3 June – (posted 5 June 2022)
Today we decided to put Bigfoot and Elkhorn through the paces of being big trucks in the wilderness. Go where few big trucks have gone before. Go and explore and conquer the unknown. Okay, Yes, we have gone to some remote places on this journey of ours, but this one “should” end up looking across the Fredrick Sound at the LaConte Glacier. Not too far away (20miles) from where we are, out in the Tongass Forest.
Bigfoot’s day to lead the posse, we complete our vehicle walk arounds, and our radio check over our mini ham radios. We are ready to go.
We drive to Forest Service road 6235, which is a very well packed gravel one lane road. We proceed for about 6 miles when I radio back to Elkhorn, “we got a tree in the road”. We stop and access the situation. There is not enough overhead clearance to get our TC’s under. Virgil climbed onto Bigfoot’s roof to verify, and yep, that tree would give Bigfoot a major scalping.
I have an electric chainsaw but no long extension handle. The tree was still green and flexible, leaning on another tree with half it’s root ball still in the ground. We thought about pulling it out of the way, but decided that would make the situation worse and road would be blocked for everyone.
So in Lewis and Clark fashion, we find a another route. Elkhorn backs up the hill till there is wide enough spot for a 3 or 4 point turn, than Bigfoot follows suit. About 2 miles back there was an intersection that goes to the south east, Bigfoot hops in front again as we travel this narrow road. It always amazes me how well the USFS maintains road signs in the middle of no where-ever-ville. And not just here in Alaska, but in the lower 48 too.
The terrain is the same as we have seen, where many of the Sitka Spruce trees have disease. Spruce needle cast is caused by a fungus and commonly infects small Sitka Spruce trees, but also affects the lower crown of large Sitka Spruce trees. It affects Sitka spruce from southeast Alaska to Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula. So the forest colors are a mix of vibrant spruce green and that of dead looking gray.
Our road winds up and down the side of a few mountains, crossing about six wooden bridges where the sounds of waterfalls cascade next to our truck windows.
What is this? Another tree blocking the road! This one looks likes the woodsman in us can handle it. We get our trusty hatchets out and cop the end of the tree off, and away we go!
After some time driving just 15 mph we crest over another hill and
” WAHLAH ” look at this! We are still at elevation and overlooking the Fredrick Sound and we can see mountains with a glacier in the distance. We are here! Well not the LaConte Glacier but the we think it is the Popoff Glacier, off of the Stikine River. We need to use binoculars to see the blue ice, but it is there!
We all just stand there seemingly on the edge of the world admiring this view. The wonder of mother nature and all her beauty. Taking pictures, selfies, and just saying wow, wow, wow…
We unpack our folding chairs and a small table from Bigfoot and Elkhorn. We proceed to have lunch with this magnificent view all around us. “Does it get any better than this”, we keep asking ourselves? Well this adventure we are on, we have been blessed to keep getting these moments, and they are burned into our memories forever (well at least till I go to bed).
As we are sitting there, enjoying the view, watching the tide roll in, and the distant sounds of waterfalls, we are startled by what sounds like voices getting nearer. Virgil thought my phone was playing a video. Nope a local family rode up the hill (from their truck below) with a pair of electric (silent) bikes. Well okay, we are not that remote after all! Come on over and we will share our rock with you!
After some time just soaking in all this view, we pack up, backup, and drive back down the dusty one lane road to a trail head parking lot. We encountered a few on coming vehicles along the route, and the mini hams come in handy warning each other. The trail leads to the Blind River Rapids, where we have been fishing for salmon.
King salmon season opened here in Petersburg on 1 June, with the limit being two over 28 inches or two under 28 inches per day. We along with anglers here have not had an luck yet, but we will…
