I know, I know, but it's easier in winter

     So it is easier in winter with colder temps and less daylight to blog.  That being said, since the last post we have been up to more of the same: weekend over-nighters, trying new trails, mountain biking local single-track, trail running, and just now ramping up the packrafting.  Nothing extravagant or super-huge, but it is Alaska so it's still pretty dang scenic.

     I've been making it a point to do new things, even if simple or nearby.  For example, there are a number of excellent trails to run around lower Girdwood including the Beaver Pond trail and the historic Iditarod trail that parallels crow creek mine road: super quiet, soft trail, flow-ey, with trickling waterfalls and streams throughout.  

     I also discovered instagram and have a feed: andy.ress.  This allows me to post my favorite pic of the day without having to write about it because pics are better than words, although seeing in person is even better yet.  

Johnson Pass mountain biking: encountered cowparsnip and it could have been better, but could have been worse.  Wildflowers and views were excellent.  Some hardcore Minnesotan bit it on a slippery downhill, likely separating his shoulder/fracturing ribs but walked out 5+ miles: hard and crusty old guy.  We safely made the whole trip and even found a ride back to the trailhead/car albeit some bumps/bruises/scrapes(ask Sarah what her legs look like).  

Bird Ridge Hill Climb: it's been on the list for awhile, now done.  Close enough to goal for satisfaction but could be improved.  I was ahead of an Olympian for ~35 minutes, obviously that didn't last.

Sarah got a new mountain bike(nicer than mine) so we've been hitting up the single-tracks at Kinkaid and Hillside.

We booked the Crow Pass Cabin(six months ago) for a weekend in July.  It's hard to reserve and had been on the list for some time.  The weather sucked(strong winds/rain/poor visibility) so we bailed after 2 days/1 night.  I was bitter about the lost opportunity to base out of there and bag local peaks, show Sarah the Jewel and Milk glaciers, the money out the window for the last 2 nights, but the rest of the weekend farther west had better weather so we redeemed the weekend.

Redemption: Sarah climbed her 2nd 5000ft peak without planning on it(+some peer pressure), which involved scrambling and exposure, but a great view of the Chugach.  We also Packrafted a creek on my list for some time, and I'd call it a success.

Ran/explored several sections of the national historic iditarod trail which was better than expected with the exception of the Johnson Pass to Eddies turnout due to the lack of bridges.  I saw a bear on the Beaver Pond Trail, a mother/baby moose combo on the Girdwood section of the NHIT.

Climbed Mt Williwaw, the highest in the Front Range and my 2nd attempt due to poor weather on the first.  Only a few more to go, maybe even this summer/fall?  Camped out at Walrus Lakes that night: I highly recommend it.  

Watched the notorious Mt Marathon race (after seeing the film 3220), which involved Killian Jornet and his GF shattering previous records with apparent ease.  

Summer has been great so far and has more to come.  But I still like skiing and winter best.

since it's been awhile....photoblogentry

     So since it's been awhile and the skiing (for me) stopped, here are a few pics from the transitional season:

Lucy-dog. The one and only.

View from the top. Hatcher Pass, Fairangel area

Same

When it's snow like the 1st 3 pics up high, it's like this down low.

Lucy-dog and a Turnagain Pass view.

The goods being got on a low-snow spring.

Girdwood is still pretty cool.

Portage Valley views

Williwaw Lakes trail run

Flattop-2-3-4-Flaketop traverse with (almost formerly) Ptarmigan Tarn in the background

Hidden Lake on a Summer day.

2nd Packraft of the season.

ER Nature center trail run

Far North Bicentennial trail run, STA Gorge Trail

Deep Lake on the Williwaw Lake trail run, end of May

Williwaw Lakes from Deep Lake

Gull Rock Trail views while mountain biking

That largest snowline is ~3000ft of skiable vert, FYI, and worth it.

Kinkaid singletrack mountain biking on my favorite trail(for obvious reasons)

NOT IN AK.  Hollywood Beach, FL, sunrise.

PWS! National Geographic!

Same.

