Salonie Creek Canyon

Lower section of the Salonie Creek Canyon

Yesterday Ryan, Philip and I skied up the Salonie Creek valley and up into the canyon.  The last few days I had been skiing up into the Buskin River canyon, and Salonie seems like the Grand Canyon in comparison.   In the old days we used to do this ski on a regular basis, but with the warm winters it has become a rare occurrence.

I checked the blog for the last time I went up into the canyon and it was in February 2018.  It also looked a little desperate compared to what we found this time (click here for link to 2018 blog post).  I looked at some other trips  from the past - click here, here and here for some old posts - and realized that it really was along time ago when we used to do the Salonie ski on a regular basis.  Basically 2009 was the last year we did the trip a bunch of times.  That's 10 years ago!

It is a beautiful trip into a canyon that seems more like Montana than Kodiak.  Huge cottonwood trees silhouetted against the ski.  Deep snow and the creek showing here in there at the bottom of deep holes in the snow with icicles on the surrounding ice.  On this trip the lower section on the dry riverbed flats was firm while the upper section was fluffy snow.  In the old days we mostly went up the river on skate skis but yesterday we used classic gear.

Every year the goal of the trip is to get to the blue icicles far up the canyon.  The ice is about 100 feet high and quite impressive.  Ryan is an ice climber and I could see him assessing the ice climbing potential.  At this point, the canyon sides get super steep and just past this the whole canyon is HUGE boulders.

Yesterday I wanted to go around the corner and make it to the furthest point I have ever gone up the canyon (I made it around the corner to the boulders way back in 1999 I believe).  But it was not to be - I tried to cross a pool of water below the cliffs and ice catastrophically failed.  It was a disaster in slow motion as the ice slowly started to sink and break up with me on top of it.  I got to the side just in time and managed to keep my feet dry!

Today I think I will return to Salonie and try the trip in skate skis!
Patrick

Upper section of the Salonie Creek Canyon - the blue icicles visible in distance

This is as far as we got. .... 

Entering the canyon

Philip and Ryan out on the dry riverbed

Normal view (1 picture not cropped) for scale of Philip and Ryan below icicles 

Panoramic view of Philip and Ryan below icicles (6 pictures stitched together)

Returning home down the canyon

A herd of deer - they are having a hard time with the snow

Flying home along the dry riverbed

Trail through the cottonwood trees near the car