Late Summer Jaunts

I spent the late summer in Anchorage working on a guidebook and building a greenhouse...living the good life, playing in our backyard. 

 

One lazy morning Cathy and I left Hiland Road hiking toward Girdwood over the Flute Glacier. It was supposed to be a day hike. It became an 8,000-foot, 28-mile day hike--a bit long for a lazy morning. Our hitching home plans backfired when darkness and rain caught us. It was a fun night of snuggling under a pack cover at the Crow Pass cabin. For breakfast we hiked out to the Girdwood Tesoro for Bahama Momma hot dogs. 

To retrieve the Rice Burner a few days later, Cathy and I did an evening run from Arctic Valley over to Hiland Road.  

Did you know that Portage has the thickest shrubbery in Southcentral? I confirmed this on a very sweaty thrash to the ridgeline for a traverse from the first Portage tunnel, over Begich Peak, along the ridge and down to the Portage cutoff. The trip highlight came afterward, when I learned that 64-ounce sodas were only $1.89 at the Girdwood Tesoro. I'm growing quite fond of the Girdwood Tesoro. 

Indianhouse is the steepest summit in the Chugach Front. An interest of mine was traversing the Falls Creek ridgeline, which includes Indianhouse. Here's Tobey, Maddog, Cortney, Sarah and Heidi's Kid Brother on the summit after traversing a portion of that ridgeline from South Suicide. Like Billy Finley, we rappelled the two gendarmes, but Tobey found exposed sheep trails around both gendarmes. 

Jeff Conaway showed Cathy and I Sheep Creek in the Talkeetna Mountains. After a float plane drop off at an alpine lake we hiked down to the river. Here's Cathy inflating her packraft for six hours of floating back to the cars. 

My sister Kate, her friend Kim Keller and Cathy paddling through bergs on Spencer Lake to float the Placer River. This is the ultimate visitor trip combining a train ride, hiking, camping, rock climbing and a float with icebergs. 

"I got this hole on the Kenai. Lot's of fish. We'll go down after work and kill them." Andy Newton told Cathy, Raena and me. But all I caught was a big-lipped sucker fish and a sore bum from all the driving. Good thing we always have fun with Andy and Raena. 

Joe Butler and Ryan Davis ice climbing on the Byron Glacier. 

Local avalanche and mountain guru Kevin Wright climbing Wisdom (5.9) on the Wedge above Anchorage. Kevin showed Cathy and me that Anchorage does have good rock. Thanks for an incredible weekend Kevin!

Eric Parsons tests his bike bags on the Hillside Trails. 

Cathy on the best evening run in Anchorage: the Wedge Sheep trail. 

"Hey guys! Check out all these sweeeeet mountains. Guys? Hey, where'd everybody go?" Dave Bass at the 1957 wreckage of a B-29 Superfortress in the Talkeetna Mountains. Dave and I were midway through a 15-hour stumble-fest that went here and there, over Lynx Peak and back over there. The full day was a strange combination of verging on being crushed by a 50-ton boulder and giggling like teenagers. 

Cathy near the summit of Matanuska Peak on her favorite excursion of our Anchorage summer. We followed the not-so-normal ridgeline from Lazy Mountain to Mat Peak. Near the top we found some steep granite to scramble. The wiffy likes steep granite.  

Dana Maddog Drummond on a 15-hour, 12,000-foot, 27-mile variation of the Thunderbird Traverse. The T-Bird Traverse is any tundra ridge hike that includes Thunderbird Peak in the Western Chugach. Our variation started at Peters Creek and finished at Eklutna. 

Cortney Kitchen on Knoya Point above Anchorage in mid October. Tordrillos out there. 

Alaska paddling strong man Paul Shauer in Bird Creek. Luc Mehl waiting in line. This excursion enhanced my understanding that water is best when frozen. 

 

Are you impressed? You should be! This thing took me a lot of evenings and some weekends. I'm lucky Dad helped me for five days, otherwise I'd still be out there flailing away. Most of the windows are recycled from the Samoan church down the street. Newton hooked me up with the door. I poached the design from Judy across the alley. 

 

In late September I attended the AMGA annual meeting at the Gunks in New York. Cathy met me afterward for some climbing. Here is Cathy on overhanging 5.6+++ jugs on the ultra-classic route High Exposure. Our favorite day at the Gunks was cragging with Markus Jolliff from Joshua Tree who also came for the guide meeting. Great getting to know you Markus!

After cragging we visited Flanagans. There are lots of Flanagans. Here are a few. Cathy with her parents Peg and Mike Flanagan during a rowdy 18 holes at the par three in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware. After touring around the East Coast for several weeks I found the East's finest attribute are Flanagans.  

Back in Anchorage it's stacking up on Airport Heights! 

And it's stacking up in the hills. Jeff Ellis skiing Eddies shrubbery at Turnagain Pass. You know Jeff is Canadian because he's wearing a toque. 

White Lice Chute

Jeff said, "I checked out Wexler's blog the other day. He's skiing these huge, steep chutes near Canmore."

