McRoberts Creek Trail

 I joined the Valley Wanderers for a tough hike up the McRoberts Creek Trail to the tripod. We started out just using microspikes as we walked on the frozen footprints and post holes made by previous hikers over recent weeks. It was rather rough going, but we didn't need to wear the snowshoes we were all carrying.  I had figured out a way to tie mine onto my dog's backpack, hoping that I wouldn't need to carry her until I was actually needing to wear the snowshoes.  Once we got to the pump station, the snow started getting deeper and looser. I'm always bringing up the rear when I'm hiking with these ladies because they are a very hardcore bunch of hikers. But I love hiking with them because they inspire me. Jo was actually the leader of this hike, but at the pump station she decided to turn back. She was exhausted from recent travel, lack of sleep and jet lag. I wondered if I should join her, but decided to continue on even though I was still last in line. Soon after, we did put on the snowshoes because we were sinking in sometimes up to our knees. At that point it was becoming difficult for Baby to walk, so I took out the snowshoes and put her in the pack in their place. The extra weight in my pack tended to slow me down even more. I was beginning to regret that I didn't turn back with Jo. But now I was committed. The trail at this point was just a snowshoe trail through the woods. As we got higher, we crossed small streams and crumbling snow bridges. I was able to keep moving at my slower pace. Near our destination we reached a very steep slope with very loose unstable snow. I have never actually hiked or tried to climb wearing snowshoes so I was really fumbling on this slope. In fact, I actually started to slide at one point. It was quite a distance down to the creek and I really didn't want to see how quickly I could arrive there. Nan was right ahead of me and coaxed me on her successful technique. I found myself basically on all fours plunging the front of my snowshoes directly into the slope, while digging platforms into the loose powder with both hands. Nan grabbed one of my poles to help support me as I finally managed to reach a safer spot. From there it was much flatter and fairly easy going. Nan declared that she was not going to return that way, but instead go down the chute. I wasn't sure I liked the sound of that either, but anything would be better than tackling that spot in reverse. Once taking a short break near the tripod, with the magnificent view of Matanuska Peak and surrounding mountains, we started down a more gentle slope though untouched snow. I'm so glad I was not alone trying to negotiate the correct way down because everything looked the same to me. We came to what looked like a straight down cliff, and just slid down through very deep snow, mostly sitting, in my case. We continued down through a steep ravine though alders and brush that loved grabbing onto my pack. There was a lot of slipping, sliding, glissading and giggling as we all found our way back to the original trail far below. I still had Baby in my pack and did my best not to either bury her in the snow or hit her with a passing branch. My feet and all of my clothes were totally soaked and my toes were numb from the cold. Once we reached the trail, I took off my right boot and shoved one of my hand warmers into the toe. That solved that problem, but I could feel my toes being pinched. Better than frostbite though. Soon we switched back to the microspikes and I let Baby out of her pack to walk the rest of the way back. It was a fabulous adventure and such a beautiful place.