I have a bit of history with the Eklutna traverse....this is the first trip Ryan and I did together, way back in 2002, and if you ask him, this is where he fell in love with me. We foolishly decided to multi sport it, trying to combine the traverse with ice climbing....READ: HEAVY, HEAVY, metal gear, and glacier slogging. Although we did not sink one ice screw the whole trip, we carried a full rack, with 2 ropes, tools, and crampons up and over the traverse....BRUTAL!!! This is the trip that I learned a valuable lesson in trying to combine activities, when I learned that "more" is really synonymous with "heavier". Still both being in the "honeymoon" phase of our relationship I was impressed with Ryan's manly sled towing capabilities while he was enamoured by my general lack of complaining as we slogged with HEAVY loads and ended up going down the wrong gully and double carrying our load back up that 1,000 foot gully ....because he was 99% sure... Oh the memories!
When Matt asked me if I would be interested in doing this trip, I was immediately all about it. This time I swore my pack would be lighter, I wouldn't tow a sled of climbing gear and I definitely wasn't going down the wrong gully again!
From the get go ET: 2008, started out much differently. A four wheeler assisted our heavy packs with skis and boots around the Eklutna lake, while we leisurely walked with our day packs.
Bold Peak (top ten favorite peaks)
The Gorgeous Eklutna Lake
After about a four hour walk we ended up at the Serenity Falls hut, probably the most beautiful hut in the whole park. Will and Andy decided that a fire was in order for the evening, and set out collecting and chopping wood with gusto.
Will the Wood Chopper
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