tobyventures

A Traverse of Chugach State Park

2011-09-05T13:47:00.009-08:00

Back in 2004, reading the Anchorage Daily News, I came across an article by Jim Saylor, writing about his third and final successful traverse of Chugach State Park. I was inspired by the idea of crossing a 100 miles of Anchorage's backyard wilderness in one push between Knik and Turnagain Arm. I saved the news clipping for later. To my knowledge (let me know if I am wrong), the only other party that undertook this traverse are the Quintessential Runners with Rob DeVelice who did it in 2006, also going north to south like Saylor in 2004. Contrary to Saylor and DeVelice, I planned a route from the South end to the North end, leaving bushwhack sections to the downhills (Camp Creek to Raven Creek, Benign Pass to Eklutna) and maximizing the use of trails (Indian Pass trail, Crow Pass trail, Ram Valley trail, Eklutna Lake trail, Bold Valley trail, Pioneer Peak trail).

This spring, I came across the news clipping again. Darcy's knee improved considerably over the last two years due to a diligent yoga routine. It was time to take on this trip. Due to the weekend warrior dilemma and other trip plans we cut the traverse into two weekends. As soon as we thought the snow was mostly gone, we were joined by Hannah and Kevin, and James and Parke for the first section on June 11/12. For the second part on August 27/28, Darcy and I went on our own.

PART 1: Indian Valley to Eagle River Nature Center - 33miles 8,500ft 2 days (24h)
We used the Indian Pass trail and then went NE to cross two low passes west of Tail Feather Peak cutting across a beautiful bowl below the rugged summit. From there we entered the upper North Fork of Ship Creek, followed a bear trail on the north side of the creek with some knee high brush but no bush whacking. After camping below Grizzly Bear Lake and a visit by a wolverine we post-holed across Moraine Pass into the Camp Creek drainage, crossing Raven Creek on logs above the gorge to finish at the Nature Center via the Crow Pass Trail.

Besides video and map below, see Darcy's blog for pictures.

PART 2: Ram Valley to Pioneer Peak - 31miles 14,400ft 2 days (23h)
We were never fully sure if the planned route would work out, but after a day of rain and wind and one day of pure sun shine we were granted to finish the traverse with spectacular views of the high Chugach, including Mount Marcus Baker and Mount Goode. From Ram Valley we crossed Bombardment Pass, went around Mount Rumble's west side and across another pass west of Benign Peak into the Eklutna drainage. From there we hiked along Eklutna Lake up Bold Valley and across a couple ridges to the Pioneer Peak trail to finish at the trailhead on the Old Glen Highway. Special Thanks goes to Kevin and Hannah who left us their car at the trailhead including some well appreciated home brew. Also thanks to Mary and Todd for keeping an eye on safe returns to home.

Visit Darcy's blog for some additional pictures besides the video and map below.

Dnigi Loop

2011-08-25T17:56:00.005-08:00

It's our first anniversary so Darcy and I thought we give the Dnigi Hut a try. Dnigi is Athabascan for moose. The cabin is located in Moose Creek thus the name. The Mountaineering Club of Alaska maintains the hut and use is exclusively for members. You can sign up here. It's about 13 miles from the Little Su valley trailhead via the Mint Hut, Mint Glacier and Grizzly Bear Pass. It's one of the most beautiful huts of the MCA huts in the Talkeetnas, we thought. The glacier crossing is easy without any major crevasses. There are quite a few boulder fields to cross. It took us 7.5 h to do the hike in. On the return, we went down Moose Creek and crossed over a steep scrambly pass south of Nevada Peak at 61d 48.465N 149d 2.503W. We met up with the Mint Hut trail at mile 4. Without detours, the return would have been 12 miles, less elevation and 6.5 h long.

Special thanks to Darcy who secretly carried in a bottle of the finest champagne, given to us as an anniversary present by Patty and Kevin. It didn't even have any effects the next morning and was sure a wonderful addition to the experience.

Unseren ersten Hochzeitstag feierten wir auf der Dnigi Hütte in den Talkeetna Mountains. Dnigi ist Athabaskanisch und steht für Elch. Die Hütte liegt in einem bezaubernden Tal, dem Moose Creek umrahmt von Gletschern und steilen Bergspitzen. Es sind etwa 21km bis zur Selbstversorgerhütte die vom Alaskanischen Bergverein betrieben wird und für Mitglieder des Vereins benutzt wird. Darcy brachte eine geheime Falsche Champagne mit die wir feierlich köpften.

Honolulu Creek

2011-08-18T06:51:00.002-08:00

Mid August Brad Meiklejohn and I went to Honolulu Creek. The Honolulu is a clear stream in the Northern Talkeetna Mountains, and one of the most beautiful and challenging rivers to packraft in Southcentral Alaska. With Brad's local knowledge there was no bush whacking and little route finding despite the low cloud ceiling. The very scenic hike starts at an ATV trail north of the Hurricane Bridge and goes across tundra plateaus with views of the Alaska Range and granite walls of the Talkeetnas. Framed by rugged peaks, we camped at Goat Lake below Honolulu Pass and the next morning put in where a small creek draining Goat Lake joins the Honolulu. The 12 mile paddle feels like Canyon Creek on steroids with many drops and blind corners and small eddies. Especially the first 4 miles of the "upper" canyon, is a solid class IV paddle, followed by 4 miles of class III with the occasional class IV drop. After the put in we paddled for about 15 min then portaged a 9 footer with a narrow slot, probably a class V drop.
Not gauged it is difficult to check whether the 175 mile drive from Anchorage on the Parks Highway is worth it. Once on the bridge crossing the creek, visually check two large boulders on looker's right upriver. If the water touches the bottom of the boulders there is probably approximately 400 cfs of water to float on, enough for the canyon sections and a bit boney for the last 4 miles of rocky boulder gardens. Special Thanks to Brad for suggesting this awesome run. For additional info see Roman's blog.

