ChillyChugach

   After a 13 hour day bushwacking Icicle Creek on Monday, a cloudy, windy, buttslide-y Indianhouse on Tuesday, and a hardcore Service bouldering sesh on Wednesday (OK, not THAT hardcore!) I needed one more peak to cap off the vacay.  Benign!     Benign has had my attention for a while.  It's a B peak, it's over 7k feet, and it seems straightforward with very rewarding sights on a clear day.  I also had the good fortune of reading recent beta regarding snow conditions on Benign - it looked good to go, as long as you got up and down early!  With a lot of snow remaining in the CSP, combined with hot June afternoons, the mountains are shedding.  Ie, avalanching!    With that I mind, I was riding my bike around Eklutna by 5:30am and ditching it at Serenity Falls by 6:30am.  Unlike Monday's misadventure, I had taken the time to have a good look at the route for Benign.  That meant I felt confident in climbing fast, and pretty soon, I was on the massive moraine bench that cir

Eagle Peak rising above the Crow Pass trail 12:49:52/21.5 miles WELL! This didn't quite go as planned...    The first scary bit came in the form of a grizzly sow and cub crossing the road to ERNC. After 5 miles of hiking Crow Pass and yelling "HEY BEAR" with spray in hand, I came to Icicle Creek. This is where fumble #1 happened. View of Nantina, Yukla, and Polar Bear (left to right) from Echo Bend Another view of the same, this time from The Perch Looking up Icicle Creek.  I should have done more research and realized this is one of the most hated bushwacks in the park..    First I tried going climbers right, and was turned back by cliffs. Then I tried going climbers left, which turned into a maze of goat trails on top of loose scree cliffs.   Eventually I found a weakness and got past the worst of it, but not before wasting a good few hours.    The trail become more distinct the further I got, and I found some cairns and signs of the alders b