Paradise Pass Weekend - July 2023

On a gorgeous weekend in July of 2023, Nyssa, Erin, Tom, and I drove south from Anchorage towards Girdwood. The weekend would start like so many others have for so many people: at the Crow Pass Trailhead at the top of the Crow Creek Road. With a general plan centered on a loop around Synthesizer Peak, we shouldered our light weekend packs and started hiking towards Crow Pass.

The climb to the pass brought back many familiar memories of trail running, peak bagging, backpacking, and backcountry skiing in this little corner of our paradise. At the pass there was still a bit of the last winter’s snow as we left the Girdwood Valley behind and began to descend towards Raven Creek.


About a mile below the pass we left the heavily used trail behind and followed a social trail contouring into the Clear Glacier drainage. I have always liked the perspective that this trail has of the Raven Glacier.


The Clear Glacier creek was swollen by gray summer meltwater, and we carefully crossed it before continuing to sidehill under Peak 5465 towards Paradise Pass. Perched far above the Raven Creek valley, we stopped for lunch on a beautiful alpine bench draped in wildflowers. Above us, we looked up at the ant-sized specks of people working their way from Paradise Peak to Delgga Mountain. Then we continued to follow the drainage to Paradise Pass. The ascent to the pass was straightforward and we were soon looking towards Moraine Pass and the headwaters of Camp Creek draining away from us.