Aniakchak

2011-08-09T08:04:00.011-08:00

The world of the Aniakchak Caldera in southwest Alaska is one of immediate fascination. Over the last 3500 years, more than 40 different eruptions occurred. The caldera formed when the summit of a 7000ft mountain collapsed in a massive eruption, one of the largest in recent geologic time, larger than the eruption of Novarupta. The first white explorers described it as a moon crater in the early 20th century shortly after its most recent eruption in 1931. The caldera covers more than 30 square miles, with a diameter of 7 miles and with a 21 mile long circumference rim. A section of the 3000ft tall rim wall collapsed about 500 years ago creating what's nowadays known as The Gates and giving way to an enormous flood event forming the Aniakchak River. But not only the geology is superlative, equally fascinating is how well nature recovered from the event. The Aniakchak River offers solid class 3 whitewater, sockeye salmon, and hiking opportunities on golf course like tundra. All that and 15 of my friends made this packrafting trip special and one that I may want to repeat. Following the foot steps of Hig and Erin's (groundtruthtrekking) we hiked into the caldera from Port Heiden (daily air service with PenAir) then paddled the funnest parts of the Aniakchak River, and hiked to Kajulik Bay on the Pacific Ocean from where we followed the coast to Chignik Lagoon (daily air service with PenAir).

Estey and Brook hiking "golf course" tundra above Port Heiden.

Estey, Brook, Brad, and JT hiking in the caldera towards Surprise Lake.

An alien landscape formed by moss growing on lava from the most recent eruption in 1931 and the mist from a rainy day.
When the clouds lift the alien landscape can turn into a remarkably lush environment.
This campsite on the SW shore of Surprise Lake offers some protection from the horrendous winds known to have caused complete loss of tents.
This half mile long section of white water is called The Gates and is the first fun to be had on the Aniakchak River. This rapid is easily portaged on the west side of the river. This section of river is probably a 3 plus. We ran it at approximately 600cfs, medium to high flow.
Sockeye for dinner
After The Gates, there are two small canyon sections where the gradient steepens. Two miles above where Hidden Creek joins and in the vicinity of Hidden Creek. Below Hidden Creek, the river gets more flat water (see above). Until Hidden Creek I would rate the river to be a solid class 3 with two to three sections of class 3 plus.
In the vicinity of Albert Johnson Creek, we headed straight south towards the Pacific. The hiking was great especially on some of the super highways created by bears. By the way, we saw more than 20 bears in seven days. The bears dictate your travel across this beautiful landscape.
The hiking in Kajulik Bay at low tide was superb.

Putting in for a paddle along the coast

Evening sun illuminating packrafts and purse seine fishing boats in Chignik LagoonHiking in red (75 miles total), paddling in blue (25 miles total), seven camp sites in yellow

Luc Mehl and Roman Dial also made some nice videos of the trip.
See below or check out Luc's and Roman's blogs:

Black Rapids Glacier

2011-05-08T22:56:00.019-08:00

At the end of April Tory and I had originally planned to ski in the Northern Chugach Range but changed plans due to weather. Tory suggested to go into the Eastern Alaska Range where he had long spotted some great "lines". We were fortunate to have great weather there and a foot of new snow which made skiing above 4000ft amazingly good. We crossed the Delta River with sleds and about 100lbs each. The going was tough along the southern side of the glacier tongue or what's left of it. Just to do three miles took us almost all day. We then returned to the highway via Augustana Creek eleven days later.

Tory und ich hatten eine zweiwöchige Skitour in der Chugach Range für Ende April geplant doch wegen schlechtem Wetter gingen wir in die östliche Alaska Range, wo Tory schon lange einige Abfahrten gesichtet hatte. Wir hatten dort bestes Wetter und ideale Schneebedingungen mit Pulverschnee über 1000m Höhe. Wir überquerten den Delta River bei Black Rapids und gingen entlang der Gletscherzunge. Die Moränenlandschaft ist nur mit viel Mühe zu durchqueren, demnach sind wir über den Augustana Creek zum Highway zurückgekehrt.

Tory on the summit ridge to reach Peak 7265.

Tory flying a kite on the upper Black Rapids Glacier (above the land slide area) where smooth surface and good wind made for ideal kiting. The peak in the background is Peak 7220 where we skied the visible NW face the day before.

Tory skiing from the "true" summit of Peak 7265 to hit it's north face. In the background, debris of the 2002 land slide that occurred on this peak and covered the entire lower part of the Black Rapids Glacier which since then the glaciers of side valleys have transformed into a moraine moonscape. Note, USGS maps show an elevation of 7265 feet on this peak's West end whereas the higher "true" summit where we skied from is to the East of that point and according to my GPS 7286ft high.

Tory skinning up to the summit of Peak 6750, where we skied an amazing 8 mile loop hitting three North facing couloirs.

Me skiing a line off of the Northeast Ridge of Peak 6350.

View up the Black Rapids Glacier's moraine chaos originating from the

2002 earthquake that caused a large land slide.

Tory enjoying the view from the top of a couloir on Peak 7650's western ridge.

Tory skinning up a couloir on James Peak

Tory on James Peak's West Ridge. In the background to the right the Augustana Glacier.

View up North from the summit of Peak 7265 or what we measured Peak 7286. The three prominent peaks in the background are Mount Shand, Mount Moffit, and Mount McGinnis. Mount Hayes is the white peak in the distance on the left.

Map: blue track is travel in between the four camps, red track are ski mountaineering/ski kiting day trips

Eklutna Traverse

2011-04-10T20:08:00.004-08:00

The second Saturday in April, Darcy and I woke up to a beautiful day. It was a good weekend for the Eklutna Traverse, a 30 mile ski trip from Girdwood to Eklutna over icefields. We packed up and caught a ride to the rim of Girdwood Valley thanks to Keith and Deb Essex at Alpine Air. Over the next four hours, we skied down the Eagle Glacier and up the Whiteout Glacier to Hans' Hut, a small A-frame mountaineering hut with one of the best views in the world. We hadn't seen anyone all afternoon, but met John and Nick, skiers from Kodiak, who were heading in the opposite direction. The next day, we skied across the Whiteout and Eklutna Glaciers. Coming off the glacier, we had predominately exposed ice due to recent wind and a low snow year. Thanks to crampons borrowed from John, and an ice screw we came off the glacier fairly easily. What a place we live in. We were able to pull off this trip with about an hour of packing, and a 30 min drive to Girdwood. We skied 30 miles in pure sunshine in a godly place, got a good night sleep, and met terrific friends, Tara and Parke, at the end who picked us up at Eklutna, 25 hours later. Also see Darcy's blog entry.

