Caribou Creek Keeps on Giving

The day started out with me and Bill trying to get to the gravel creek pillar.  Instead we drove around in circles and got the snow machine stuck in the alders.  Bill pretty much quietly refused to snow shoe the last mile or so to the route.  So instead we had lunch at the Long Rifle lodge and then headed back to Caribou creek.  A snow-go is a game changer...leave the car at 2pm...no problem, when a 4 mile approach takes 15 minutes.

Bill at the base of Robo Pick

It was not warm in the shade

Bill almost at the top

 

Another Foray into Caribou Creek

Caribou Creek has been amazing this season, and with temps still above zero out there it was an easy decision to go back.   None of us have climbed STD and were all game, Bill won the rosh.

Ryan with The Double Take Area Behind Him 

 

It was a long, beautiful pitch.  The climbing was steep and fun.

Ryan Following STD 

 The Double Take area was just a short walk away, I was in rotation for the next pitch, and from far way the old Double Take looked steep and unrelenting.  I was feeling happy to pass the lead on, until I stood underneath it, and it looked doable.   It was as steep as it looked from far away, but the ice was reasonable and I made it up with only a little internal whining.

Me, Bill and Ryan at the Top of The Old Double Take 

 

Bill Rappelling The Old Double Take 

Caribou Creek Ice Climbing

I've never done this route and have always wanted to, but it hasn't been in stellar shape like this for years.  Bill and I did our customary rosh at the bottom and I won.  I made a belay before the steep pitch, I figured it would be challenging enough for me without rope drag, and it was.

Thag-O-Mizer

 The second pitch felt steep, I definitely earned it.

Bill Coming up

In retrospect I probably should have continued up another 75 feet to the top of the next step, but at the time with only a couple screws left and pumped arms I just didn't want to do it.  Bill is a considerate leader and set an additional belay so as not to kill me with ice fall, but we climbed it in 4 and rappelled it in 2, just saying.

Start of the Last Pitch

Super fun route and always fun to climb something new, I'm definitely feeling like a crusty old ice climber.

On our way out we saw our friends Jonya climbing STD.  Another route for another day, and also an infrequently formed flow.

Tonya at the top of the pitch and Jon below

 

We still had some daylight left and Rhythm and blues was looking fat and juicy.  My gumption wasn't up to even rosh for the second pitch, and I guess Bill could tell because he gave me the first pitch without a word.  Plus the first pitch is my favorite on this route.

 Rhythm and Blues

 

Bill Leading the Top Pitch 

It was dark by the time we got back to the river, and cold enough at the car that the beer froze.

My Frozen Beer Volcano

 

Caribou Creek on Ice Steroids

Its been a cold, cold, winter.  I knew the climbs would be huge in Caribou creek but have suffered enough hypothermia back there for a lifetime and refuse to climb there if its below zero.  Luckily temps in anchorage warmed up to a balmy 25 degrees and Billmier was fresh and motivated.

There was only a dusting of snow on the river, and it froze wide and smoothe.  Travel was awesome, a bike with studded tires would have been awesome!  Lots of ice up river, I felt like a kid on Christmas with a new present around every corner.

A couple miles back...

 

I'm not sure what these routes are called, a picture on the Alaska iceclimbing website shows a pic of the climb on the right in my pic and it had two names, STD and Life after the graveyard.  I have never seen these routes come in this big.  We ended up climbing the left hand route to the top of the canyon.

Thank you Santa

 

Even though Bill and I were both pretty captivated by the potential that we had already passed we decided to go to the end of the canyon to assess the whole situation.

The landslide that had constricted the river last year was completely washed away, and above the river 3 beautiful new routes.

The Trifecta: New Double Take area

 Cantellya was beautiful, not as big as usual, and no left hand flow this year, but still plenty of ice.  Robopick looked great, but the route at the very end, Thag-o-mizer was enormous.  Again, I've never seen this route this huge before...

 Big routes at the end of the canyon

So much to do with only 4 hours of daylight left!!  We went back to the STD/graveyard area mostly because the opportunity to climb something rarely formed and new was to hard to pass up.

 The first pitch was awesome climbing, super fun, and steaper than it looked, Bill lead in fine style.

It took me about 30 seconds of deliberation to pass the lead of the next pitch to Bill.  It was super thin and scary looking...and that was before I saw the undercut bare rock section.  I couldn't see what Bill was doing, but he was going up and down in 5 foot increments....I really understood when it came my turn to hall my ass over overhanging undercut.

I wish I could have got a picture that did it justice, but the light was fading and I was rappelling.

 

Bill and I at the Top

 

Slide Show of all the other climbs!

Caribou Creek

Ryan and I stopped and climbed Kids Corner on our way to Valdez....it was snowy out there too!

The Dead Moose after Pitch One

Pitch 2

Pitch 3

Lots of people have climbed this route lately, it was picked out from top to bottom, no complaints though!

