Death Match II

Hey, folks!  I have two Teacher At Sea posts on my other site.  Follow along by clicking on this link, especially if you want to hear of my encounters with fossils and Kodiak Bears, of which there both are plenty:

www.teacheratsea.WordPress.com/category/Teachers/staci-deschryver

Also, check out Cat's blog, my fellow TASer!  www.blueworldadventures.blogspot.com She has some adorably cute cartoons that explain science in a funzie way.


Here you go, as promised - the second installment of the "Don't listen to the Corpspeople when they say something is fun" blog.  Actually, as you may have predicted, this day, too, was also a blast, but one should never waste a good experience by sparing the suspense.

Last week, while we were patiently awaiting departure, we were looking for alternate activities that might help us to explore Kodiak in a manner that would befit a Kodiak native.  While we were discussing what to do with our day, Matt, a NOAA Corps Officer, made an incredible – and by incredible, I mean ridiculous-  suggestion.

"Why don't you go climb Pyramid Peak?"

Umm...why don't I go climb Pyramid Peak?  With a name like Pyramid,  it's surely a gentle stroll in the moss-covered wood - flat on all accounts. 

Sound the warning alarms.  "It's a lot of fun."

Okay, I thought I had learned my lesson on this while clinging for my dear life to the side of a ship trying to get the nerve to jump off the back.

"Sounds great!  How do we get there?" 

Apparently…not.

And it was that simple.  Off we went to climb Pyramid Peak.  I must admit, I fancied a hike that was off the Coast Guard Base, as the same loop I was frequenting every morning was getting a bit, well...predictable.  I might even admit to being a bit cocky at this juncture - I mean, sure, it's called Pyramid Peak, but so is every other pointy-looking outcrop west of the Mississippi.  Besides, I'm from Denver, bro.  I have a gnarly set of lungs built for mountain climbing, road biking, mountain biking, and snowboarding.  In fact, I even checked last week and I'm starting to grow Billy Goat Horns I'm so agile on the stone...Bring it, Pyramid.  You're nothing to me in infinite stealth and stature.  I squash you.  Like bug.  I laugh in the face of your 2400’ summit.  I hike 2400’ in elevation every morning in my sleep – on the way to school – uphill – both ways.  By the time I’m done with you, Pyramid, you’re going to wish you had never fallen victim to tectonic uplift, only to be trounced upon by the likeness of me.  You’re going to wish you never let me on your trail.  You will shrink in size by the time I’m finished, you insignificant blot on a topo map. 

Then I saw the trail.

From a distance, Pyramid Peak looks like a pyramid.  But not just any pyramid.  Like a big, narrow, steeply angled, pee-down-your-leg it’s-so-sketchy pyramid.  But, at this moment, I couldn’t turn back.  I was in for the long haul.  I contemplated backing out.  “You know what guys?  I don’t need to go up this – the view from here is good.  Besides, I climb crap like this all the time, I don’t need to do one this small…”  I pictured the reactions from my colleagues and thought better of it.  Guess there’s only one way to go.  Up.

Now, Pyramid Peak in all of its Pyramid-ish perfection would, in fact, have been a nice stroll had they cut the trail like NORMAL PEOPLE.  However, this trail was designed largely in a perfunctory fashion – as in, straight up the steepest side.  At the conclusion of this hike, I sat down and wrote a strongly worded letter to the only people who would be so silly to cut a trail in this fashion.  Below is an excerpt:

Dear Alaska Anti-Switchback Coalition,

You, sirs, have truly outdid yourselves.  Thank you for shortening our hike by making it NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE TO WALK UP.  I intend to write a strongly worded letter to your competing organization, Persons For Reasonable Hiking, post-haste. 

Sincerely,

Lady Who Does Not Enjoy Walking Straight Up at a 60 Degree Angle for Extended Periods Of Time.



Marshmallow also decided to write a strongly worded letter:

Dear Sirs,

Your trailblazing, in my opinion, was quite legendary.  Thank you for making the trek up Pyramid straight up the 60 degree hillside.  In this instance, you have shortened the hike time by approximately 2 hours and you saved countless steps of boredom as I rode the entire way in the comfort of my backpack.  If you receive any strongly worded letters from someone by the name of Lady Who Does Not Enjoy Walking Straight Up at a 60 Degree Angle for Extended Periods Of Time, it is best to ignore her pleas for the addition of a normally cut trail for normally cut people.  She is always trying drag me along on these stupid walks.  This causes me to miss my critical afternoon TV program lineup.  I get very cranky when I miss the Jersey Shore.

Sincerely,
M. Bear

Well, at least one of us had a leisurely afternoon.

The hike really was astounding on multiple levels.  First, it was astounding to me that Alaska finds the need to further prove their ruggedness by trailblazing directly uphill.  Second, it was astoundingly beautiful.  Once we cleared the first ridge, you could see bays on either side of the mountain, and across to another mountain range – possibly on the mainland of Alaska, but I’m not entirely sure.  Everything was green, and the moss-covered ground was a thick duck down underfoot.  We saw a Ptarmigan and her babies scuttling around on the ground, and even had a nice Salmonberry break (of course…) midway up the trail.  In some places the trail was so narrow and the overgrowth was so tall, it was in my mind an African safari – only Kodiak Brown Bears lurking around every corner, which, in my humble opinion, sure beats an angry Hippopotamus. 

We didn’t quite make it to the top of Pyramid because the climb did get quite sketchy toward the top.  It was about a twenty foot section of 5.5 or 5.6 climbing that would necessarily be downclimbed to return to the car.  Translation:  Stay Where You Are.  I suspect this was the “fun” part that the NOAA Corps enjoys so much.  But, we had a beautiful view from the base of the area, and felt pretty accomplished regarding the climb – I mean – Hike. 

As we sat at the (almost) top, we heard a roaring in the distance.  As soon as I looked up, a float plane flew by us – right at eye level!  We waved, and the plane “waved” back by tipping his wings back and forth.  If I were in that plane, I would have strangled the pilot – well, except I would have needed him to land, so Strike that…but it would have scared the daylights out of me.

I can’t decide that if it was the uphill or the downhill that caused me to walk like I had steel rebar in my legs for the next three days.  It was incredible to me – I thought I would have problems with my lungs tiring before my legs, but at this elevation, the opposite was true.  I did, however, have a really easy time recovering from my frequent breaks while trudging uphill – directly uphill. 

So, if you’re ever in the area and feeling a bit suicidal, climb Pyramid Peak.  You’ll love it.  “It’s a lot of fun.”  No, seriously.  It's a lot of fun.