Am zweiten Samstag im April, sind Darcy und ich zu einem wunderschönen Tag aufgewacht. Es war ein gutes Wochenende für die Eklutna Traverse, einer 44km langen Gletscherüberquerung von Girdwood zum Eklutna Lake. Mit Hilfe von Keith Essex von Alpine Air gelangten wir mit Hubschrauber an den Eagle Gletscher von wo wir auf Ski in vier Stunden zu einer Skihütte liefen. Dort angekommen trafen wir zwei Tourengeher aus Kodiak die in der entgegengesetzten Richtung unterwegs waren. Am nächsten Tag, ging es über den Whiteout und Eklutna Gletscher in Richtung Eklutna Lake. Der Eklutna Gletscher hat unterhalb von Pichler's Pirch ein paar Spalten und der Abstieg wurde dort auch etwas trickreich. Gut dass ich eine Eisschraube mitgebracht hatte von der wir uns abseilten. Was für ein Wochenende. Wir hatten uns kurzerhand für die Traverse entschieden, hatten innerhalb einer Stunde gepackt, waren in einer halben Stunde in Girdwood, sind 44km mit Panorama skigewandert, und wurden am Ende von unseren Freunden Parke und Tara abgeholt, und das alles in 25 Stunden.
Siehe auch Darcy's blog Bericht.

South Fork Eagle River

2011-04-07T20:27:00.007-08:00

There was still now new snow in the mountains around Anchorage at the beginning of April, so Darcy and I decided to ski to Eagle Lake at the base of Eagle Peak in the Chugach. The 14 miles round trip took us five hours on pretty firm wind packed snow.

Es war Anfang April und es gab immernoch keinen neuen Schnee in den Bergen um Anchorage herum und so entschieden wir uns eine Skitour zum Eagle Lake am Fusse des Eagle Peaks zu machen. Die 14 Meilen (22km) konnten wir bei windgepresstem Schnee in fünf Stunden hinterlegen.

Eagle Lake Ski Tour from Tobias Schwoerer on Vimeo.

Indian to Ship and back

2011-03-28T07:32:00.007-08:00

Darcy and I went from Indian to the North Fork of Ship Creek with the intention of making it to Ewe Valley. The recent warm weather and sunshine made for great ski touring but increasingly, the faceted snow turns into an isothermal snowpack.

Indian to Ship Creek Ski Tour from Tobias Schwoerer on Vimeo.

Mount Sanford

2011-03-20T21:31:00.005-08:00

Recently, Luc Mehl and Erica Madison invited me to come along skiing Mount Sanford. We used snowmachines to get to the base and then continued the next day on skis to make camp at 11,300ft on the north ramp of Sanford. The following day Luc and I went to the summit and back to high camp to pick up Erica who recovered there from the "flu" which turned out to be a bit of altitude sickness. We then skied back down to the snowmachines which turned out to be a 12,370ft descent. Thanks to Luc and Erica for great company and for organizing this awesome trip. Also special thanks to Erica's dad and David for lending us their snowmachines. Below is Luc's video from the trip.

Katmai

2010-08-10T21:39:00.017-08:00

This summer my brother came to visit us. We wanted to do a trip together and Katmai was high on the list to watch bears at Brooks Camp and to explore the Valley of Tenthousand Smokes (VTTS). VTTS is a valley that was filled with ash in 1912 after the largest volcanic eruption by volume (13 cubic km) of the 20th century.
-
Diesen Sommer hat uns mein Bruder Stefan besucht und natürlich wollten wir zusammen eine Tour unternehmen. Es ging in den Katmai Nationalpark um in Brooks Camp Bären zu beobachten und im Valley of Tenthousand Smokes (VTTS) zu wandern. Das VTTS ist ein Tal das 1912 durch den größten Vulkanausbruch des 20. Jahrhunderts mit 13 Kubikkilomtern Asche gefüllt wurde. Nach dem Ausbruch hatten sich tausende von Fumarolen (Rauchquellen) gebildet, die durch den Entdecker Robert Griggs dem Tal den heutigen Namen gaben.

Ted the bear fishing for salmon in a whirlpool. Photo by Stefan Schwörer
-
Ted, der Bär fischt für Lachs in einem Whirlpool.

The Valley of Tenthousand Smokes

On the way to the USGS research hut which served as our base camp we had to cross the Lethe River. A couple days before, a German hiker died while crossing the treacherous rivers of the valley. Rivers are deep and and somewhat unpredictable due to the unstable ash that they cut their deep trenches through. The crossing shown above is generally known as an "easy jump",
a good way to cross the Lethe we found. We also thought that taking a throw rope as used in whitewater rescue may be a good idea for the river crossings.
-
Auf unserem Weg zur USGS Forschungshütte, die für ein paar Tage unser basecamp sein wird, mussten wir den Lethe River überqueren. Ein paar Tage zuvor war ein Landsmann beim Überqueren dieses Flusses (an einer anderen schwierigeren Stelle) umgekommen. Wegen der unstabilen Asche sind die Flüße tief und oft unberechenbar. Die Stelle die im obigen Bild zu sehen ist mit die einfachste Möglichkeit den Lethe zu überqueren.

Pummis all around us, even flying through the air if the winds coming through Katmai Pass from the Gulf of Alaska are blowing hard enough.
-
Pummis gibt es überall, selbst in der Luft, wenn es anständig bläst.

The USGS hut peaks out of the fog with Mount Griggs in the background.

In the rather unforgiving moon landscape of the valley, we are glad to be in the hut where we spent quite a few days (and nights) listening to the raging storms outside.
-
In der unnachgiebige Mondlandschaft sind wir froh in der Hütte zu sein. Dort haben wir einige Tage und etwas schlaflose Nächte verbracht nur um dem Sturm zuzuhören.

Stef on the descent from Baked Mountain. The anthracite hump in the background is Novarupta, the site of the 1912 eruption.
-
Stef beim Abstieg vom Baked Mountain. Der antrazitische Hügel im Hintergrund ist Novarupta, die Stelle der 1912 Eruption.

Stef taking a break at Novarupta with Baked Mountain in the background. Note, the black rock of Baked Mountain which blackened due to the enormous heat of the 1912 eruption which gave this hill its name.
-
Stef bei einer Pause in der Nähe von Novarupta mit Baked Mountain im Hintergrund. Das schwarze Gestein des "gebackenen Berges" hatte sich während der 1912 Eruption wegen der enormen Hitze verdunkelt, daher der Name "Baked Mountain".

