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Our itinerary called for us to climb east out of the Donjek Valley along Hoge Creek and
into the Burwash Uplands. We spent several days here exploring the surrounding terrain,
and then hiked out along Burwash Creek to the Alaska Highway.
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| Climbing Hoge Creek.
The climb up Hoge took a full day, keeping our feet continually wet. The higher we went,
the narrower the canyon became, and the more difficult it was to find good footing that
didn't involve stepping into the creek. Temperatures were in the 55F range, and it rained
lightly all day. When we got to the top, we were exhausted. I managed to get a bit of
hypothermia. I spent the entire night shivering in the tent, while a vicious storm lashed
us.
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| Top of Hoge.
Once we got to the top of the canyon, we looked back into the Donjek Valley. Its not
far, but its a strenuous climb, especially with the heavy backpack. You can see the
storm moving in, that spent the whole night dumping rain on us. On a subsequent trip,
I went down this canyon. It was quite a bit easier, but the feet got just as wet.
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| Group Shot.
The next morning dawned bright and sunny, and allowed us to dry out. I find that
inclement weather often makes for much more dramatic photographs. Bright sunlight
often just provides too much contrast and washes out the colours.
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| Burwash Uplands.
We spent three days camped near Amphitheatre Mountain just above the Burwash Uplands. We
had glorious sunny days, virtually no mosquitos, and a brilliant display of wildflowers.
There were even a few caribou in the area, but they wouldn't let us get very close.
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| Monks Hood.
There were acres of these wildflowers. And the height of the wildflower season had
already passed!.
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| Wildflowers.
This is just a sample of the different varieties of flowers that we saw. Clockwise from
top right - moss campion, bladder campion, fireweed, spring beauty, monks hood, and
unknown.
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