<< Our Second Day at Ultima Thule - Part 3

09/19/17 - Our Second Day at Ultima Thule - Part 4

To our north were the painted hills. Our guide explained that they were full of gold ore. That's what we called them. They were a spill of layered minerals forming a row of hills, or more likely mountains, given the scale of things. They reminded us of the John Day Painted Hills in Oregon, but were larger and formed differently. The hills in Oregon were volcanic. Here we could see the differently colored sedimentary layers that comprised the range.

We continued east and were soon overlooking the high valley where we would get our return ride. It looked so close. We started down the slope. This was possibly the roughest part of the walk. The slope was steep; then we entered an area of what had appeared to be small bushes between us and our landing strip. These small bushes were small trees, taller than we were. There was no real trail, though our guide found a path through.

There was a small tent with survival gear. Our return flight was right on time. Again, flying in Alaska was different. A Piper Super Cub landed and we clambered aboard, grabbing at support rods and trying not to damage the side panels. We took off for another view of the ridge, river and the valley. It had been an amazing journey, and we would be back at the lodge in time for a hot shower and delightful dinner.

We were fascinated by the river

The painted hills, maybe next visit

Looking down

The painted hills again

Our ride home; Lift, not Lyft

Autumn color on the hill sides

The ridge we had followed

Another view with autumn color

Forest meets river

The river from a lower altitude

Our landing strip; home sweet home

Keywords: alaska