Knife Creek cuts a deep trench into the ash.

Knife Creek surges once in a while, like the tide, just more frequently. This has also been noted in the log book of the USGS hut.
-
Knife Creek hat eine Sprungquelle, wie man im obigen Foto sieht, und wie im Gästebuch der USGS-hütte verzeichnet.

Photo by Stefan Schwörer

On Trident Volcano, Photo by Stefan Schwörer

Morgenstimmung am Mount Griggs

The weather improved but Stef and I had to leave and go back to Brooks Camp. The goggles were pretty useful during sandstorms.
-
Das Wetter verbesserte sich aber Stef und ich nehmen Ausreiss. Während einem Sandsturm sind die Skibrillen sehr nützlich.

Mount Mageik

Stef hiking along the deep and narrow gorge of the Lethe River.
-
Stef wandert entlang der tiefen und engen Schlucht des Lethe Rivers.

Useful coordinates:

Lethe River easy crossing: N58 16.787, W155 14.825
USGS research hut: N58 17.613, W155 12.091
Knife Creek fresh water spring: N58 18.355, W155 09.979

Feathercraft packraft review

2010-08-01T15:26:00.026-08:00

With special thanks to Goo Vogt I was fortunate to demo the new Feathercraft BayLee I LW packraft. The BayLees proof to be good competition for Alpacka and NRS boats and may provide more incentive for further innovation in the ever expanding packraft market. I personally float in an Alpacka Yak that I bought in 2003. Even though I haven't tested the BayLee I LW in any class 3 or 4 water, I believe it is a great whitewater boat. Below is what I found to be the pros and cons of the Feathercraft BayLee I LW. (Each comment refers to the picture above unless noted.)

Feathercraft's BayLee I LW (left) is uniformly shaped like a kayak which might make it a better whitewater boat. The yellow Alpacka Yak 2003 model (right) is wider at the stern than the bow and shorter than the BayLee I LW which is Feathercraft's smallest packraft. The closest Alpacka boat comparable to the BayLee I LW in length is the Alpacka Llama. Comparing the weight of the Bay Lee I LW with the Llama, the Llama wins easily. Alpacka's Llama has 4.5 lbs while the BayLee I LW has 7.5 pounds (both boats incl. spray skirt). Cause for the weight difference is probably the much tougher fabric used by Feathercraft for floor and tubes.

The Feathercraft (right) comes up higher in the bow and stern compared to the Alpacka Yak 2009 model (left). The Feathercraft also has bigger tubes for more buoyancy.

Feathercraft BayLee I LW (blue boat) and Alpacka Yak 2009 model (red boat).

The stern of the BayLee I LW (above) has a wider shape. Also, see the two inflation valves for the two chambers. Having the two air chambers certainly also makes for a tougher boat. The valves Feathercraft uses, even though they prevent lots of moisture from entering the chambers they are heavier than the open air intakes Alpacka uses. Also, due to the smaller air-intake the BayLee I LW takes longer to blow up with an inflation bag.

The stern of the Alpacka is more arrow-shaped compared to the Feathercraft.

Feathercraft did a superb job in designing a simple seat that is actually super comfortable. If you ever sat in an Alpacka for more than an hour you know what I am talking about. The reason for comfort is the flat pillow design of the BayLee I LW. The seat is also easier to exchange than the Alpacka's due to a simple attachment system (see picture below).

Feathercraft's easy solution to an exchangeable seat.

Unfortunately, Feathercraft's backrest is not satisfactory. The backrest is attached to straps and the attachment points (see thumb above) break easily when entering the raft. The most serious issue however is that the straps create potential for foot entrapment. Aplacka's solution to the backrest is both safer and more elegant. Since the Feathercraft is generally longer, Feathercraft could move the seat more towards the middle of the boat for even better white water abilities.

Feathercraft uses straps to adjust the backrest. The straps however, create high potential for foot entrapment particularly when having to perform a wet exit.

Above is Feathercraft's (black valve) superior mouth valve. If you have a boat like me that Alpacka had made by Feathercraft back in 2003/4 (yes, Feathercraft initially built packrafts for Alpacka) you have probably gotten to appreciate the fact that these valves are less likely to leak. The reason is that they are flexible and you can bend them for blowing into the mouth piece. Above you can see that the valve nicely attaches to the boat fabric in form of a ring. Thus fabric and valve are easily bonded and stay that way because you can bend the valve as shown in the picture above.

Above is Alpacka's 2010 model valve (red valve). You can not bend it which is a problem. If you want to bring the valve to your mouth since it is not flexible in itself you have to pull the valve away from the boat which stresses the glue holding the valve and boat fabric together. As a result, Alpacka often has valves that leak at the attachment point (see arrow above). In other words, since you have to pull it away from the fabric to bring it to your mouth, the valve detaches from the boat fabric at the point of the arrow (above) and thus easily creates a leak.

Feathercraft did a nice job designing this simple spray skirt which actually holds up well against water coming in at your chest and back. Two bungee suspenders are attached to the spray skirt using velcro. Each of the two suspenders has a velcro patch to attach the front end of the bungee-suspender to the part of the sprayskirt that lays on your chest. The back of the suspenders is fixed to the spray skirt at the stern. There is just enough velcro to hold it and not too much to make it too hard to wet exit. Unfortunately, there is still water sitting in the middle of the spray skirt when paddling.

The spray skirt has a velcro exit on the right and a good quality zipper on the left that goes all the way to the bow. I found that the spray skirt could be a bit better attached to the boat. Sometimes packrafters grab the skirt when trying to hold on to their boat. River current and heavy loads can easily detach the skirt from the boat.

Feathercraft's skirt comes up high in the back.

The velcro on the right side of the sprayskirt is two sided. This can be pretty tough to get out of when doing your wet exit. Also the suspenders, even though they nicely keep the sprayskirt high on your torso, it's a bit more difficult to get out of once you are upside down in the water having to wet exit.

The velcro on the skirt's suspenders get stuck underneath the seat. This can create another foot entrapment and is troubling if you get back in you boat after a wet exit and can't find the suspenders to put back on.

Additional room for improvement with the BayLee I LW are the strap plates closest to the middle of the raft. Unfortunately, these strap plates (see arrow above) are exactly attached where a paddler's hand may come closest to the tubes of the raft. When I first used the raft I tore up my finger nails pretty well. If these strap plates could be moved further towards the bow, they could all be used for securing the load.

