March 30, 2008 Thanks to All!

Greetings Everyone Willie here, It feels great to be back! I must admit that it is a bit strange to be typing away at the computer after the experience i was so fortunate to have had. There is so much to share and i plan on doing just that.

First of all however i need to thank everyone who is associated with the Denali Education Center. The Trustees and Staff supported this trip from the get go and i am humbled by their belief in the value of the trip and their hard work each and every day to connect people to Denali.

Thank You to the Staff of the National Park Service here in Denali who supported this trip in countless ways, i am thankful to you all and proud to be a Park Partner. Thank you to Karen and her amazing staff of Dog Mushers, Carmen, Sarah and Krusty for your companionship, hard work and the kindness you displayed to those wonderful dogs.

Thank you to all, family, friends and new friends who visited the blog, kept me in your thoughts and threw your energy my way, i needed it.

Most of all thank you to Christine for your upkeep of the blog, steadfast support and most of all your unconditional love...i am a lucky soul in endless ways, i love you soooo much.

The photo above is from when i first arrived and Christine and i saw each other for the first time, March 21, 2008. Taken at Christines workplace, 229 Parks Restaurant, the home of Fantastic Service and Unbelievable Food! That night i ate the best fish and chips ever at 229 (thanks Jillll) and visited with lots of friends, so good to be home again.

Saturday March 22, 2008 - WILLIE IS HOME!!!!!!

Hello Everyone! Willie made it to the Sanctuary Cabin yesterday at about 1:15 pm. He could hear the Park Service road crew up ahead. We chatted on the satellite phone and I told him, "hitch a ride & come on HOME! I called Tim at the Park Service & made sure it was okay for Willie to ride out with the road crew. Tim gave the okay and that was that... THANK YOU TIM & BRAD for all your help with Park road information! Willie took the ride out of the Park and showed up at my work at about 5:30 pm. I knew he was going to take the ride, but I didn't expect to see him until later. He surprised me outside by the back door, I could not believe he was standing there. It was great to see his face again! YEAH! He has long unruly hair, and a beard & mustache that have taken over his face. He is SKINNY TOO! He is 20 pounds lighter! He has a weather-worn look happening (like someone who just spent 61 days out in the backcountry of Denali!). His backpack had to weigh at least 55 pounds that he had been hauling out with him. It is great to see him! Anyway, I just want to THANK YOU for following along with me. And now, I am going to sign-out and turn this blog back over to Willie. He will soon be writing his own story here...so stay tuned! I look forward to his stories too! Cheers, Christine

PS. last night when Willie & I left my work the full moon was shining down in a clear night sky. It was the same moon & kind of clear sky that we had 2 months ago (3 lunar cycles) on January 21, when we skiied out to Savage together to start this adventure...very cool timing to have him home!

Thursday March 20, 2008 - Day 60

HAPPY 1st DAY OF SPRING!
This morning it was 4 below zero here, not feeling like spring to me... But, as the day continued it was as warm as 33 above zero, a bright and clear day. Beautiful!

Willie called today. He decided to spend another day out at Igloo to give his body a chance to recover from Tuesday & Wednesday's trek. At some point last night/early this morning, he woke up to a shrew in his hair! "Dude, not cool" is what he had to say to his little friend. Turns out he had gotten into Willie's bag of rice & then decided to snuggle up with him...I talked to Willie this morning- so I'm not sure how his day went out there. He is planning on calling me later tonight. His plan was to head out from Igloo tomorrow/Friday morning and snowshoe/walk to the Sanctuary area (about 12 miles). The park service road crew has started work on clearing the road, and they should get out to the Sanctuary area tomorrow too. Willie will be seeing those folks at some point it would seem tomorrow or the next day. This is all I know for now...

