If I had a nickel for every time I chickened out of a peak because of the forecast... Yesterday evening that sounded like a very good plan. It was pouring rain in Anchorage, and the forecast for tomorrow was showers. Ugh! Worse yet, this was almost surely a snow maker up high!
But no. I was going to be ready for Eagle, no matter what.
I left the house at 5:30AM, and the skies actually looked promising. As I arrived at the south fork trailhead, I did notice something ominous. Snow! On Harp Mountain! Oh boy.
The trusty Civic. Note the snow on Harp!
Clear skies with snow coming lower than expected.
I ran/jogged the 5 miles to the lakes, noticing that there was indeed more snow on Cantata and Triangle. I turned the corner, and - boom! Snow on Eagle too. So that's how this was going to be.
I went around the south side of Eagle Lake, donning my rain gear to keep dry from the very wet brush. My shorts still got soaked, but my core was dry and warm and so were my hands. My feet, however, were just getting started with their wetness.
Oooh, aaah! Beautiful morning sights on the south fork trail.
Oooh, aaah! Beautiful morning sights on the south fork trail.
First glimpse of Eagle Peak. Snowy up there.
Getting ready for a foot freezing good time.
So, the first time I approached Eagle, I tried going around the glacial stream. Big time waste. The trick is you are supposed to go THROUGH it. This sounds nice on a hot afternoon, but on a cold morning... UGH!
Let's get those feet wet!
I was cursing loudly every time the frigid water touched my painful feet. They would thaw out a little bit, only to be re-iced every several minutes. By far the least pleasant part of the approach.
Finally that was done though, and I scrambled up to the left of the waterfall, startling a whistle-pig that let out it's characteristic screech. I'll never get used to that sound!
"Whistle Pig Falls". Most people climb to the left.
A glimpse of snow on Cantata to the south
After ascending past the falls, you reach several level areas of awesome beauty! Good camping I'd bet...
After ascending past the falls, you reach several level areas of awesome beauty! Good camping I'd bet...
I reached the overlook of the glacier, noticing that it looked like it had receded markedly in just the two years it's been since I had last seen it. Hmmm.
Have a glacier.
I started heading up the scree, not quite knowing yet if I was going to try the south ridge or south gully. The south ridge was the first route I had tried on Eagle, without really knowing much about it other than studying a gpx file. This held the same for the south gully. Perhaps my greatest fault as a climber is just trusting to luck and a brief glance of a gpx. Oh well - it usually turns out...
Looking back towards Calliope and Cantata
South gully route up Eagle
When the south gully came into view, I immediately opted to give it a try. Might as well!
So, the most difficult part of this route is definitely the first bit past the waterfall. I went left, and that felt pretty safe, except for the fact there was snow!
Waterfall crux! Go left.
And the further I went up, there more snow there was! There was even some verglass on the rocks, and I was glad that there plenty of options that had scree underneath and not smooth rock.
Getting close...
Looking back down. Cloud rollin' in.
The summit actually came up unexpectedly. The last bit of the gully is quite fast travel, and I was surprised to see what I assumed was (and indeed turned out to be) the summit. At just after 11am, I was on the summit of Eagle Peak!! Yay! There was a LOT of snow up here. I was in my Salomon running shoes - totally not prepared for this much snow. But thankfully, it wasn't as cold as the glacial stream. I spent a few minutes at the summit, and headed down.
Final push to the summit. Wtf all this snow!
Me @ summit
Me with summit register
OK fine one more of me.
Looking down the way I came up
Summit register. It's blue. Now you know.
VIRB still
Have a pano
Have another
Backtracking was easy. Since it was snowy, I just followed my tracks. There was more snow coming down now - a few light flakes. Atmospheric.
Salomon Fellraiser. The only Alaskan scramble shoe.
Salomon Fellraiser. The only Alaskan scramble shoe.
Knocked down a chunk or two
Well, once I got back to the glacial stream it felt warmer. THANK GOODNESS! My feet didn't die quite as bad this time.
See that down there? I'm about to wade through that
Whistle Pig Falls
Cloudy skies now!
The way back to the car was fairly uneventful. I didn't jog quite as much since my IT band was starting to bother me (old running injury stuff). It was raining on and off, with the tall peaks now shrouded with clouds. I'd made it!
Eagle with cloud shroud
Eagle with cloud shroud
More clouds covering Cantata and Triangle
Typical scramble gear for me
A sunshower-y afternoon
The Honda, 9.5 hours later. No more snow on Harp!
Overall, I'd say Eagle is one of the more demanding peaks that is possible in a single day. Sure there are peaks with worse approaches, BUT, those peaks are never done in a day. The south gully is not very technical, so it would be my choice for someone looking to summit quickly. I would add that routefinding is important. I made a couple small errors that turned into time wasters on the way up. Go do it! Scrambling seasons ain't over!
Total Time - Just about 9.5 hours. 46 minutes biking in, 7:59:37 hiking, 46 mins biking out. Civic DX ready to roll! I left my house at 5:30 and was riding around Eklutna by 6:20. There was a lot of bear crap on the trail, so I did some extra "hey bear!" in addition to my two bearbells. After 10 miles, it was time to ditch the bike - but what was this? There were already some people here! A group of two declared their intention to climb Bold, and there was a group of three trying Bashful! Riding around the lake Trusty 9:ZERO:7 Whiteout with Bashful above! The two were still busy with gear, so I started walking with the trio, glad to have some company for what I had anticipated to be a very spooky (bear-ie) walk to Stiver's. Once we arrived, I bade farewell to the group and went on ahead. My Bashful Buds :) Things went great until I took a very ill-advised wrong turn, and ended up missing the alder tunnel and bushwacking through s
Skybuster/Ice Cream Cone seen from Mt. Significant, January 2019. LONG lens! I remember the first time I saw it. Eastbound on the Glenn, just before passing Kings Mountain and Chickaloon, on a clear, flat section of road, I happened to glance south, and there it was, standing tall in the distance. I couldn't take my eyes off, and couldn't help but wonder: did that insane tower of rock have a name, and what would it be like to stand on its incredible, precipitous summit? Since I wasn't driving, I easily answered the first question with Google. That inspirational behemoth was named Skybuster. Answering the second question, however, would have to wait. Several years and lots of beta gathering later, it was time to try. Since the peak is so remote, it seemed a good idea to make this our first fly in approach. With excitement and some apprehension, we loaded up at Merrill field and flew (choppered!) out. WOCKA WOCKA WOCKA Sitting in the chopper at Merrill field. Fue
11.9Mi/6:10:41/3,724ft/Plus one 400lb boulder UPDATED 2020 - See bottom of page I woke up this morning not knowing that I was going to go scrambling, much less on Hidden Peak, much less try to connect the ridge between Hidden Peak/The Ramp. Interesting how plans for the day evolve, eh? Like 80% of my days off this summer/fall, the forecast called for rain showers. That means I wake up, make coffee, go back and forth from the computer to the window, and wait for the sky to reveal itself. It didn't look so bad! OK, I'm used to seeing this by now. Since it didn't look SO bad, meaning that it still looked SORT of bad, I decided to stay close to home and climb a peak that had so far slipped underneath the radar - Hidden Peak. Hidden Peak is connected to O'Malley via a ridgeline, and many a time at the O'Malley summit I have entertained the thought of continuing toward Hidden. But every time, it just looked too dang far to be bothered. Hmmph
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