Spray skirt of the Alpacka Yak 2009 model tied up underneath the load.

Spary skirt of the Feathercraft BayLee I LW wrapped on the right. This design still allows your raft being easily emptied of water. With the ability to open the skirt by zipper, there are no issues with velcro getting worn out as is the case with Alpacka rafts.

Thanks again to Goo Vogt for bayLee I LW demo boat. Goo can be reached at: sotaralaska (at) yahoo (dot) com

The mighty Chitistone

2010-07-11T21:13:00.010-08:00

For quite a while, Darcy and I wanted to check out the Goat Trail in the Wrangell Mountains. Over 4th of July, Wayne and Carrie joined us for a 9 day trip into Skolai Pass and from there down the Goat trail to the Chitistone River, packrafting the Lower Chitostone and Nizina Rivers. Due to the bad weather we had to wait out a day in McCarthy until flying in with Gary Green from McCarthy Air. We spent three nights at the pass hiking in the rain and snow, then four days on the way out.
-
Seit langem wollten Darcy und ich in die Wrangell Mountains. Am Unabhängigkeitstag gingen wir mit Wayne und Carrie auf eine zehntägige Tour vom Skolai Pass in das tal des Chitistone von wo wir mit den packrafts zurück nach McCarthy gelangten. Gary Green mit dem McCarthy Air Flugdiest brachte uns auf den Skolai Pass wo wir drei Nächte im Regen und Schnee verbrachten. Für unseren Rückweg brauchten wir vier Tage.

Our trip started with the St. Elias Guides showing off their newly acclaimed gear during the 4th of July parade.
-
Unsere Tour fing mit einem Umzug zum Unabhängigkeitstag an. Hier die Bergführer der St.Elias Guides.

View from the bush plane up the Chitostone River, the way we packrafted back to McCarthy.

Camp in Skolai Pass below the Hole-in-the-Wall Glacier.

Darcy and I crossing Skolai Creek (not really advisable to be repeated). Photo by Wayne Todd.
-
Darcy und ich beim Überqueren des Skolai Creeks (wir raten ab dies zu wiederholen).

This wolf came very close to our camp. We also saw two grizzly bears going over the pass. Photo by Wayne Todd.

Darcy, Wayne, and Carrie after crossing the first gully on the Goat Trail. Chitistone Pass is seen in the background.

Darcy and Carrie behind her trying to provide a sense of security.

It is much tamer than it looks but it's certainly not a trail in the conventional sense but rather a route through steep scree slopes.
-
Es ist nicht so steil wie es ausschaut. Der Weg gleicht eher einer Route anstatt einem deutlichen Pfad.

Some call this last scree gully (the largest one of the Goat Trail at the S end) the "gully of death." If you travel N-S, then staying high along the ocker and gray colored scree is a good idea. Zoom into this picture to see the dotted route.

Carrie, me, and Darcy above Chitistone Falls. Photo by Wayne Todd.

After the scree slopes of the Goat Trail, the crossing of the Chitistone River can be the excitement along the way. You can skip a one to two hour long diversion crossing the Chitistone River via the glacier by taking a packraft across. At low waters you may even wade across but it can be a raging river. Photo by Wayne Todd.
-
Nach den Geröllhalden des Goat Trail ist die Überquerung des Chitiostone Rivers die nächste Herausforderung.

Darcy drying out our gear near the land slide.
-
Darcy beim Trocknen unserer Sachen im Camp.

After hiking along the upper Chitistone, we put in at Glacier (airstrip) to float the Chitistone. Carrie and Wayne on the Chitostone (class 2 to 2+ in the lower section)

Darcy and Carrie reaching he confluence of the Chitostone and Nizina Rivers. Darcy was very glad to have made it here so we decided to give Gary a call and take a ride while Carrie and Wayne pushed through to McCarthy.

"Detailed" map of Upper Chitistone section of the Goat Trail. The blue line is a melt water stream not shown on the USGS map. This stream can be a raging river in the summer and may be difficult to cross without packrafts. One can take a detour crossing via the Chitostone Glacier.

Useful coordinates:

Northern end of bushwhack trail between Chitostone R. and a lush plateau above the exit of the Chitistone Gorge: N61 32.089, W142 12.155
Southern end of that same bushwhack trail: N61 31.858, W142 12.442
Public use cabin at Glacier: N61 27.649, W142 22.912

Eklutna Traverse

2010-05-21T20:55:00.012-08:00

The Eklutna Traverse is often done over two to three days with ropes and AT gear. On May 21st Rob, Holly, and I chose the light weight option taking day packs and skate skis. The snowpack on Eagle Glacier had just turned into a crust providing for fast traveling. We left Anchorage at 3:30 in the morning to post hole Goat Mountain's South ridge, switching to skis as we reached the glacier. We had a wind/melt crust until the afternoon when snow turned into punchy corn on the Eklutna Glacier. We roped up while skiing up the Whiteout Glacier through some cracks and for the descent off the Eklutna. Our timing was great getting off the Eklutna Glacier by 1:45 pm. 34 miles, 7200 ft elevation, 14.5 hours at a leisurely pace. Thanks to Darcy and Kate for picking us up at the Eklutna Parking lot bringing beer and "Vesper."

-
Für die Eklutna Traverse von Girdwood bis an den Eklutna Lake nimmt man sich oft zwei bis drei Tage Zeit. Am 21ten Mai gingen Rob, Holly und ich mit den Skatingski und leichten Tagesrucksäcken. Auf dem Eagle Gletscher hatte sich kürzlich Firnschnee gebildet der superleichtes Skaten ermöglichte. Wegen den Spalten seilten wir uns für den Aufstieg über den Whiteout Gletscher an. Nachmittags wurde der Firnschnee etwas weich aber wir hatten uns die Zeit gut eingeteilt und waren um 13:45 vom Eklutna Gletscher abgestiegen. Von dort ging es zu Fuß entlang des Eklutna Lake zum Parkplatz, wo uns Darcy und Kate abholten. Nach 55 km, 2200 Höhenmetern und 14 einhalb Stunden waren wir am Ziel wo uns Darcy mit Vesper und Bier erwartete.

Rob and Holly around 8 in the morning enjoying the sunrise on the South ridge of Goat Mountain. Girdwood, Turnagain Arm, and the Kenai Mountains are in the background.