Wednesday March 19, 2008 - Day 59

Willie left Toklat yesterday- Tuesday, March 18, 2008. He traveled (snowshoeing) the 9 & 1/2 to 10 miles from Toklat up over Polychrome Pass to the Murie Cabin. He took the dog mushers trail out. Today he continued on (about 10 miles) up over Sable Pass and is now at Igloo. He got to the top of Sable Pass in about 3 hours. He then took his time on the way down. He stopped to film, and take photos. He said it was a perfect day out there. No wind, except at the very top of Sable Pass. He saw another dead Dall sheep in the snow. This one appeared to be a 10 year old ram. Willie saw over 70 snowshoe hares today, "the hare's were everywhere." Out at Igloo, there are wolf tracks "all over, the biggest tracks that I've seen are here. It must be the alpha male tracks." There are also quite a few wolverine tracks around too. While we were talking on the phone a owl started to hoot...lot's of activity out at Igloo! Next up for Willie is the snowshoe/walk from Igloo to Sanctuary area, this is about 12 miles. I will keep you posted as I hear from him. The temperatures have been from zero to about 7 above.

Sunday March 16, 2006 - Day 56

Willie called to check in. He went camping the past few nights out at Stoney Hill/Highway Pass area, out on the west branch. I missed his call, but he said he is back at the Pearson Cabin today. He is going to finish the process of getting ready to leave the Toklat area, and start to head back out of the park. If he gets it all together he will be leaving Tuesday, March 18th. Since I missed his call I do not have better details. I will be heading to Fairbanks today returning to Denali on Wednesday March 19th. I will not be updating the blog until I return. I will give new information on Willie's progress out of the park at that time. Thanks again for reading...

Also, the mushers Krusty, Carmen, and Sarah are out at the Wonder Lake area of the park. Wonder Lake is mile 85 on the west end of the park road. I also have a report that the area out at Toklat now has snow again. I'm not sure, but this might change Willie's route out of the park, he might go along the dog mushers trail or he might stay on the park road???

Journal Entries For March 5, 7, & 10th

Willie gave me a few journal entries when we last talked.
March 5, 2008
Last night in the northern sky, a black round cloud, like I have never seen, darken the night sky. It was perfectly round with stars all around it. This morning the wind continues. The whole area is overcast with a thick roll of clouds. Concealing, hazy it divides the mountains- in and out they appear slowly. Yet snow does not come. The wind beats this area hard and continues this pattern today. Time to walk and see what I see...

March 7, 2008
Yesterdays walk with Chris was one I will never forget. A beautiful, picture perfect day, clear bright blue sky lighting up Highway Pass. Found a porcupine feeding on miniscule flora between the rocks. Looking like a cactus, head sitting in the middle of the exposed gravel of the pass. It didn't move for the longest time. But the sun backlit it's quills and you could see slight movement. I moved to the side of it and it immediately ran across the pass into the safety of the willows. It's surprising how fast they can move. I imagine it saw us for awhile and assumed the walk position, as we came closer, it waited for it's best chance to exit around us and took it...

March 10, 2008
I hear a wolf howl at the base of my trail. I get my camera and hurry to the bottom and they are gone. Finding their tracks, it was two wolves. The smaller one came close to the trailhead and howled three times. The larger never stopped, and stayed on the dog mushers trail heading south over Highway Pass. It was curious that the wolves decided to announce their presence rather then just walk on by. I would suppose that this was their indication to me that they knew I was up at the cabin. Smart, those wolves are...

