Recon of Arctic Valley

I didn't get done with work and school stuff till 2pm on Saturday, and Ry was at home studying all day, so when I walked in the door, he was like, "lets go skiing!" The obvious place is Arctic Valley, or the rest of the front range, but we have a favorite couloir that is north facing and tends to get filled in. So away we went.

Ryan Skinning up the Valley to Gordon Lyon

 

There was obviously not enough snow up there, our usual path was nothing but bushes. Ryan was his usual optimistic self, "this is awesome, its going to be great up there" as we skinned over grass, wind slab, and breakable crust, the mountains around us scoured by the wind. "uh huh, I think the snow is going to be shitty" I keep repeating. But nonetheless we did agree that it was a beautiful day and that it was worth the excercise.

Our Favorite Grass Skinning

 

We got to the top and looked over the edge with great anticipation...it was filled in....at least for 300 feet. Two thirds of the run looked bare. Ryan was still game, "its going to be sick powder", I threw a rock over the edge, and it sank, the third one made its entrance through an obviously crusty layer.

Our Shadows

 

Unfortunately it wasn't fluffy powder, but variable breakable crust. Out of all the possibilities for snow to lay, this is my least favorite. Ry turned and tumbled, rolled, and made another turn. "Its kinda shitty down here" he says. "Yeah I'm definitely not going down that" I say. "I don't want to go down either" he says. "Come back up" I say. And thats how the day went.

Ryan Skiing

 

Its snowing right now though, and when its good up there, its so worth it. Super fun lines.

Its That Time Again!!

Its been so clear and cold the last two weeks, that I couldn't imagine ice not being in. So Ryan and I went to Eklutna Canyon on Friday to suss things out.

Mad Dog was in its usual anemic form, and we dropped a top rope down and gave it a few goes. We weren't sure what was ahead.

Ryan Rappelling Down Mad Dog

 

We climbed back out of Mad Dog and continued down the high trail to the secret fork. The mini river was flowing fast with no ice bridges, but theres that huge tree that hangs over the river. I was too paranoid to walk across it, so Ry and I got down and straddled it. Very effective!

The Butt Scoot Method

 

The river after the split in the canyon was great. We crossed it back and forth, and didn't get our feet wet once. Champipple was pretty non existant, TJ Swann was formed at the bottom, but not the top, which is different than the last few years, but Ripple made up for them all. Comparitively to what else is in the Canyon right now its huge, thick, and still grade 3. I love Ripple, its my favorite early season warm up.

Me on Ripple

 

After we finished ripple we went to look at Boones Farm and Annie, Boones, was in, its just not a very fun climb, and there was not a single icicle on Annie...totally non existent.

Ryan Rappelling Ripple

 

Shut Down

It was dark when I woke up on Saturday morning, and only the thought of climbing some ice motivated me to get out of my big, warm bed....its been months since I have swung my tools, placed a screw, or flaked out my ropes. After many cups of coffee, Lynn and I headed out to the Glen Alps parking lot, with the hopes of climbing O'Malley Falls.

Little did we know that as soon as we left the safety of the trees the wind would smack us down and make us cry for face masks and goggles.

Self Portrait with Lynn in the Background

 

We took our approach skis and wore our mountaineering boots. On the beautifully flat, groomed snow, I felt like a skier....as soon as I entered the land of tundra bumps, rocks, and a trail I couldn't pizza pie on, I started having spectacular wipe outs. At one point I got turtled, rolled around this way and that,but couldn't stand up to save my life, until I took my pack off...I think Lynn really enjoyed the show, because usually she's eating shit on skis, and I'm laughing. So eventually we both ditched our skis and continued down the valley.

Stormy Day

 

The farther we headed back the worse the weather and trail got. It started snowing, and kept blowing harder, and gusting even harder. Our faces started freezing, eyes squinting, and of course the trail disappeared underneath wind drifts...but we kept going....Lynn and I have the knack for enduring ridiculous conditions together...I think most people would have the good sense to turn around, but somehow our enthusiasm powers us through horrible terrain.

The Moment of Clarity

 

About three hours into our approach to the falls we started stopping, turning our backs to the wind, to give our faces a break, and started questioning the worthiness of our objective. In the end it was deemed not worthy enough for the suffering involved. With face masks and goggles it would have been much more pleasant, and next time it will be in my arsenal.

Skiing with the Big Boys

Ryan, Zach, Mike, Hugh and I had a fantastic day of early season powder skiing. It wasn't easy keeping up with such a fine group of fit men, but the view from behind wasn't bad...until they were out of site : ) ! Its not often that I go out with all boys, not that I mind, its just that I am lucky to know cool chicks who like to rally outside too.

I didn't hit one rock all day...it was wonderful. The hoar frost is building into a fine feathery layer that makes a beautiful tinkling sound when you ski through it...its music.

Hugh Crossing a Homemade Bridge

 

Ryan and Hugh Looking Down the Run

 

Me after the Run

 

If you look close at this picture of beautiful lines, there is a small slab slide that went to the ground...

