This blog is a tribute to Dick Proenneke’s nephew, Dick Hackard, who visited Proenneke soon after graduating from high school. Dick Hackard is a founding member of Friend’s of Dick Proenneke and Lake Clark Nation Park foundation.
Line drawing by Fred Hirschmann of Dick Proenneke’s Cabin at Twin Lakes, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska. Illustration used by Dick for many years as his rubber stamp for letters and envelopes.
July 12, 1969:
A cooking day – a fresh kettle of beans and a big one at that. I must have known I would have company. The sun out bright a day to wash my sleeping bag liner and the head of my sleeping bag. Before I got it on the line the sun went behind a cloud. I could dry it inside if necessary.
Later I heard a plane – the little black bird sure enough. A circle up country and in for a perfect landing. Babe with nephew Dick Hackard aboard. He made it sure enough but his buddy had chickened out. Good to have him at Twin Lakes.
July 19, 1969:
Hotcakes for breakfast. A heavy day ahead of us. We [Proeneeke and his nephew Dick Hackard] would go up Hope Creek all the way to the wall on top of the high glacier. Away by eight o’clock and we found a few blueberries on the benches. Not quite ready for good eating but we sampled a few. No more than started on the trail across the slides when I detected the faint pad mark of a bear. On farther more sign on the trail. We just might see a bear today.
At the second canyon we stopped at my high lookout to glass the country. No bear but we did see a lone caribou cow at the far end of the green up next to a glacier tailings pile. Would we go on or turn back? It was up to Dick – I was pretty sure that I could make it. He elected to go so we headed up the creek. It started to rain lightly and by the time we reached the big rock garden it was a dampening rain. The rock garden – huge rocks of all shapes scattered over a large area of grassy meadow. It makes one wonder how they got there and how long ago it must have happened. At the mouth of the steep snow filled wash leading up into a most desolate looking country below the glacier. Again the question was it stop or go. He would try it so up we went. A huge jumble of rock piled here and there as the glacier receded. Quartz rocks of all sizes and shapes, fools gold a plenty and other interesting rocks. To the foot of the glacier which runs straight across from mt. to mt. A huge rounded face perhaps three hundred feet high. Trails of loose rocks stringing down the face. Good footing for a climb. We would climb onto the glacier – no problem there and soon we could see the full extent of the ice field hemmed in on three sides by more or less shear walls of rock. The glacier surface hard and abrasive. A gradual incline steeper as it reached the far end. Dick elected to be satisfied just seeing the size of it but I wanted to go on to the far end where a notch in the wall led me to believe I could look down on the second glacier which I had been on a couple different times. The rain turned to about half sleet as I neared the high end and clouds hovered around the peak at the head. Snow got deeper as I went and as much as half knee deep in places. Cracks under the snow surprised me a couple times. Lucky that they were narrow. At the notch I left the glacier, climbed a few feet and could look down on the head of the other glacier a couple hundred feet below. By climbing a pile of loose rock I could see down into the Kijik country.
On my way back I examined the wall of the mt. and saw many quartz veins and other odd looking rock formations. The journey down, easier than going up but still tiring for my flatlander friend. He would sleep good tonight. We stopped at the rock garden for a “C” ration can of chicken and noodles and some gingersnaps. The cow caribou spotted us and here she came. Passed us not far away and circled below. We headed down and saw big piles of bear dung we had missed going up. A bear has spent considerable time up there near the head of the creek. Traveling the length of the creek the caribou cow crossed the creek many times. Climb the bank to watch us then trot down country and cross to the other side to repeat the performance. Finally we got past her and left her feeding high on the slope of Crag mt. not far from the hump. Coming down the benches I had just said “wouldn’t it be nice to run onto a patch of nice ripe blueberries” when there they were and many blue ones. I dug out the empty ration cans and we picked them full. On to the cabin. Time to get cleaned up after a few tough days not on Dicks schedule. After a bowl of cold rice and a sourdough sandwich he crawled into his sleeping bag clothes and all. Out again for navy beans and lake trout and after dishes and a check of his rock specimens – back into the old sack. Twin Lakes is a tough life if you want to see it all in a couple weeks.
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