ChillyChugach

Ridge conditions November 2018.  Point 3920 on left, Indianhouse NW ridge on right.     I 'd attempted this ridge last November, but a late start and general unpreparedness saw me turning back at the first gendarme.  I vowed to return, and almost exactly a year later, I found myself parked at Fall's Creek and hiking up point 3920.  This time, it was 8am, and I had ice tools and a rope. Top of 3920, looking towards Indianhouse.  First gendarme is center left.     R eaching the top of point 3920, I clipped on crampons and took out the tools.  After descending to the ridge proper, I quickly made my way to the top of that first gendarme, encountering light mixed climbing on the way up.  At the top, I surveyed the options.  A rappel was pretty much mandatory from here - downclimbing would have been nutty and I had, after all, lugged 60m of 9.4 all this way...  Maybe I need to invest in a lighter rope ;) Using the tools...

Mt. Wickersham Southeast gully/valley to south ridge   Class 2+ with glacier travel 25 Miles - 13h 25m ( GPX )     I 'd been scheming about this peak for nearly a year - plotting on Google earth, reading through old Scree articles, and bugging Wayne Todd without mercy, yet I still didn't know quite what to expect.  The obvious route seemed to be the southeast gully, but I could find little beta on it.  No problem!  Sometimes it's more exciting to head into the unknown. Wickersham hiding behind a cloud    The forecast had taken a turn for the better, and so on 7/24 Wednesday night, I found myself sleeping in my Honda Civic in the Matanuska glacier parking lot, true hobo style. Civic lifestyle!  It's not quite van lifestyle, but somebody has to live it!    After a 3am coffee, I made my way out onto the glacier, or at least, I tried to.  Being pretty unfamiliar with the Matanuska, I attempted to ge...

Troublemint Southeast Ridge  20.66 Miles / 10:16:38 / 5950ft gain     T his was one of those days where I remained indecisive 'til the very end - I wanted an easy approach, no shwack, and something I hadn't climbed before. Hurdy Gurdy seemed like a good idea, but when the day dawned with plenty of smokey haze from the Kenai wildfire, I decided to set my sights further north.    I figured I'd try one of the Mint peaks. The approach, Gold Mint trail, fit the bill as an easy, runnable approach, and the distance from the Kenai (hopefully) meant less smoke. The problem was which peak? After a quick look at Peakbagger, I decided to aim for Troublemint... Although the truth was, I didn't mind climbing whatever seemed possible and appealing upon seeing it.    I was on the trail and running towards Mint Hut just before 7am. The brush was remarkably dry, and miles passed quickly and pleasantly. Visibility was awesome, and I had a few good glimpses o...

  I t was summer conditions all the way to the Eklutna campground, where I ditched the bike and set off on foot across a very moderately flowing river.  I didn't even need to take my boots off - the water was less than ankle depth for most of the braids with a jump across one deeper section. Riverbed in the foreground, Watchman north ridge in the background.     O nce on the far side, I found an overgrown orange flagged trail, followed it for a while then went straight up brushy fields to gain the ridgeline.    I t was easy travel on the ridge.  Most of the snow had melted on east facing aspects, making crampons unneeded if sticking to the melt line.   Eventually snow cover increased, so I donned gaiters for the inevitable deep snow encounters.     A bout midway through the ascent, the ridge dips down to a flatter bench.  I didn't trust that traveling on this bench would turn out well, so I opted to regain the ridge....