our hike was a beach where Gold Creak dumps into Port Valdez. It was a neat spot to sit and have a little lunch and look at all the mountains surrounding us. In the port were about 50 boats out fishing Silver Salmon. Once in awhile you could hear a yell that was a sign that the fishing was good. After lunch we made our way to where Gold Creek makes it way down the side of the mountain. There was a nice falls that was an uphill scramble to get too. After Bill and I returned from the slippery slope we helped Jim and Barb pick some high bush blueberries that we had seen in the area. We filled a small water bottle full and headed for home. It was a fun hike and wore Bill & I down enough to make our second hike a different day this week. This evening we went looking for bears and goats and struck out on both counts. I have the feeling that before the week is over I will see a bear, I just hope I am in the confines of car. Tomorrow we spend the day on the water going to see the Columbia & Meares Glacier.