Map Of Wolf Activity

Wolf Update From Tom At NPS - March 13, 2008

Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:57:36 -0800> > > Hi Christine, Here's an up-to-date map of the travels of the East Fork wolf since we put the GPS collar on him at the end of November. We captured 11 wolves with a helicopter last week. Five of them were wolves that we'd collared before but either their collars had failed or we expected them to fail soon. One wolf we caught was a gray female from the East Fork Pack whose collar failed recently. We try to keep two collars in each pack so we can find them again if one wolf dies or leaves or its collar fails. But right now we're missing four packs, two on the east end and two out west. We had more collared wolves than usual get killed this winter, some by people and some by wolves. We picked up the collars from five wolves killed by wolves, and all five had been completely eaten up. That's unusual. Usually wolves kill other wolves for territorial aggression, not for food. We've never known a wolf in Denali to be killed by their own pack, always by neighboring packs. When you look at the map of the East Fork wolf's travels, those locations out by the Toklat, and the ones in the east end of the park, represent places where the pack is ovelapping with other wolf packs (the Grant Creek Pack to the west and the Mount Margaret Pack to the east). That overlap is the main reason why these packs encounter one another and kill off their neighbors. Over half of the wolves in Denali end up being killed by neighboring wolf packs. Over the next few weeks I'm going to make this year's map of wolf packs and wolf population estimate, so I'll send you a copy when I do. We have four big packs in the park now, the East Fork and McKinley Slough packs, both with more than 15 wolves. The others are all under 10 wolves. (See attached file: EF wolf Mar 11.jpg) Tom Meier Wildlife Biologist Denali National Park and Preserve

March 11, 2008

Toklat temperatures since midnight:
Max, 26 degrees F
Min, 18 F
Max in last 24 hours: 31 degrees F
Denali Education Center temperatures at 3:00 pm: 25 F

I had a cool night here at the cabin after Willie called last night. I could hear an owl hooting inside the cabin. I knew it had to be right outside my door for it to be heard inside the cabin. I opened the door & it took off flying above and out across the Nenana River. It was dark, but it's wings were HUGE and I could actually here the sound of it's wings flapping through the air. It was a perfectly clear night sky with tons of stars. And to top it off the northern lights were rocking across the sky. NOT A BAD NIGHT AT ALL HERE LAST NIGHT!!!!!!

A quick recap of Willie's week March 2 through today. He went camping out at Bear Draw area for 3 nights. Headed back to the cabin on the 5th. Had dinner with more PEOPLE! Jeff, Laurie, their kids & Chris(local people of the area) had dog mushed out as part of their concession with the park for hauling gear out for climbers that are going to climb Denali. They had dinner with Willie, which Willie said was GREAT!!! The next day Chris & Willie took about a 6 mile hike together. Chris, Jeff, Laurie & the kids then headed farther out into the park. Willie then spent a few days at the Clear Water Divide trying to get another 100 year later photo. More camping out at the Cabin Woods area on March 7 through the 9th. Yesterday, March 10th he was back at the Pearson Cabin to restock supplies. Today, March 11 Willie was off early this morning to head out to get another 100 year later photo in the East Branch Range area. He plans on having a very long day today because he has to travel quite a distance to get to the point where the picture needs to be taken. I plan on hearing from him tomorrow March 12 with an update on his day. Next up on his list is to plan a camping trip out to the Stoney Hill area and have Denali in view to end his trip on... Willie will be starting the process of packing up his gear, cleaning up, storing his gear for his return trip out. He plans on walking out of the park starting on March 20th. Which is only 9 days from today! He is planning on giving himself 10 days to walk it, give or take as weather & travel permits. I did just pass on the news to him that the plows/road crew are starting to open up the park road starting yesterday, March 10th. So it looks like Willie will be encountering the road crew on his walk out. I laughed & told him to jump a ride out, so I can see him faster. He has to wrap his mind around this new information. So I am not sure yet if he will somehow have a change of plans...

Alaska Studies Class, Willie was happy to get your new questions. He will give me the answers to them the next time we talk, which should be tomorrow, March 12th.

Tuesday March 11, 2008 - Day 51 - Journal Entry

Willie and I finally had a good phone connection last night. This is a journal entry from March 3 that he wanted to share:

March 3, 2008- When I reach the southern end of Cabin Woods the ice is still covered with snow making the walking easy. I see that the area where the wolves had bedded down from when I first tryed to set up the arctic oven in January is still being actively used. There are several trails heading into the area and several trails going through the woods. The wolves have recently been here and their sign is fresh. This makes me really happy with my decision to not stay here. I would have displaced the wolves and put both wolf and me in an unnecessary position of risk. I'm glad I trusted my instinct as setting up a permanent camp, given the wolf signs, just seemed like the wrong thing to do. Now that I am learning more about their habits and individual movements through the area I made the right choice.

