ChillyChugach

   To the people out there that watch this blog - you may be wondering 'bout the lull in mountain stoke.  Well, it turns out there actually is night in Alaska, and sometimes a lot of it.  When that happens, it's easier to go for a bike ride than a full mountain day...  Which brings me to the subject of this (filler) post. FATBIKING Me riding at Knik glacier.  The drone that took this photo has an uncanny ability with composition. This is about as fat as they get. Sometimes you can jump them.    Yep.  I even work for a fatbike company (and it shouldn't be hard to figure out which one).  This means I feel a certain obligation to get out there and test what I sell.  It's pretty fun even.  It's so fun, and so ubiquitous in Alaska, that sometimes us crazy locals race 'em.  Which brings me to the next subject.   FATBIKE RACING The local fast guys dragging me around.  Yes, that's me back there.  This is when I realized there woul

Korohusk Peak 9/30/17 10:23:51/15.9Mi/7568ft   This might have been one of the most magically aligned mountain days of the whole year - perfect weather, perfect gear list, perfect peak, near perfect routefinding, and great company! Maybe the last time summer scramble gear is used!    I picked up Adrian around 7:20, and we were hiking from the Eagle River Nature Center by 8.  There was a touch of damp chill in the air, as recent rainfall still saturated the first four miles of our approach on the Crow Pass trail.  A few low lying clouds hung about, but things looked bright and clear up high.  As we walked, we noticed that there was some serious erosion going on near The Perch, and that it seems a trail re-route is in the works. Passing Echo Bend, looking toward Yukla (in the cloud) View from The Perch.  Eagle Peak on right, Organ Mtn. in the middle, and Polar Bear on the left.  Some trail erosion going on nearby!    Since I'd never climbed a peak from ERNC, I

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