Wex and I expeditioned around Alaska on skis 4 years in a row. During that time Wex taught me the importance of descents. On our last trip together we incorporated the four highest summits in the Tordrillos. We're now doing our own thing: skiing chutes in our backyard with neighbors. 

And buddy, congrats on your IFMGA pin! Andrew, you are now a bonafide Furgerburger.

In the mindset of backyard chutes and neighbors; Andy Newton, Jeff Conaway and I cycled out Eklutna Reservoir for a night at the Mountaineering Club of Alaska's Pitcher's Perch. This is a doghouse-style hut with mice and no insulation. But it's proper-style Alaska. Any more and you might as well go to Eurodogland.

Jeff scoping his next packrafting objective on the approach up the West Fork of the Eklutna River.

Kettle pond from a melting remnant of the Eklutna Glacier. Our map shows the glacier being here in 1994. This was a lake when Jeff was last here in 2000. Now it's filled with sediment. The Eklutna Glacier supplies Anchorage's water and some power. 

Boys club at Pitchler's Perch after round I on the White Lice Chute. The 1,500-foot, 47-degree White Lice Chute is visible there, hanging from the clouds above the hut. The legendary Vin Hoeman first climbed 6,650-foot White Lice Mountain in the 1960's. Maybe he itched his way up the White Lice Chute to the summit. 

Booting the chute on round II. The day before we bailed 500 feet up as it discharged ice and rocks. The weekend before Cathy and I skied Flute Peak and the snow was still dry. This year the snow transitioned from dry to wet on north faces at 5-7,000 feet around May 20. Last year it was about May 26.

Nothing was falling down this time because it froze overnight into a sheen of breakable crust.

The breakable crust was actually fun skiing. We told the dangling cornice to sit and stay. We gave it a bone and it behaved. 

Cycling back around Eklutna Reservoir for Session beer and power rings (Andy-speak for donuts).

Rumble Chute

When she's elusive, I find three attempts usually works. With Brad, on my first attempt for Mount Rumble's Chute, we stopped at the Korohusk chutes. With Dave Bass, on attempt number two, we roasted in the spring heat, avoided avalanching slop and skied 7,500-feet without even touching the mountain. But on attempt number three, Cody, Tucker and I got lucky.

At 7,530 feet Mount Rumble is the fifth highest peak in Chugach State Park. Rumble is stashed at the head of Peters Creek, up river from the city of Eagle River. The uninitiated may try to access Rumble via the 24-mile Peters Creek Valley Trail. They soon learn what it's like to hike through 18 miles of moose-nibbled willows.

Tucker brought his new Hi5 188 La Sportiva skis rigged with 170 gram bindings (made by ATK I think). I had serious his-truck-is-bigger-than-mine syndrome. But that's okay. Tucker is my boss. Bosses should have bigger trucks.

8:30 am with 4,500 feet and half of the approach bagged. I forgot my camera battery so I poached some photos from Tuck. He later loaned me his camera to stop my complaining. 

Skiing 3,800 feet into the elusive Peters Creek. The crux of the day was climbing back up this hill.

In the zone below Rumble. Again, following Zach Shlosar's tracks.

Booting into the the top of the chute. We stashed our skis and climbed up an ice gully to find another 500 feet of powder leading to the summit. We went back and got our skis. 

Mount Rumble summit at 7,530 feet. Cody is holding his breath for bonus training since he lives in Bethel (117') while flying for Ute Air. Tucker is getting high and giggling on the thick O's since he just got down from the Alaska Range.

Tucker testing his new Sportiva rides on the impeccable summit slopes. The valley is 5,000 feet below. 

At the top of the chute, far above a gigantic kettle sinkhole on the derelict Wall Street Glacier. 

Tucker product testing.

Tucker likes the product.

Cody about to exit onto the apron. 

Wolverine tracks near treeline at 11pm. We returned to the car after 18 hours and over 13,000 feet of uphill. Don't laugh, but for like people us it's impossible to have more fun.

Korohusk Chutes with Brad

It chuting time in the Chugach. Brad Cosgrove left Hope at 3am, arriving at my house 45 minutes early. His time is limited and he's super-psyched. He's a new dad, and between ski and river guiding seasons.

We followed Zach Shlosar's tracks into the Western Chugach, toward Korohusk, on a hunch we'd find something fun. The Western Chugach Mountains are rugged peaks, better known for scrambling and hard technical climbing than skiing. By some counts there are 21 summits over 7,000 feet. These peaks are inaccessible, often requiring multiple days and horrendous bear-infested bushwacks. But if you wait until May, when days are long and snow is stable, then many become day tours. 

We found something fun. A pinner hidden in a buttress.

Brad brought huge Salomon skis and Salomon Dynafit-compatible boots. I thought he would like to trade gear at the top of the chute. He politely declined.

Starting down the first of two 1,400-foot, 45-degree chutes on the north side of Korohusk.

Brad in the pinner. 

Booting up for the second chute. 

Steep and stable: the Western Chugach season peaks in May.

Halfway down Brad switched from fast windshield whipers to open, near straightlining turns, floating ahead of his roaring slough.

Making zee free ride.

Brad exiting the chute onto 500 feet of apron. Ten hours car to car feels easy when the sun is blazing 16 hours a day.