Bold Peak

Last week Doug told me that he had never been to Eklutna Lake, I immediately proposed that we should go climb Bold Peak to rectify this. Despite the iffy weather Doug, Kellie, Ry and I all managed to commit to the idea.

The picture below is of Bold Peak and Eklutna Lake, unfortunately the day we biked out the summit wasn't in view so I neglected to take a picture, but this is what it looks like when it is out.

Picture from Twin Peaks Trail

 

Bold peak is aptly named, it pretty much dominates your view from the moment you leave the parking lot. Its huge, steep, and from the front looks very technical, but when you sneak around the back you find the weak spot. Stivers gulley leaves the East fork of the Eklutna river and climbs about 4,000 feet to a saddle. From here there are multiple ways to go up all leading to the ridge and a short walk to the summit. We started out in full summer conditions, but by the top I had every piece of clothing I brought on. The hose to my camel back froze solid. This might have been the shortest summit stop ever for me. It was so gnarly up there.

I was uninspired to post single pics but rather liked the slide show for how effectively it captured the change in conditions as we went up. Hope you enjoy the views!



The good thing about all the snow was that the butt glissading was pretty spectacular. We dropped about 3,500 feet in an hour, and the best part was that it was super fun! After the amazing glissade it was back to tundra, loose rocks and lots and lots of scree. The monotony of the down hill was broken up by a curious young black bear coming up the gully. He was not at all perturbed by us yelling and waving our arms, he just came running on up...while we crossed to the other side hoping he would just go on by...and he did. Its funny how much cooler seeing a bear with three of your friends is than all by yourself : )

Talk of pizza and beer had begun in earnest as we made our way down the East Fork of the Eklutna River back toward our bikes stashed in the woods.....We were already to begin when Kellie noticed a very flat tire, a quick inventory revealed no bike pump..booo! Note to self: bike pumps kick ass. Kellie however was not about to let the flattest tire I've ever seen stop her, and managed to ride back....we accidentally woke up some campers at the cabin trying to get at their bike pump, but they weren't upset, Kellie inflated her tire and we were eating at Mooses Tooth by midnight. Overall a fantastic day out.

M.28?:HRS.13:EG.6700:C.6500