Holly skiing on Eagle Glacier ... this time traversing rather than skiing laps as she usually does in this beautiful spot. Rosie's Roost is across the glacier on the moraine.

Me on the Whiteout Glacier. Photo by Rob Whitney

View up the West Branch of the Eklutna Glacier. From left to right: Mount Beelzebub, Sunlight, and Moonlight Peaks.

Pocket Glacier

2010-05-09T21:28:00.004-08:00

It's the second week in May and Darcy's dad and I went skiing near Crow Pass. It was a gorgeous day and even though we had a late start the crust held up pretty well. We crossed Crow Creek and headed towards the Southside of Magpie Peak where there is a small glacier surrounded by beautiful spires filled with rime. It looked like a little Patagonian Island within the rugged peaks of the Chugach.

Dugan on the way to the way up. In the background you can see the NE side of Raggedtop.

Our route took us West starting at the end of Crow Creek Road, across Crow Creek, then gaining 3700 feet to reach a little glacier at 4600 feet.

Dugan making nice turns in super fun corn. In the background Magpie Peak.

Dugan and I enjoying the view.

View towards Goat Mountain, Raven Glacier, and Milk Glacier.

Slog on this Blog

2010-05-07T22:19:00.007-08:00

As I came back from Valdez I was all gang-ho about doing the Bomber Traverse. If the snow conditions are like in Valdez I thought nothing can go wrong. "Wrong Toby," said the avalanche dragon and laughed. It turned out to be a real slog up to the Mint Hut, actually we never made it there but check out for yourself why, below.

Full of enthusiasm we said: ... "we are going to do the Bomber Traverse, yeah!"

Darcy wins the award for slogger with the best attitude.

Obvious sign of instability. Our skis sank in to our knees with cracks forming. usually the first five miles of trail are frequented by day hikers and skiers and were in fairly good shape. However, mile 5 to 8 were pretty soft and we moved at about 1-2 miles an hour.

However, it got real spooky on the slope towards the hut where you gain several hundred going from the valley bottom to the hut. The slope is not very steep but you kind of have to traverse it to get to the hut. So this was definitely avalanche terrain as was evident by the huge 15 feet arch of shooting cracks that suddenly formed when I crossed the slope 300 feet below the hut. The conditions didn't seem to improve so at 6 p.m. we decided to slog back the 8 miles we came ... back to the car. After 10 hours of slogging through heavy wet snow we were back at the car driving back to Anchorage and at midnight we were back home instead of sleeping at the Bomber Hut as I imagined so wonderfully the night before.

Iguana Packs and The Shovel

2010-05-02T18:37:00.011-08:00

The mountains near 40.5 mile were our destination for two more days of Valdez skiing. From 46 mile you can see the Shovel which is a prominent pointy summit of the 40.5 Mile Peak massif. The day on The Shovel started out as a somewhat snowy one with bad visibility and the stability gave us a CT 12 Q2 so we were not sure if we should ski from the summit. We had intermittent sunny spots though which allowed for semi-good light conditions on the first run. Then the cloud layer finally broke late in the day around 5ish and we decided to head to the summit.

Tory looking over to the Shovel where our route is marked in the above picture.
On both ski tours we started at the parking lot / bridge at mile 40.5.

Skinning up the shovel in what turned out surprising light conditions on the second try of the day.

Just a couple feet below the summit a helicopter came around the corner almost dropping skiers on top of us. The three Musketeer seen in this pictures prevailed, though.

A smile on the summit and 5000 ft of almost all powder awaiting to be skied.

Jason ready to drop in.

Ryan took this picture of me ... the light was so cool.

The following pictures are from a Tour into the Iguana Backs:

On our last trip Jason, Brian, and I went to the Iguana Backs. Here we park our skis at the saddle at the end of the valley framed by the eastern and western Iguana Backs.

This is the view from that saddle into Marshal Pass with the Valley of the Tusk in the distance. There is always more to be skied.

Jason putting in some last turns in front of the Lizard Head which is the northern head of the western Iguana Backs.

Mount Billy Mitchell

2010-05-02T18:30:00.010-08:00

Mount Billy Mitchell is the prominent massive at mile 46 of the Richardson Hwy. It was named after General Billy Mitchell who was the leading proponent of creating the modern US Air Force. Mitchell was sent to Alaska in 1902 to connect Valdez and Nome by telegraph to the rest of the United States.

Well, we didn't care about that but it is still interesting. So we went on another beautiful day to climb and ski some of Billy Mitchell's part that you can't quite see from the road.

The tour started with crossing the Tsina River.

The above map shows the first and second day tour on Mount Billy Mitchell. Skiers gain access to the massive by entering The Key to Lisa which is a narrow slot canyon used to navigate through the lowest belt of gullies and cliffs surrounding the massive.

In the "Key to Lisa"
Jason and Ryan on the way up

On the first day Tory said ... " yeah that line goes ..." so he put a skin track to almost the top of what turned out to be a sub-summit off of Billy Mitchell's Northwest ridge. The above picture shows the route chosen for ascent and descent.

Tory putting in a skin track

Jason and Ryan approaching the sub summit.

From left to right, Jason, Tory, and Ryan on the descent as seen from the summit.

Me skiing on the descent. Picture by Ryan Hokanson.

A day later we decided to try to ski from the true summit of Billy Mitchell. Matt Kinney writes in his guide book that as of 2005 this was according to his knowledge not attempted yet which is hard to believe. Due to low snowcover within the face and potential repelling, we decided to take the obvious route along the Northridge (see map above and picture of ascend and descend marked in picture above).

Jason and Ryan boot packing the first snow slope.

Brian negotiating a wind feature on the ridge that left us with a short 45 degree snow pitch.

Us enjoying the views of the true summit of Billy Mitchell (7217 ft) the tallest of the mountains that are easily accessible on skis within a day from the road.

Me descending the Northridge where we were lucky to find some powder due to the calm weather.

Peak 7601

2010-05-02T18:21:00.011-08:00

For the last two weeks in April I went skiing in the mountains near Valdez with Tory, Ryan, and Jason. Many people know Valdez from skiing with a helicopters while staying in lodges and hotels. Not us though, we stayed at Tory's cabin in 19 mile and hiked/climbed to almost everywhere we went with one exception on this trip shown below.
Fantastic evening light on the Tsina Glacier. We went on snowmachines into the Upper Tsina River valley and from there skied in the Skatepark and the Northcouloir on Peak 7601, which apparently was subject of a ski movie at one point.
Jason on the apprach. In the background one can see the upper Tsina Glacier and the tongue of the Tonsina Glacier in the background.