It feels so good to be walking in the exact area where Sheldon & Karstens lived. I can definitely feel the historic energy. I think it is telling that a wolverine track heads straight through what had been their cabin, and wolves are bedding down regularly in Cabin Woods. Sheldon and Karstens were living the life of research and basic survival, nothing in their minds, I would think, out of the ordinary for them. However, that winter of 1907-08 and the previous summer of 1906, laid the foundation of one of the worlds most magnificent National Parks and had preserved a legacy of wilderness enjoyment for literally millions of people. The effect on the Denali sub-arctic ecosystem and all it's inhabitants has been equally, if not more so, profound.

I seem to be spending a lot of time in the dark. Laying in my sleeping bag with the headlight on, my little beam of light for reading my book or journal. This is what I anxiously look forward to at night, finding comfort in the pages. This is my self made company which grounds me as I write and opens my mind as I read. When I am back in my normal life this is missing, as my free time is occupied with a multitude of choices. A side of me comes out that I need wilderness which is hidden and only emerges when I am in the throws of it's rhythm. Now that I have spent so much time here, it will be interesting to see where my new balance point lands. Wherever it is, I'm better for it. When we know our choices it is easy to see how we can find happiness...

Monday March 10, 2008 - Day 50

Today is 50 days that Willie has been out there...We both are experiencing spring fever! With all the daylight and warm temperatures we both have been getting out. This has caused a lack of blogging on my part. So please forgive me! Willie has been camping out in his arctic oven tent in the Cabin Woods area. There has been lots of wolf activity out there. The area where Willie was going to set up his tent back in the end of January, is still active with the wolves bedding down, and being around. Willie is glad that he never "moved" into that area, he feels that camping is a bit less intrusive. Willie is amazed at the weather this month. It is melting out there! There are flys outside and the Pussy Willows are already blooming. It is weather that is a good month ahead of time. This might sound good, but the warmth is causing other challenges for Willie. One is that with no snow he can not haul his sled around, which is what he uses for hauling his gear around. So he is having to haul things without the help of his sled. This has made for longer days & harder work. It has also made it clear that he will be walking out of the Toklat area, as there is no snow to snowshoe out on. Again, his sled will be useless. He will have to pack what he needs in his backpack and travel lighter. Conditions could change, but at this point it does not look like they will. Willie has also been busy taking 100 year later photos of the same spots Charles Sheldon took photos. Tomorrow Willie is planning on heading out to an area called Ice Cream Gulch. It is about 2 & 1/2 miles to this area, then about 1 & 1/2 miles to the base of the ridge line he wants to climb, and photograph. Our last 2 satellite phone calls have been terrible. We get a few words in and then the phone goes dead. He calls me back just to have this process repeated. We are going to try again later tonight. If we get a good connection he has journal entries to share on the blog. I will add these as soon I can hear them. Today he also told me he could hear the wolves howling near by. He was off to try to film them...Hopefully, I will have more to share later tonight.

Thursday March 6, 2008 - Day 46

Willie called last night to check in. He is doing well. We had satellite phone issues and could not really catch up. We will try again today. As soon as I hear from him, and have an update of this past week, I will post it. Thank you for reading!

I did have news to tell Willie. I told him to sit down and brace himself...BRETT FAVRE RETIRED...a sad day out there for Willie I am sure...

Sunday March 2, 2008 - Day 42

Toklat temperatures since midnight:

Max, 28 degrees F

Min, -14 F (although Willie said his temps were -20 below last night?)