Beautiful Powder Lines

 

A Bluebird Day at April Bowl

The skiing at Hatcher Pass is shaping up into fantastically fluffy lines. Although it doesn't look like there is enough snow, there actually is. We made four runs, and I only hit one rock all day. A huge improvement!!!

Ryan and Mike on the Ridge Above April Bowl

 

Wind Scour on Ridge

 

I Like The Textures

 

Ryan Heading Up

 

The Lane Glacier

Although there is new snow on the ground today, last Saturday the "front range" mountains were wind abused, with only pathetic strips of snow left. Ryan of course only wants to ski..."what else could we possibly do right now", and Saturday is our one day to play together right now...so I took one for the team, and ventured back out to Hatcher Pass to assess the damage. We drove up toward the upper parking area past wind scoured slopes, and looked up at our "run" out if we went to April Bowl...dismal....the road had snow...but I didn't want to ski that. So we turned around and decided to try the Lane glacier. All the way down Archangel valley road Ryan muttered obscenities about lack of road maintainence, as we bucked in and out of car swallowing pot holes....I kinda like the road, especially when I'm not in my car.

Ryan Heading toward the Lane Hut

 

The sun came out for about 15 minutes and it was amazing, Ryan and I sat down, ate snacks and reveled in the Vit D.

Ry and I

 

Its a really long approach to the Lane Glacier, it just keeps going and going, with some really festive moves on skis in the boulder fields...keeps things interesting.

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Ryan had his camera with him...which is pretty unusual...I skied with my bike helmet, because I don't like the way my ski helmet fits, something is better than nothing right?

 

First Day of the Ski Season

Last weekend Ry, Lynn and I drove up a very dry road to Hatcher Pass. I was feeling pretty skeptical of the snow, and after skiing over a few hundred rocks, it was justified. Still a great day out, plus Lynn is starting to make the transition to skis which is very exciting!

Ry and Lynn Heading up to the Pass

 

 

Lynn Skiing!!

 

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!

Peters Creek to Eagle River

Ryan and I met up with Hugh and Aimee bright and early Saturday morning (at least for us!). The whole drive out Ry and I were kicking ourselves for not going skiing instead, I can't believe how much snow had fallen in the mountains....all of a sudden my crappy,holey, summer running shoes felt inadequate for the day ahead...but I usually take the optimistic approach and assured myself it could not be more than 6 inches deep, and Ryan and Hugh could break trail for me too.

We parked at the Big Peters creek trail head and were cruising down the wide awesome trail. Which of course after about 7 miles turned into the narrow, muddy, bushy, slippery trail. About this point Ry's ankle started acting up and he opted to turn around. I always wonder when someone tells you to keep going and they can make it back on their own and you should go ahead, if they really mean it...I really wanted to keep going, way more than I wanted to come back the way I already had been. So I went, then felt intermittently guilty throughout the day about letting Ry walk back by himself....but the farther I got, the less I wanted to turn around.

Hugh approaching Mount Rumble

 

We walked a really long way back in the valley before we saw Peeking, and the valley we thought we wanted to go up.

Aimee starting to gain elevation above the valley

 

We ran into snow at about 3,500 feet, and it just got a little deeper the higher we went. The mountains back here are amazing. Huge steep lines, it looks like winter up there.

Aimee heading up the backside of Peeking toward Raina Peak

 

We were super lucky with the weather....if we had been a half hour later up there we wouldn't have been able to see the pass that we needed to cross. It was a lot higher than we had all thought, about 6,200 ft, pretty much right below the summit of Mt. Raina. The clouds and snow were thick as we made our way down into Ram Valley.

Hugh and Aimee heading down into Ram Valley

 

Hugh lives at the very end of Eagle River Road, so we climbed out of Ram Valley and took a super steep, slippery, trail that went straight down to the road. We dropped the remainder of our elevation in the steady rain, and fading light, it really was good timing! And ended up back at Hugh's front door.

Lost Lake

All summer Lynn, Tonya, and I have talked about running Lost Lake. Finally last week the day came.

Lynn's Action Photo's

 

Tonya, the non runner of us three, did awesome! And she was worried! Both me and Lynn giggled that she looked like the ultra runner among us, with her biceps bulging and zero body fat.

 

The Top of the Lost Lake Trail

 

It took us 3 hours and we got to chat and pick some yellow salmon berries. Great day out! After the run, we easily picked up a ride with a Seward Local, and headed back to town.

 

Kasugi Ridge

Kasugi Ridge has been on my "must do" wish list for a long time. Since Kellie and I were in the area, and we woke up to a blue bird day, the stars seemed to be in alignment for us. We started at Little Coal Creek and ended at Byers lake 27.5 half miles later. We did it as a day hike in about 12 hours. Stellar walk through the mountains, but I was surprised at how un-ridge like it was.

Lounging in the Sun in Front of the Alaska Range

 

Denali

 

Flying Saucer Clouds and Rock

 

The trail varied from plateau walking to ridges with a long descent to a valley and then back to the "ridge". This is a long and beautiful walk.