Crow Pass to the Eagle River

It was a glorious morning on top of the pass,and no need to hurry.

 

 

 

A lingering snow patch below the pass

 

We hiked all the way up to the lake, neither of us had been up there before. The toe of the glacier still looked far away. We paddled to the start of the river and were treated to a fantastic ride down. It was cranking, there were some super fun wave trains, then it of course mellows out farther down. We took out below Twin falls, and camped with dreams of Mt. Yukla above us.

 

Glacier Creek and Up to Crow Pass

Ryan came into town for a week, and I was a bit surprised he was ready to head back outside for a float, hike,and camp trip, but I ran with it! He got a new alpacka raft, it looks like an inflatable kayak, its pretty sweet.

Glacier Creek was Cranking

 

Glacier creek was significantly higher than the last time I was there, but it almost made it easier because there weren't as many rocks to avoid. Ryan definitely was in love with his new boat after the first corner. Having a spray deck is pretty nice, he's been roughing it in the old alpacka!

The Put In

 

The float was fast, we were out within the hour. Ryan biked back up to the car while I dried gear in the sun. We still had a good amount of daylight so we headed up to Crow Pass for the night.

 

A Little Exploration in Girdwood

I still had a couple more days off after my McCarthy trip and had planned on doing laundry and being generally lazy, but the weather was good, and even better Kellie was in town and wanted to go play.

We ended up going up the Crow Pass trail a ways, and then crossing the creek and heading up a ridge on that side with the intent of taking the skyline ridge back to the top of the pass and then hit the trail and come back down...It looked very doable from where we were, although we couldn't see the whole route.

Gotta Go Down to Go Up

 

The red tundra, yellow grass, and blue sky made an artful scene. Kellie and I got to do some awesome side hilling, then gained the ridge and headed up.

Brilliant Fall Colors

 

Going Up

 

In the end the part we couldn't see was the part that was the most sketchy and shut us down, but it was still a super fun hike, and a cool glimpse down valleys and up mountains I hadn't seen before.

Nice Ridgeline

 

Note to Self: Go up ridgeline directly across from the creek.

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Paradise Valley Out

I'll never forget the look of pure joy on George Annes face as the sun broke from the clouds and her uninhibited compulsion to lift up her shirt and exclaim with glee something to the effect of, "sun on my titties" Her smile was radiant. She also told me in no uncertain terms that I was not to post that pic on the blog, but I hope she doesn't mind the story, the memory still makes me smile.

Paradise Valley Camp

 

Once the sun went away it seemed time to leave our beautiful campsite in Paradise valley and commense with the unpleasant side hill back to the main crow pass trail.

The Side Hill of Flowery Steepness

 

Crow Pass Cabin

 

Signs of Fall

 

This was a fantastic trip for many reasons, but one of my most favorite was how leisurely we could be and still be active. It was natural to savor our coffee over a couple hours instead of eating breakfast and hitting the trail. Don't get me wrong I can be as motivated and quick to leave, but I also LOVE to be lazy sometimes, especially with good friends is beautiful places.




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Crow Pass to Paradise...Valley that is...

George Anne and I weren't really sure where we were going until we actually got in the car. With all the crappy rain we were unsure of where had the most potential to be dry. In the end we decided the state was covered in clouds and we weren't going to drive more than 2 hours north or south. George Anne said she had a good feeling about Girdwood and we were sick of waffling, so we settled on Crow Pass, with intentions of doing great things, or staying in the hut and drinking crown royal.

George Anne and I

 

Checking out the Waterfall Canyon

 

We made it to the cabin having salutary libations while we enjoyed scenic vistas, and might have stayed there if there wasn't already a euro occupation and because we were having a great time enjoying the "vista" stops.

The first time I hiked crow pass was 15 years ago, and I've probably done it 20 times since, but this was the first time I was shocked at how scrawny the toe of the glacier had become.

The Toe of the Raven Glacier

 

The side hill traverse to gain Paradise valley epitomized all I hate about side hilling, but it was thankfully relatively short. Paradise valley is aptly named, the views were impressive and the lichen padded flat tundra next to the babbling brook added comfort and ambiance.

George Anne Heading up Clear Creek

 

We made camp, ate dinner and went to sleep with thoughts of the bear we had just seen crossing the slope below us.

Enjoy the slide show!

The Longest "Run" Ever: Crow Pass

I've wanted to run crow pass for what feels like years. Every summer I intend to do the race, then for a multitude of reasons, never do. I don't have many friends that are willing to go for jaunts like this. So when Lynn said she would be up for it, I was super psyched! I feel like these are the last days in the mountains before I switch back to skis and mountaineering boots.

I started out gung ho, but after the 4th switchback was feeling some insane burn in my calves. We weren't racing, so I didn't feel the need to push past the pain, I wanted to enjoy the sunny day. We alternated walking the steeper bits and running what we could. We got to the cabin at the top of the pass in 53 minutes, the race disqualifies you if you take longer than an hour. I was psyched that we would have made the first cut off even with walking.

Lynn Heading up to the Pass

 

The snow is pretty low down on the Girdwood side of the pass. It definitely slowed us down a bit, but there was no post holing mania, which I was anticipating with dread.

Beautiful White Snow

 

I think my favorite part of crow pass is at the top of the pass by raven glacier. The views in both directions are amazing.

Me and Lynn

 

The trail is kinda sloppy from Raven gorge along the mountainside till you drop down to the Eagle River. There was a lot of deep, squishy, shoe sucking mud with roots and rocks sprinkled about.

Eagle Glacier with Fall Colors

 

All in all it took us one minute under 7 hours, and was thoroughly enjoyable the whole way. We were slow where we needed to be, took lots of pictures, and wrung our socks out after the river crossing. I'd like to train for it and do the race at some point in the future, but its also nice to just have a leisurely day in the mountains....plus this was the longest run I've ever done!