Tory on the approach to ski the Northgully on Peak 7601.
View from within the couloir onto the mountains surrounding the Tsina and Tonsina Glaciers. The couloir is 45 degrees on average with up to 50 degrees in the upper part. I lost my ski mid way bootpacking and thus could only ski from the half way point which was a real bummer. We had good snowconditions, 10 inches of slightly wind affected powder on top of hard packed snow.

Ryan after enjoying the steeps.

Life in rural Alaska

2010-05-02T18:17:00.009-08:00

Life in rural Alaska is very different from what we are used to in cities and communities of western civilization such as in Europe. In rural Alaska the importance of subsistence resources for daily life is still evident everywhere you go. Due to the very high cost of living particularly for groceries and energy, people rely on traditional hunting and gathering of wild foods throughout the year. People who live in rural Alaska still sharing a lot of their food resources by simply giving to others, a concept that unfortunately I find went missing in many parts of the world.

A typical Arctic entry to a house includes several large size freezers for storing meat, which sometimes don't provide enough space for storing all of it.

Robert proudly shows the fur of a wolf that he shot a couple years ago. For Native hunters in rural Alaska
This kid's dad shot a musk ox a couple days before I visited.

Fire wood is cut mainly in winter time and hauled by snow machine.

Many snowmachines can't take the daily abuse when hunting or hauling wood, so people get inventive and reinforce them wherever they can. The owner of the snowmachine above reinforced the hitch and frame below the seat.
A broken chain case - evidence of snowmachine use likely not intended by the manufacturer. Many times during my trip I thought about how snowmachine development nowadays is so driven by recreational use, not always to the best of users that rely on their reliability for daily work.

In order to do subsistence activities such as hunting and gathering on the land, locals use skidoos, four-wheelers, and boats to travel. There are no roads in most of rural Alaska.

Caribou skins laid out to dry in the sun. These will be for use during spring hunting season where they will serve as insulation pads for bird hunters.

This household is burning wood exclusively, up to 15 cords a winter.

A young puppy liked my bag so much that he immediately took over leg room management for me during one of my interviews.

Skiing through rural Alaska

2010-05-02T18:09:00.010-08:00

During my research of energy consumption in rural Alaska I could also ski in between some of the communities I visited. I pulled a pulk which is a skiers hard shell sled that includes a duffel bag for storing equipment and food during an expedition. I built my pulk this past winter and on this trip used it to bring along research equipment such as a printer and laptop which I pulled on skis between Golovin and White Mountain.

The Iditarod trail crosses the lagoon between Golovin and White Mountain

Map of Norton Sound including the communities I visited: Shaktoolik, Koyuk, Golovin, and White Mountain.

On the Iditarod Trail which lead me on the Fish River into White Mountain

Thanks to Anchorage crust and trail skier Tim Kelley's design I sowed the bag myself and pop riveted it to my pulk.

The front of my sled where the single pole connects has two small pockets for quick access. These proved to be very practical. Also see the reflective material sowed onto the fabric for safety when pulling during the night.

White Mountain has an active ski program for Nordic and biathlon. It was very cool to see their enthusiasm about becoming an athlete.

Shaktoolik and Koyuk

2010-04-03T21:15:00.016-08:00

The wind was howling at least 30 miles an hour at temperatures barely above zero. The minus 20 wind chill quickly crept into my bones. In disbelieve that the plane could ever land in these horrendous conditions, I waited patiently trying to stay in cover of the nearby airport shed and hiding behind my wolf ruff. Nobody was around. I got to this airstrip after a two mile walk from Shaktoolik, pulling my 70 pound sled across wind drifts head on into an unforgiving bone chilling Northwind. I was barely able to see ten feet in front of me.

A plane landing in these conditions seemed impossible. I have seen many great pilots pick me up from remote glaciers in conditions rivaling the visibility but the wind made it more like Russian roulette. Finally a guy came by in a truck telling me that I had to wait another 25 minutes for the plane to arrive. So I waited, shivering a little more with each minute passing. After another 40 minutes he came back inviting me into his truck to warm up.

The wind was so strong it made the truck shake back and forth. With his InupiaQ accent he said: "must be there ... somewhere" ... "oh, here he comes." All I could see was a single head light within a curtain of snow picked up by the wind. We were about 50 yards from the runway, and I could not see the plane land. I loaded up my gear and got in. Inside waiting were a couple elderly InupiaQ ladies. The whole plane shook like a leave, the kind nobody has to remind you to wear your seat belt. For the ladies things seemed as normal as having fish heads for dinner. The flight to Koyuk was equally eventful more like a snowmachine ride with lots of bumps along the way until the pilot put down the plane ... left wing first it seemed ... truly amazing.
-
20 Grad minus und 50 Stundenkilometer Wind … das fuehlte sich an wie minus 30 Grad. Langsam aber sicher kroch die Kaelte in meine Knochen. Ich wunderte mich wie ein Buschflieger in diesen Bedingungen jemals landen koennte. Geduldig wartete ich einigermassen geschuetz vom Wind hinter dem Schuppen des Flugplatzes in Shaktoolik in Western Alaska. Ich versuchte mich hinter dem Wolfspelz der Kaputze meines Anoraks vom Wind zu verstecken aber das war fast aussichtslos! Keine Menschenseele hatte sich in diesem Sturm zum Flugplatz gewagt. Mit dabei hatte ich einen 40 kilo schweren Schlitten, den ich ueber unzaehlige Schneewehnen auf den zwei Kilometern zum Flugplatz hinter mir herzog. Kaum war es mir dabei moeglich die zehn Meter vor mir zu sehen.

Ich habe schon viele gute Piloten gesehen die mich unter schwierigen Sichtbedingungen von abgelegenen Gletschern in den Bergen abholten, aber bei diesem Wind schien mir das eher wie Russisches Roulette. Endlich kam jemand vorbei. Nur noch 25 Minuten und das Flugzeug wird da sein. Also wartete ich mit klappernden Zaehnen. Nach weiteren 40 Minuten kam er zurueck und lud mich ein ins Auto zu kommen um mich aufzuwaermen.

