ChillyChugach

Baneful Peak 5/28/2018  10 miles bike, 10 miles foot, and 10 miles out on bike.  Bonus avalanche activity and alder rappeling! Bashful (left) and Baneful (right)    Ahhh - the beginning of a three day weekend.  And what better way to begin than by scoping out some B name peak approaches?  Given the nature of Chugach bushwacking, there's a high level of certainty that any given approach will have at least some routefinding errors, so it made sense to go get a taste of the "B Peak Area" before trying to summit its larger denizens.  Baneful peak, a 5500' (ie "small") peak in the midst of this area, seemed the obvious vantage point.  By 8am, I was riding around the shore of Eklutna Lake toward Baneful. Bold peak peeking boldly.  OK, kill me for that one.      Leaving my bike at the start of East Fork, I was pleased to find that trailside brush was still quite low.  It was earlier in the season than...

    G oat Rock is a pointy 5200' tower of Chugach crud located near Eklutna Lake, Alaska.  There is no specific trail approaching it, and the two main summit routes require either exposed scrambling or outright rock climbing.  It's a fun climb, but unsurprisingly, it doesn't see a lot of traffic. Goat Rock West Ridge    I parked at the S turn just before the ice cream shop on Eklutna Lake Road, and was soon bushwacking upward through a mixed forest of deciduous and evergreen.  Eventually the forest thinned out, and I emerged above treeline onto a very steep grassy slope.  After a few more minutes, I reached a gentle ridgeline with a view of the task ahead - Goat Rock. Wacking that bush     A s I got closer, I began following a sheep trail through the scree.  This led me below a promising gully to the West col.  I started upward, picking my way through talus and bits of remaining ice and snow.  The travel stayed...