My first time Milking it

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

My first time Milking it

     So the novelty of early-season skiing is wearing off.  With no new snow, Jewel getting old and being tracked-out, Snowbird too far for a day-trip and my motivation to try and ski dwindling, the idea of Milk glacier was proposed.  Milk is another well-known but less frequented early-season ski destination.  I had never been but had been eyeing it from the top of Jewel glacier as well as researching it from others' blogs such as Mr. Finleys' and AK Jacks' for the route/access.  The weather looked promising and my goal for this season is to do more new stuff.  With Hardcore Harvey on-board it was a go.
     I feel so productive this time of year, leaving before sunrise and all (0920).  The views driving up the arm are unique to AK and a sweet sunrise bodes well for a good day to ski.  The Crow Pass trailhead was lonely; a potentially good sign.  Skinning is far superior to hiking and with thin but sufficient snow cover, we skinned all the way to the Barnes-Jewel pass where the rockiness was too intense and we booted it down to the toe of the glacier.
     The Milk glacier scenery is far more dramatic than Jewel glacier, with many large crevasses, decent vertical relief of nearby mountains, excellent sun-exposure/lighting, and views overlooking the Raven glacier and surrounding peaks.  It still amazes me how close such world-class terrain/skiing is so close to home that this is a day-trip.  I was quite impressed and savored the perfect fall ski-day.  As mentioned, there hadn't been snow in some time but there was still very good powder to be had up there.
     We ate lunch, took in the views, lapped the goods a few times and headed out without seeing another soul all day.  The descent was less than pleasant given the thin covering of snow: it's tempting to ski because it covers most rocks, but death to the ski bases from the talus beneath and hiking on that stuff in ski boots is awkward.  We did sustain some damage on the way out, opting for ease and speed over ski base preservation.

Yup.

We reached the pass and the sun crested over the mountains minutes later.  Primo.

View of the Milk glacier from the top of Jewel glacier.

Not bad for lunch-time views.

Can't get this one right-side-up.

October Turns

     A clear day in the forecast and we rallied for an attempt at Jewel glacier just off Crow Pass: a well-known and fairly reliable spot for early-season turns.  With our hot sandwiches for the day and a Dewski from the Carrs' Huffman, we were on our way.  This time of year is great for a number of reasons:
-there is still enough daylight to seem normal
-since I haven't skied in months, the relatively limited conditions are amazing
-re-uniting with people I haven't seen in months
-ski movies are coming out
-temperatures are cooling off
-I can start talking about skiing with my wife

Looking at this pic, you might think we had no idea what we were doing.

     We hiked up in perfect weather.  Although there was less snow on the glacier than I was hoping for, there was enough for it to be totally worth it.  We hiked up the Crow Pass trail in conditions as seen in the pics.  We couldn't skin until the glacier proper.  There was a pair of two ahead of us who attempted to ascend the glacier below the crevasses to the North-Northeast.  We chose an alternative route below a less-crevassed area and later noticed they had decided to turn around and hike all the way back out, without making a single turn.  (What!?) So sad, but we would make turns for them on the un-tracked glacier.

The Crow Pass cabin is down by that lake.  Jewel Glacier is tucked back up a few benches above.

Some super cool rime-y patterns.

     After a brief lunch we skinned up and took a look at the Milk glacier below(tempting for future efforts), ripped skins and began to do what we came for.  The snow had a crusty, wind-buffed surface that could be skied through with relative ease on the powder beneath it.  We did several laps, enjoying the calm and clear skies as well as the success of the early-season outing.  This locale should be sufficient until more substantial snow flies.

Swapping hiking boots for ski boots.  Trade-up what?  That dog ate my sandwich.

Yesssssss

packraft crow pass

     So there are several local floats I had yet to do, sometimes being limited by logistics, starting in one place and finishing in another.  Waiting for it doesn't get it done, so the next time the Crow Pass float opportunity presented itself I pounced, and it paid off.  Crow Pass is about a 23 mile trail connecting Girdwood to Eagle River(ER).  It starts at the end of a mining road, goes up through a valley with an obvious mining history, over a pass with views of high mountain lakes, glaciers, streams, you name it.  It then traverses down to the valley bottom, crossing the gorge a few times before dropping down to the Eagle River, crossing it, paralleling it out to the Eagle River Nature Center.  It can be done in a long day hike, a few-hour run or multi-day hike.  It turns out it(the river) can also be packrafted.
     We took advantage of the incredible fall weather we had been having and started hiking from the Crow Pass Trailhead.  The weather held: sunny, cool, calm.  Less than 1/2 mile from the pass we thought we heard a jet, which was unusual as not many flight patterns go over this area.  Nope, not a jet.  We noticed alders quivering in the windless valley and the rumble was steady.  While scratching our heads about it the whole ground began moving back and forth and we realized it was an earthquake.  My first thought was rockfall.  We were right in the fall-line should anything large break loose.  The sound of all the loose rocks bouncing down the valley walls was both incredible and slightly unnerving.  It continued for some time, the longest one I have felt and the only one in the backcountry.  I wondered if we would come out of the backcountry to civilization in chaos.  It was recorded as a 6.2 with a deep epicenter in nearby Willow, AK.

