Tokositna Packraft - 9.30.2017

It was 12:30 AM on Saturday and the six of us were bouncing down the Petersville Road. Between wildly swerving around potholes, and cringing as the Subaru scraped over loose cobbles, I kept imaging a very large brown beach ball bouncing down the road in front of us. I was seeing things, why would there be such a thing bouncing just out sight? Just in case, we sped up, and there it was - a brown bear so fat it could barely keep its belly off the ground as it bumbled down the road.

What a way to start the weekend! We camped just past the old townsite, and after shaking the ice off our sleeping bags, were chasing Nathan and Charlie thru the frosty willows and up into the Peters Hills.


At the ridgeline Charlie and Nathan were waiting for us.


We followed the undulating ridge north. Ahead we could see a flock of ptarmigan that had made the mistake of turning white before the snow arrived. Peering into the cloudy peaks in front of Mount Foraker, I kept thinking about the wild trip to Little Switzerland that Amy invited me on years ago.

Bull River - 6.4.2017

After doing Moody Creek the day before, we headed south for the Bull River. Our Saturday hadn't really ended until well into Sunday, so we didn't get an early start. Then a series of confrontations with campground employees further delayed things.

By early afternoon we had parked at the bridge over the Middle Fork Chulitna and were hiking west on the trail.


Looking east, I was drooling over couloirs guarded by rocky spires in the headwaters of the Chulitna and Honolulu Creek.


I don't know how often these lines are actually safe to ski. In such a cold and relatively shallow snowpack, limited further by few observations, its hard to pull the trigger and gamble on that zone. Maybe someday.

RondyBird Backpack - July 2017

Last summer we did a fun weekend thru-hike of Chugach State Park from Crow Pass to Glen Alps. One of the highlights was passing thru less traveled areas along the way. I've been looking forward to going back those places, and have been brainstorming ways to do it.

Arctic to Indian is a Chugach winter classic, but in summer is complicated by miles of bushwhacking and bogs. So, we settled on trying out a summer ridge-line version of Arctic to Indian following Rendezvous Ridge then connecting thru to Bird Ridge. This would pass thru some favorite places from last summer's thru-hike.

After stashing our shuttle at Bird we started Saturday at Hiland Road. Shortly after Hunter Pass we climbed to the ridge.


From there we could look south to the peak group that would take us to Bird Ridge.


As always, ridges take one above it all, bringing better views and less swamp-dogging. This guy was on his way back from climbing Triangle and Calliope:

Moody Creek - 6.3.2017

After a dry winter in the Alaska Range (and everywhere else), spring 2017 brought persistent cool weather to Southcentral. We wanted to get onto the water, but the weather history was tricky for predicting how much water we'd find. Driving north on the Parks Highway, the plan was to make a game-time decision. Passing Honolulu Creek, it had way too much water in it, so we headed for Moody.

We dropped a bike shuttle at the Healy bridge then parked at Dragonfly Creek to begin our customary late start. Following the dry drainage was straightforward and within a mile we were on the clear ridge.


Complete with game trail highways, the ridge was a great way to gain elevation towards the plateau above. Pretty good views southwest into the foothills of the Alaska Range too.


It also had vivid folding rock patterns to check out. The quartz intrusions are neat. Alex for scale:

Isthmus Icefield Traverse - April 2017

In early April we decided to ski from Moose Pass to Whittier. I don't remember the impetus - was it the raincrust that we hoped would make for fast travel? Or were we worried Grant Lake would melt out soon? Maybe it was that Andalyn had been talking about wanting to do some big days.

After dropping a car in Whittier, we drove south to Moose Pass, parked, and walked across the railroad tracks towards Grant Lake. The old mining road brought us to the lake overlook:


The bobsled descent back to the lake confirmed my belief that cross country skiing is the most dangerous kind of skiing. The lake was icy and fast, so we made efficient time skating, pushing, and coasting across it.


Behind us Bear, Resurrection, and Mount Ascension rose above Seward.