Gold Mint to Snowbird Glacier

It was a beautiful hot sunny day as Kellie and I hiked down the Gold Mint trail.  We were in leisure mode and took advantage of scenic vistas to absorb the sun and of course chat.

Kellie Heading Down the Gold Mint Trail

 

Getting Up Higher

 

We sat up at Backdoor Gap for at least an hour just soaking up the steep walls, blue lakes and anemic glaciers.  When it was time we headed over and down the Penny Royal glacier to the valley below.  I have done a few variations in this area, but this was by far the easiest travel I have ever encountered, I think this is the way the Bomber Traverse is meant to be done.

 

 

Kellie and I soaked up the comforts of the cozy Snow Bird Hut, drank wine, watched a beautiful sunset and then were ready for bed.

The weather had turned to pea soup by morning and we packed up our stuff and headed out.

 

The sun came in and out on our way down, it looked like we were going to descend into The Nar, but instead the clouds kept parting and the sun stayed on us.

An awesome trip with fantastic company.

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Snow Bird to Bomber to Reed Lakes

I woke up to a blue bird day and decided to check out the valley that the Bomber and Pennyroyal glaciers terminate in. I dropped straight off the back off the moraine down to the alpine lake, it was steep and probably not the easiest way down.  Beautiful Alpine Lake

I picked my way down through the cliffs and moraine trending toward the right, I passed a small unnamed valley and then headed up the wider second valley.  The walking was good through tundra and scrub brush.  I saw more bear scat than all my trips up to Hatcher Pass combined. Heading Down to the second valley on the right

I debated going out the Gold Mint trail or heading up and over Bomber pass to the Reed lakes trail all the way up the valley, but as the clouds started to build my decision was made.  I've never walked up the toe of the Bomber glacier, coming up the moraine I could picture how massive it once was, but now its little more than a ramp of ice, I didn't see any crevasses. On the Bomber

The first time I was on the Bomber glacier was 1997, and I've walked past the plane many times and decided to skip it this trip and headed up to the pass.  Looking down on Upper Reed Lake

Dropping off Bomber pass down to the Upper Reed lakes is probably one of the more unpleasant steep boulder fields I've been on, but the Reed Lakes trail is pretty awesome. D.16.3:EG:5850

The Snow Bird Hut

Raina was psyched to get out for the day with me to go check out the new Snow Bird hut.  I packed to stay the night since I had a couple days off.

It was a beautiful hike up the valley toward the glacier, there is a pretty nice "trail" that has cairns in quite a few places.

Raina coming down the pass onto the Snow Bird glacier

Looking down Bartolf creek toward the Kashwitna River

I have decided the Snow Bird hut is my new favorite place to be.  I could sit up there for hours and just look at the mountains.  Its also going to be a sweet base for early season skiing!!!

The new Snow Bird Hut

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The Bomber Traverse

Betsy, George Anne and I were all super psyched to head out of Anchorage and into Hatcher Pass to do the Bomber Traverse. It was nice and crisp as we made our way down the Mint valley. I was surprised at how brown it was up there, on Pioneer Peak everything was still golden yellows, reds, and oranges...it was lovely...It was still lovely up there, just a shade closer to winter.. : )

The Mountaineering Club of Alaska has done a lot of work on the Mint Hut and even put in a composting toilet...its pretty luxurious really...and the views are awesome.

The Mint Hut

 

From the Mint Hut we headed up valley and then were in the boulder fields. I love how many big rocks there are up there. Its so fun to kind of hop, slide, and dance my way through them, sometimes big ones move...but it keeps the walking interesting.

George Anne in Rock Land

 

Crossing the First Glacier

 

Unexpected Crevasses Sightings

 

The Upper Reed Lake

 

Slide Show!

The Bomber Traverse

Ry and I started down the Gold Mint Trail a little before noon, on a amazing blue bird day. All the way down the trail I marveled at how dry the bushes were, and how nice it was not to be soaked....the memories from the day David and I had a few weeks ago felt fresh in my mind....

The colors are pretty prime out in the alpine right now....and so are the blueberries!

Ry Hiking along the Little Susitna River

 

As we started to climb above the valley floor, glaciers began appearing tucked away on the tops of the high peaks all around us. We went behind the Mint hut and there is a very obvious path of weakness that leads up to the pass. An indescribably beautiful area on a sunny day.

A Panoramic View of the Mint Glacier Area

 

At the top of the Pass we descended a few hundred feet down to an unnamed glacier, traversed over the glacier through the snow to a pass that looked down onto the Bomber Glacier. From there it was a quick descent down amazingly crumbly steep terrain, and then onto the snow covered Bomber glacier.

The Bomber Plane

 

Its a little bizarre to see an old bomber plane wrecked up on the glacier. Wires lay exposed on the ice, and the tires rolled down the slope and look like round rocks on the ice.

Ryan in a Massive Morraine Field

 

From the Bomber glacier we went up and over another short pass and were then above the Upper Reed Lake. As I looked down the 2,000ft plus morraine field I was again so thankful that it wasn't raining.

Overall a beautiful day and a thoroughly worthy hike. I would guess that its about 15-18 miles long, with about a 5,000 foot gain throughout the day. It took us 11 hours, but we spent about 3 hours chilling in the sun at various points....its way to beautiful to not take time to look around!