Wind Speed: 12 mph from ESE

Wind gust: 19 mph

Sunrise: 7:55 am

Sunset: 6:14 pm

Total daylight: 10 hours, 19 minutes

Gain: 6 minutes, 46 seconds

Willie is camping out again in the arctic oven tent. He will be exploring the Bear Draw area for the next few days. I should hear from him by Wednesday, March 5.

Below is an email response to the wolf clawing Willie's trail from Tom.

Hello Tom! Happy March to you! It is my favorite month with all the daylight being back! It also means warmer weather will eventually arrive. Hey, I have a question to ask you. Willie told me about this encounter he had with a wolf that I thought was interesting. Willie was out hiking when he heard a wolf howl. He went to find where it was. They were on the Toklat bridge. There were 6 wolves total. 2 went into the park service area , and one, the biggest of them went 30 feet up Willie's trail at the Pearson cabin, and CLAWED MARKS into the trail, and then ran off as fast as it could! Willie watched the whole thing and at one point they got to within 100 yards of him. Willie never felt threated by them, but I was wondering what you think about this wolf, the biggest, clawing into Willie's trail & then running off??? Interesting behavior if nothing else... Anyway, they have been in the area. Willie had seen their tracks about 5 days ago, before this encounter with them. Do you have any new GPS updates? Thank you again for you time Tom. I really apprieciate it! Cheers & Happy March to you, Christine

Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2008 09:21:02 -0900> > Hi Christine, Dominant wolves often scratch with their rear feet after scent marking. Was it the hind feet he was scratching with? It is interesting behavior. Had to be related to Willie's presence some way. The EF wolves were in that area, according to the GPS data, a few days ago and now are apparently back on the Sanctuary. One time, over a week ago, they were way out by Otto Lake. We're going out to catch wolves today, so Willie may see us pass by with a small white helicopter, two supercubs. Tom Meier Wildlife Biologist Denali National Park and Preserve

Journal Entry From March 1, 2008 - Day 41

From Willie's journal writing March 1, 2008:
"I see a little piece of white hair and kick it with my snowshoe. Surprisingly, a much larger and bigger chunk of hair is exposed. Assuming a Snowshoe hare, I uncover more and then realize that the frozen blood is everywhere, great chunks of thick coarse hair is spread out over 20 feet. Droppings frozen in a pile, revealed that this was a Dall sheep, completely consumed. Further investigation revealed large frozen balls, almost like mini-footballs, of feces and/or regurgitated meat. Massive piles of it which must have been continually pushed out as more of the sheep was consumed. Tracks found, WOLVERINE!"
Willie found this yesterday March 1. He spent about an hour uncovering it. He figures the wolverine either killed the Dall sheep, stole it, or found it dead. It must have been dragged to the area where Willie found it as the ridge area was up about a 1/2 mile back. He took photos of it as well.

March 1, 2008 - Day 41

This photo was taken the end of January out at Toklat. These are the last people to have seen Willie 32 days ago & then again last night. These are "The Mushers"- Sarah is next to Willie, Carmen, and last to the right is Krusty. May safe travels continue for you four!

Dall Sheep, Wolves and Mushers

Willie hauled his arctic oven tent and wood over to the Charles Sheldon area on February 25 . He set up his camp behind the Cabin Woods area in an area called Cabin Peak. He camps out in the arctic oven tent for a few days at a time (3-4 days) then heads back to the Pearson cabin (about 3 & 1/2 miles or so away) to restock his food & supplies. His days have been filled with snowshoeing & hiking the ridge lines in the area. He has finished up the dunnage volunteer project. But is still doing his daily projects of: bird observations & recording, temperature recording, photo comparison/shots from 100 years later, satellite monitoring at 11 pm each night, snow depth recording, sound scape monitoring, and wildlife tracking & recording. Plus, there are the daily chores of getting fresh water to drink, melting snow, solar charging the batteries, his personal journal writing, and just plain old staying warm out there and dealing with the elements. He said his days are long, and with all this new daylight, he feels a sense of urgency to do as much as possible everyday. The wind had been a huge presence out at Toklat for much of his time out there. Willie said the wind started to feel like a personality, a character, it has had such presence blowing through the open Toklat area. Sometimes a harsh character... The wind has died down recently out there & the weather has been beautiful.

