Mountain Life

The rest day was a blessing in disguise; we were both more tired and sore than we let on to each other the day before.  Some planning and contemplating our options led us to Mt. Crosson (12,800’) and the SE Ridge.  It seemed moderate but challenging and well within our time frame, even if we lost a day or two to bad weather.

We awoke to another beautiful day in the Alaska Range and quickly broke camp and packed the sleds.  We decided to not cache any food and take it all so we would have options if the weather changed.  The plan was to cross the Kahiltna and negotiate the icefall under Mt. Crosson’s southeast ridge, our intended route up.  Once through, we would cache extra food and gear at the 7100’ icefall camp and head up the south facing couloir to set camp at 8500’ on the ridge proper.  We rigged up, packed up and got moving.  The route across the glacier was well wanded by a previous party and we made good time negotiating the large crevasses and icefall.  We crossed the 3 miles and sat enjoying the sunshine at the icefall camp by 11:30 that morning. Read the remainder of this entry »

So I landed in the Alaska Range on May 1st with wide eyes and even bigger ambitions.  Ten years away had dulled my memories and rusted my skills and here I stood in mountains that were far bigger than I remembered with skills that had once been automatic now causing me to step back and think for a few minutes about what I needed to do next.  My partner on this little adventure was experiencing her first true mountaineering trip combined with a first taste of the Alaska Range and had more drive, ability and strength than experience.  So you combine one fat, old, rusty climber (me) with one green, fit, driven climber for an attempt to possibly ski one of the hardest mountains in the world and you get the perfect recipe for an awesome adventure right?  Well Luckily as I get older I get a little wiser and my gut feeling seems able to steer me into more conservative decisions in the mountains than I might have made when I was younger and a little less fat… Read the remainder of this entry »

Quick teaser pic of the report to come.  Awesome trip all around…mind has become focused on the desert….

JMH

Back in Girdwood sorting gear and checking my list twice getting ready to head for Talkeetna and beyond to the Alaska Range…Finally some big mountains haha!  Last few days mostly spent in and around Seward at the Shady Lane cabin – a wonderful place if you have the right connections – a little exploring around the area but mostly being lazy and just hanging out.  We got the behind the scenes tour at the Alaska Sea Life Center from my Aunt and Uncle which was very cool to see how the place runs and how they train the sea lions.  Spent way too much time watching Woody, the 900 kg male sea lion, gracefully maneuver around his pool showing off for the ladies as mating season approaches… A short hike out to Tonsina Point in the rain after a failed attempt to get to the Exit Glacier – despite the NPS web info, the road is actually closed – very cool to walk around the beach out there at low tide.  More Eagle encounters out there as well! Read the remainder of this entry »