Climbing Bird Ridge on a Friday Night

Bird Ridge provides an open view of two valleys; Bird Creek Valley to the east and Indian Valley to the west. Around 8 PM I climbed 3000' along the popular trail to the top. My interest lay in getting a overview of Bird Creek Valley to the east, a place where salmon return and bear advance down the valley to feed. The trailhead below, from where my climb began, was quiet with no vehicles in sight. The recent bear scares in the area, the absence of hikers may be due partly to these reports. However, the valley bottom and where the creek meets the lower fish areas would have a higher probability of bear sightings. So the quiet had a tranquil effect as I climbed. The lower area of the ridge is the domain of spruce, aspen, alder, and plant life. Further up, the mountain ash and willow and alder predominate. between these areas of trees and shrubbery are the rock areas where flowers bloom and brighten the landscape. Once above the shrubbery and trees, the ridge opens to a serpentine line of rock, piled and broken and sharp, lessening as the ridge approaches the head of the valley. Bird Creek Valley splits into two other valleys; one around the base of Penguin Peak and the source of Penguin Creek; while Bird Creek passes by another side valley before curving around to its source. Along Bird Creek Valley an ATV trail accesses five miles of the bottom land that runs parallel with Bird Creek. At the end this road a trail begins its long passage beyond Bird Creek, up through a pass to the North Fork of Ship Creek to the north. Hemlock forest can be found here. Down this valley bears make their way to the fishing grounds near the highway. From my vantage point on Bird Ridge the vast spread of valley opens its secrets to me. The distances recede, with one range of mountains forming walls from the coast, only to be succeeded by taller walls of rock and tops of snow deeper inside Chugach State Park. The high country, once the snow recedes, will be my entrance into the far country.