Willie had a great week of sightings. Dall sheep and more wolves. I am curious about that "biggest" wolf that scratched his claws into Willie's trail at the cabin...Willie never felt threatened by them, but I find this to be interesting behavior none the less...

Last night, Friday February 29, Willie saw PEOPLE for the first time since January 28. (32 days ago) Carmen, Krusty & Sarah made it back out to Toklat. Willie had dinner with them last night. The mushers are on their way out to Wonder Lake & Kantishna. (The end of the park road) This is their "BIG" March trip all the way out to the end of the park road. I'll keep you updated on them as I hear news about their travels. Thank you PLOW for your care package for Willie! The mushers got it out to him for you. And I'm sure he is enjoying it's contents.

Journal Entry From February 28, 2008

Thursday February 28, 2008 - a journal entry from Willie.

"The late hour setting sun lights up the canyon entrance in a orange glow. Making the sheep look vibrant and distinctive. Again I feel rewarded of my journey of the day. Just than, I hear a low, slow, inquisitive howl... wolves are about. Thinking the howl is from the north I leave the canyon and peer about. Unfortunately, the howl was bouncing off the canyon wall. The wolves are south. And I've exposed my position. One sits watching me, and the others quickly run away. The curious one continues with a slow quiet howl. Almost mournful intone. It finally departs and I head in their direction. By the time I get to their location their about a quarter mile or more away, heading do south on the bar. I see 2 of them coming from the Toklat Ranger cabin. And the largest of them all, coming from the road running extremely fast from the exact direction of my trail to the cabin. I'm watching them gather all together- 6 in all- as they continue south. Denali immaculate above them in a white halo surrounding its entire outline. Never will I forget the beauty of this sight. And a feeling of exhilaration brought over me.

The cabin trail, one large wolf has gone 30 feet up and scratched 8 piercing claw marks throughout the trail. My hand the size of his extended claws. Back at the cabin, taking off my snowshoes, the hollowing began. First one, then a chorus filled throughout the bar of the Toklat. They sang together in slight different pitches. The harmony was natural and their presence was known. Another day out on the Toklat. Mother nature comes to me..."

Journal Entry From February 26, 2008

Tuesday February 28, 2008
This is from Willie's journal:
"I scan the mountains for sheep, seeing none, I wonder how many see me? As I gain elevation, I see the tracks of the 10 sheep from the other day. They have crossed over the steep bowl and headed straight up. A canyon on the south side of the draw heading over to Polychrome mountain. I sit down for lunch. A power bar and water. Before making the push onward to obtain the ridge. It is steep and there is a light snow covering. I decide to keep my snowshoes on which works well for the first three quarters of the ridge. But the last area is so steep, and so little snow, that I literally have to crawl up. As I am on my hands and knees struggling for the summit, a smile comes to my face, thinking of Dall sheep watching me and wondering who or what is this clumsy thing trying to climb up into our home. Just than I look and see a solitary head staring right at me. As I reach the summit ridge, the sheep is on the next peak over the higher of the two. This is the one I have been shooting for. But I wasn't going to disturb the sheep anymore than I had already. Three sets of eyes are now suddenly gazing at me. Seemingly unconcerned as they start to graze, pawing away the snow to find whatever vegetation they can. I pull out my Sheldon photos and even though I am not 100 yards over on the next summit, I can easily see this is the head of Bear Draw. It feels great to confirm this and I take photos to reproduce his. And continue in a 360 degree arc. It is so appropriate that 3 Dall sheep are watching me, and Denali is booming magnificent as always. I stay on the crest for about an hour. Studying the landscape below and watching the sheep, the sunlight warm on my face. And a down parka perfect in the still air..."