Down in the valley headed to ER.

     We continued on, taking in the always amazing views on a clear day in Crow Pass.  We saw some sheep up high, moose down low, and some tracks we didn't know for sure but could have been wolverine.  Fall is a great time to hike muddy areas when they freeze over, it was easy-going down to Eagle River's edge.  We gambled with the water level a bit thinking that if it was too low we would just hike the trail out. It was about 3.5ft at the ER bridge at Glenn Hwy and looked low for this far back.  Were it higher we would have hiked upstream a way but we put in right where the trail first sees the river.

The descent to ER.

     The fall colors were in their prime and reached up the valley walls in streaks of yellow and orange and some green hanging on for a super-vibrant effect.  The sun was still high enough to warm the valley bottom despite the tall mountains on either side.  We did a fair amount of butt-dragging and had to walk one 100ft section, but it was do-able and I wouldn't try it any lower.  We saw plenty of sheep and goats, bald eagles including one that was eating a salmon.  The salmon were still running but not looking good.  I had no idea there were so many large waterfalls back there until I saw them from the river.  From the trail they are shrouded by woods or bad angles but from the river their full height and width can be seen much better.
     As the day went on, the sun got lower, the feet and hands got colder.  We had to portage one log-jam lower down, easily seen and avoided.  We stopped and pulled out before Echo Bend rapids and hiked out to the nature center to warm up.  I would definitely recommend this float, especially with slightly higher water, but the pleasant weather and fall colors redeemed that.  We concluded with some beer and food at the ER alehouse.  Another hash on the tally-board of great AK outings.  Can't beat it.

 Photos: Adam Baxter

Notch(yet)

     So out of desperation, lack of time and the need for sun I headed to Girdwood where webcams showed clear skies up high. I needed to get some vertical under my belt so when the snow flies I can enjoy. After all it is already December. I mindlessly decided to tour up to the CPG hut to assess snow conditions: the cat track is not yet skiable but is skin-able. Up high seems to have enough but I turned it at the hut rather than the peak because I was running out of daylight before I could really ski anything. I think up high would ski well it is just etting there. The view was worth it though, rugged snow-streaked peaks popping out of a cloud-blanketed valley, the Gwood glaciers still visible, the alpenglow and sunset over the arm, ahhhh(like the ahhh after sipping a cold one on a hot day). Refreshing. Near the top I could tell I hadn't been skinning much. We will see what the next few days hold.

 

 

The Notch

     So I got the dynafit FT radical bindings last year which do not have the pin to prevent the heelpiece from rotating the wrong way and cracking it, something they fixed for this years'.  Mine cracked but how it went the wrong way I have yet to figure out, my best guess is some squirrely skinning technique.   Fortunately it was covered under warranty so I spent some time sidelined while that was getting fixed.  Timing was decent as snow conditions were far less than impressive and the cross country ski trails were getting groomed so I diversified my skiing by hitting up the trails and resort.
     Binding: fixed.  So naturally we decided to head out with the usual crew and pups.  For whatever reason we elected to check out the Notch which is CPG's cat skiing terrain.  It is a longer skin in by either girdwood xc ski trails or the winner creek trail by the tram.  Either way it meets up with the CPG cat track.  Normally the cat track is groomed but this years' lack of snow left it untouched but for a snowmobile(that's right I'm from the midwest) track half way.  We followed that half way then started breaking trail which wasn't too bad until we neared the split where trees thin and one can go up to A-1 or the notch. 

     The snow was quite a bit deeper from there to the CPG hut and given the snowpack below treeline (no cohesion) it was like a pit of whipped cream.  The dogs were wallowing in it and making slow progress.  It was bitter cold so I volunteered to break trail to warm up.  After checking out the hut, eating some lunch and taking in the view (one of the best I would imagine) we attempted to go the top.

View from the CPG hut.

     Above the treeline the snowpack changed to slightly windblown slabs and/or a thicker cohesive layer resting on old surface hoar layer or further down the depth hoar.  We noticed wide-spread whoompfing, no shooting cracks though.  Between the whoompfing and some other worrisome snowpack observations we elected to turn around sooner without reaching the peak.  The snow was so deep we couldn't get enough speed on the low-angle terrain to ski anything worth-while.  It was a disappointing ski/skin out but a good day with clear, beautiful skies; good company; and time spent in the chugach on skis.