Bombardment Pass

It was a hot, sunny day when we started out, to a valley we'd never been to, only to end up being socked in.  The joke of this trip, and most outings, is we start at 'the shier' and end up in 'Mordor'.  The Shier: Valley full of wildflowers, trees, and life.  Mordor: the lifeless moraine of Ram Glacier and the 'Eye of Sauron'.

Camping on the other side of Bombardment Pass, we slowly made our way back the next day.  Coming back in the clouds made the descent a little dizzying but as long as we kept going down, we would make it back to the Shier in a few.

Ram Valley, is yet, another beauty of a spot in the "backyard".

Finally, the amateur movie.

Good Time, Spring Time

A few weeks ago four of us went out skiing/boarding before our summer season gets increasingly busy.  We had planned on going for a day in Turnagain Pass but web cams and rainy forecasts influenced our decision to go elsewhere.  So, we headed for the bowls around Mount Harp.  It was a relaxed day of hiking, shredding, drinking PBR, enjoying the wildlife (moose w/calf) and skinning in the warm spring air.

Here's my edited footage from that day.  I think I'm actually getting better at this stuff.  

Good Ol' Harp

Mt. Harp never dissapoints. It is my 'Go To' mountain, when I'm in a hurry.  I've been riding this mountain since I began snowboarding in the backcountry, before I even considered it being 'backcountry snowboarding' but rather, just plain, snowboarding.  Being out there reminded me of one of those early years of riding.  I boot-packed up because there was a lack of snow, but it is the same way I ascended in the earlier years.  Also, I did a run on a part of the mountain that I hadn't done since the beginning of my love for backcountry snowboarding.  What a hit!

Photo of the Day

A Knoya Kinda Day

Sunday came and off I went with the purpose to ascend Knoya Peak.  Knoya, is in the front range of the Chugach, easily visible from the East side of Anchorage and one that I gaze at on a daily basis driving home from work.  I've always wanted to explore this area, but for some reason I had never ventured to Knoya or any of the other valleys and peaks accessible from the Basher Road trailhead.

Accompanying Aaron Fetter, we set off at late morning with two dogs, blue skies and varied expectations.  We hiked the ridge up to the summit and descended the southern aspect towards the North Fork of Campbell Creek.  Where we skinned, bushwhacked, and hiked back to the trailhead.

 Late morning light

 

An area that begs my exploration

 

Enjoying the view from the summit

 

 and finally getting along.

Good Tour, Bad Descent

I went out with my back country snowboarding partner, Sergei, today.  He came up for a few weeks from Portland, so we went to our usual hangout, Harp Mountain.

After a week of non-stop wind the week before last, we knew the conditions were going to be awful, but we wanted to get out anyway.  The wind hammered snow made it out to be a great tour on the low angle approach, but gaining the ridge at the higher angle and breakable wind slabs reminded us that the conditions were not ideal.

The descent was brutal, but fun (I've yet to have a descent that isn't).  After the first turn, trying to get an edge in was unsuccessful and sent me on my backside sliding down the first 30 yards.  Just when I thought I was getting close to becoming a pro rider, the run shattered my ego.

Here's a couple pictures I got of Sergei on his descent:

Meadow Creek Valley

Meadow Creek Valley, is quite possibly my favorite destination within the front range of the Chugach Mtns.  The ridge walking is ideal, peaks jet up from the valley floor 3000' and the views are anything but limited.  Its easy access and limited popularity makes this area one of those undiscovered gems you want to keep secret. 

I visited the area this past weekend.  Going with the intention of touring up the valley and seeing if there was any possibility of a snowboard descent.  Not unexpected, the snow was either non existent or rock solid. Scratching that idea I made an easy climb up toward a ridge to enjoy the views.

The big three just above Mt. Baldy

Mt. Vista

Redoubt and Illiamna are out; zoom in
and squint.

A good looking descent

On my way back down the ridge I ended up making a quick, exciting, blooper video of my descent down to Mile High Saddle.  It went just as planned!

Winner Creek to Twenty Mile

Nearly a month ago my friend and I did the well known hike and packrafting route, 'Winner Creek to Twenty Mile'.  Going into this trip I had heard of the good trail leading up to the pass and the sudden dead end of the trail into a jungle of devils club and alders. The allure of a packrafting day trip so close to town in such a scenic area drew me in and I couldn't resist.

The hike up was everything I thought it to be; with a great trail, wildflowers, grand views, a few snow fields, and bear tracks (large and small) it was enjoyable but I knew what was on the other side. With a lunch break at the pass, which gave scenic views and an entertaining air show from the local helicopters of Girdwood.  We started down into the Twenty Mile drainage where the trail abruptly ended.  We had to follow surveyor flags that were not much help.

Once through the barrage of devils club we were nearly to the river and the onslaught of some small biting flies began. Into the water we went but only to portage a strainer fifty feet later. Heavy rains had caused the river to flood and although every obstacle was more or less runnable we portaged them all rather than taking the chance. Portaging every 100 feet or so was unexpected and after the bushwhack and biting flies it was not what I had in mind.

After floating over the tops of alders, where the river had flooded into another channel, we made it to the main channel of the river and enjoyed a peaceful  float out, except the supercub that buzzed us to the bridge of the Seward highway.

Although sounding negative; this was a worthwhile trip and I would do it again. Like I said earlier, this trip offers beautiful views, wildflowers, a well maintained trail to a point, waterfalls and shimmering glaciers and snowfields.

Mirror Lake-Triangle Peak

On the 4th of July weekend my wife suggested I leave the house since I had been busy every weekend working on our remodel and needed to get out. I had many ideas but decided to keep it simple and chose an area that I had been a few times before, Eagle and Symphony Lakes. It's a great destination and is an area I've been wanting to explore a little more. Behind Eagle Lake there is another lake, Mirror Lake nestled in between Triangle Peak and Mount Cantata.

My route started by biking (illegal?) from the South Fork Eagle River Trailhead to Symphony Lake where I dropped the bike off in the last bit of large Willow trees. I then hiked to Eagle and then up to Mirror Lake, where I pitched a tarp for the night. Then next morning I hiked Triangle Peak. The route I had intended to take once atop of Triangle was to descend the west ridge towards Eagle Tarns, then to the Eagle and Symphony Lakes and back. This did not work out however due to poor visibility once I reached the summit of Triangle Peak. From that point I simply retraced my steps back.

Here are the pictures of that trip.

 

Symphony Lake

 

Eagle Lake

 

The wildflowers were gorgeous all the way up especially the dogwood, one of my favorites.

   

Sheep feeding near the falls just below Mirror Lake

 

Moss Champion

 

Forget-Me-Not

 

Camy taking a break in a field of Mountain Avens.

 

Fresh snow on top of Mountain Buttercups

 

Mirror Lake with Mount Cantata high above

 

Camy cooling off near the summit of Triangle Peak

 

Eagle and Symphony Lakes

  

The inevitable self-photo

  

The view from the falls

 One tired pup