Crash of a bull moose to rouse you from dreaming; Forest your couch, and your candle a star. ~ Robert Service (excerpt from “Men of the High North”)
Rob DeVelice will lead "McHugh Mixup" with an estimated duration of 2 hours.
Meet at 6:30 pm in the lower parking lot (outside the gate) at McHugh Creek on the Seward Highway. We will proceed on trails up McHugh Creek, then scramble and bushwack up slopes and ridges towards McHugh Saddle (but not all the way to the saddle), and end by looping back to the start. About 65 percent of the route will be off trail.
Epic Runs
Post Report
Massive cottonwoods line portions of the new trail heading up McHugh Creek. The rainy Fall promoted development of frequent patches of mud that we negotiated until heading up, off trail, through brushy and rocky terrain. Anne, having just returned from running two 100 km events in England, split off from us when we crossed the McHugh Lake Trail,
Eliseo and I continued to the ridge line that eventually leads to McHugh Peak. As is often the case, the winds were ferocious on that ridge and we soon shifted direction downslope towards Turnagain Arm. The terrain was steep, rocky, and slippery in many places with water seeps.
Arrival into the forest zone corresponded with the onset of darkness sufficient to warrant supplemental lighting. Sticks, logs, and rocks hidden in the grass provided a bounty of opportunity for trips, jabs, and falls. On one occasion I came crashing down in synchrony with the breakage of a dead tree I had mistakingly grabbed for balance.
Eventually our bushwhack route intersected the McHugh Lake Trail and tamer terrain. Despite some nicks and bruises it was a fine evening out. The essence of the Epic experience.
~Rob DeVelice
Turnagain Arm