Caribou Creek

Its a good thing that I have short term memory problems, otherwise I probably would never go climb at Caribou creek. Everything about a day out there is long:  the 2 hr drive, the 2hr approach, and the routes. Not many people had been back there recently, and the other tracks we saw turned around just past Kids Corner. It was a bit of a slog through the snow to get to the end.

Ryan with Redemption in the Background

 

Rhythm and Blues Looking Fat

 

Ryan won the rosh for the first pitch, it didn't look that bad, but it felt unrelentingly steep. By the time I reached the top of the first pitch, my right crampon was severely compromised. I somehow sheared the bolt that was holding the front points of my crampons on, eliminating the possibility of further progression.

 Ryan Leading the First Pitch of Cantellya

 

Ryan and I saw three foxes on the way in, and four moose. I felt bad we scared them into post-holing to the end of the valley. They were really wallowing through the deep snow.

Three Scared Moose

 

Robo Pick was super thin,and the other route past Robo Pick wasn't in at all. I really need to get a snow machine.

Pinochle Creek to Puritan Creek

I'm not sure the exact number of years, but its been quite a few since Ryan and I went "backpacking" together. My need to flee Anchorage was high, and the weather was good so we picked up some maps from USGS and headed out to the Matanuska valley. We started up Pinochle creek which led to Caribou creek where we camped the first night.

Blazing Hot Alaska Hiking

 

Ryan and I were both about to have heat stroke on the first day, so when we woke up to rain on the second day, we wished we had never complained! The route we took followed four wheeler trails for a while, and in some places it was pretty wet and muddy.

Good Times

 

By the time we got to the pass it was snowing a hard stinging gropple, and we were in the clouds. I always feel like I have to go back when I can't see anything during the most scenic parts of a hike.

Descending to Boulder Creek

 

It snow/groppled and rained all night,by morning water was dripping from the seams. We brought my mini tent which weighs nothing but Ryan's shoulders completely filled the width of the tent...things start to feel real small when your sharing your wet, cold, nylon womb with a giant.

Ryan in Our Mini Tent

 

Once we were on Boulder creek it was just a matter of walking through river braids, or wet trees for about 10 miles and then around Syncline Ridge via another ATV trail that took us all the way out to Puritan creek. Part of me felt weird hiking on ATV trails and the other part of me was super glad that we weren't bushwhacking. We did not see or hear any ATV's the whole trip, its a whole different way to access the woods. Super fun time in the mountains despite the wet icky factor.

Slide Show!



Note to Self: Always bring a top and bottom silk weight sacred dry layer.

T:2.5D.MT:17:37.D:47.EG:6487

The Matanuska River: Caribou to Glacier Park

Raina got invited along by some friends to go raft Lions Head on the Matanuska River, and since we were going to do something that day anyway, I got to come along. I've floated various sections of the Matanuska river, but never the infamous Lions Head.

Raina Pack Rafting the Caribou River

 

I was super tempted to try and float Lions Head in my pack raft because we were accompanied by 2 big rafts and a kayaker, but I am SO glad that Raina's level headedness made me reconsider. I would have gotten swallowed and pummeled. Those waves were huge and savage.

The Big Boat

 

I didn't get any pictures of the rapids on the river because I was to busy paddling and holding on. I don't think I have any desire to float huge water in my pack raft, its just to powerful.

Lions Head

 

Super beautiful day out in the sun.

 

Caribou Creek Spring Style

Caribou creek is awesome when its warm in Anchorage. Tanya, Jon, Bill and I, all went back to Cantellya, Robopick and Double Take for some spring climbing. Cantellya is pretty amazing this year, this is only the second year the left side has come in, and I really wanted to climb it. Billmier and I did the customary rosh, but I lost this time.

Billmier Getting Ready for the First Pitch

 

Bill took a really aesthetic line, it was super steep and really fun climbing. I couldn't really get good pics of Bill since I was in a cave, but Tanya took the same line and even had the same blue coat.

Tanya Climbing the First Pitch of Cantellya Left

 

Cantellya with Tanya on the Left Side

 

Bill and I headed over to Robopick and it was just gleaming in the sun. It looked soft and beautiful, and it was my pitch. Snow and rocks were starting to melt off the steep walls in the canyon, but I told myself that it was only over there and not above my route. I was only 20 feet up when a small slide came down the center of the climb right on top of me, I didn't get hit but started to feel nervous. Then a much larger snow mixed with rocks slide came down loudly to my right and I was ready to call it quits. Its funny how just the day before I was telling Jon the story of how I'll never climb around rock fall again because of how a previous time on this same climb last year...one year later I can't believe how tempted I still was to climb it...so so so bummed.

With plenty of time still left in the day, Tanya, Jon, Bill and I all did Double Take. It was short but had a nice section of steep soft climbing...my favorite. Then just a short snow machine ride later we were all back at the vehicles, no headlamps necessary. Super fun day out.

Tanya, Bill, Jon and I on Top of Double Take