Der Wind war so stark dass das Auto wackelte. In seinem InupiaQ accent sagte er: ”... muss hier irgendwo sein, oh ja da kommt er.” Im Schneetreiben konnte ich nur einen Scheinwerfer ausmachen, ansonsten sah ich von der Landung nichts. Immerhin standen wir 50 Meter vom Rollfeld entfernt. Ich lud meine Ski und den Schlitten ins Flugzeug und wurde im Innern von ein paar aelteren Eskimodamen begruesst. Das ganze Flugzeug wackelte wie ein Blatt im Wind. Da muss dir keiner zweimal sagen dich anzuschnallen. Die aelteren Damen schienen von den Geschehnissen jedoch unberuehrt. Der Flug nach Koyuk war eher wie ein Ritt auf einem Stier. Bei der Landung hatte ich geglaubt die linke Tragseite setze wahrscheinlich zuerst auf, aber alles ging gut.

Piper Navajo - enough steel to withstand the winds in Shaktoolik?
-
Eine Piper Navajo - hat die genug Stahl um dem Wind zu wiederstehen?

I am so glad Darcy gave me that wolf ruff. It has worked wonders for thousands of years.
-
Um meine Wolfskrause, die ich von Darcy bekommen hatte war ich sehr froh.

A normal day in Shaktoolik in late March.
-
Ein normaler Tag in Shaktoolik im Maerz.

Shaktoolik sits on a long spit or barrier island with the ocean on one and brackish swamps on the other.
-
Shaktoolik liegt auf einer Nehrung an der Beringstrasse, ca. 200 Meilen oestlich von Nome.

a typical wood pile in front of a home in Shaktoolik where people burn up to 10 cords of wood in winter
-
ein typischer Holzhaufen in Shaktoolik wo manche Leute 20 Stehr Holz im Winter brauchen

fresh caribou meat sitting on top of a freezer in an arctic entry, ready to be cut and put away
-
frische Cariboufleisch - bei noch winterlichen Temperaturen kann man es im Eingangsbereich vom Haus lagern.

Mom and little boy in traditional InupiaQ clothing
-
Mama und der Kleine in traditionell selbst geschneiderter InupiaQ Tracht

Edgar was instrumental in connecting me with the locals in Shaktoolik who I interviewed about energy use for space heating and subsistence activities.
-
Edgar hatte mir in Shaktoolik mit meinen Befragungen zum Thema Energie beim Hausheizen und Jagen geholfen.

Iditarod trail in the hills between Unalakleet and Shaktoolik
-
Der Iditarodweg zwischen Unalakleet und Shaktoolik

Fish camp on the Koyuk River
-
Ein Fischcamp am Koyuk River

At Morris' house in Koyuk I ate true Eskimo dinner for the first time. We had cooked fish heads and eggs, Bowhead muktuk, ubruk (bearded seal) , wild onions, and dried salmon dipped in seal oil. I loved the muktuk the most.
-
Morris lud mich zum Abendessen ein. Zum ersten mal ass ich traditionelles Eskimoessen: Muktuk (Walfett), Seehund, gekochte Fischkoepfe und Fischeier, wilde Zwiebeln, und getrockneter lachs den man in Seehundoel taucht.

Morris on his way to hunt caribou
-
Morris macht sich auf die Jagd nach Caribou

Left overs from a previous wolf hunt
-
ein paar Ueberbleibsel der Wolfjagd

That's when you know you are flying with an Alaska bush pilot.
-
Da weisst du dass du mit einem Alaska Buschpiloten unterwegs bist.

Mr. Clean

2010-03-25T21:57:00.009-08:00

It's the end of March and the days are getting longer and sunnier. The additional sun light allows for longer trips in the backcountry. I took advantage of the great weather we have had for a while and the good snow conditions to visit Tory and Jason in Valdez for some skiing. Besides Paradise, we skied Mr. Clean, and explored around Mount Francis. Below are pictures from Mr. Clean a fantastic tour accessible from the Richardson Highway (mile 12). Special Thanks to Jason Kwiatkowski for taking the pictures below.
-

Mr. Clean as seen from the road.
-
"Herr Sauberkeit", so nennt sich der Berg, wie man ihn von der Straße aus sieht.

We chose to go through the narrow canyon of an unnamed creek to the East of Browns Creek. We could have taken an easier and more direct way but the imposing canyon was worth checking out.
-
Unsere Route ging zuerst durch eine recht imposante und enge Schlucht, die man eigentlich leicht umgehen kann.
Me approaching the summit.
-
Kurz vor dem Gipfel (5350 ft 1630m).

Our five hours of leisurely ascent took us up the North shoulder, traversing below the avalanche prone West face and then up a narrower gully then turning onto a 43 degree ramp that leads to a col on the summit ridge. We could skin up all the way to the col. On the descent, the snow conditions were excellent ... dry and slightly wind affected between 5000 and 4000 ft, creamy between 4000 and 3000, and moist and sun affected below that.
-
Nach fünf Stunden gemütlichen Aufstieges ging es 1500 Höhenmeter wieder ins Tal. Bei besten Bedingungen war die Abfahrt wirklich herrlich.

Above and below: Tory on the descent.
-
Oben und unten: Tory bei der Abfahrt.

The 50 degree ramp of Meteorite is often skied by helicopter. From the small glacier, mid picture, the ramp goes up towards the summit ridge.
-
Die 50 Grad steile Rampe des Meteorite kann man in diesem Bild sehr gut sehen. Die Route führt vom Gletscher (Bildmitte) direkt auf den Gipfelgrat.

Roundtop

2009-11-08T22:23:00.007-09:00

One of those days when you wish you would have brought a camera. When I peaked my nose out the door on Sunday morning, the weather did not look that promising. A thick cloud layer was over us and the Chugach was barely in sight. Despite the weather, Darcy and I decided to give it a shot and explore some more of "near to urban" wilderness. For several weekends, we made it a priority to not drive very far, less than an hour to where we wanted to hike, mostly places we haven't been before. We drove to Chugiak and saw that the sun was shining in the area we were planning to go to. All around it was gray. We headed up the Ptarmigan Valley trail (State Park TH in Peters Creek) which in the winter is a popular snowmobile access to Mount Baldy North of Eagle River.

After about 6 miles we reached timberline and trotted through the fresh snow that had fallen on soft blueberry tundra. We slowly gained the ridge that appeared through gaps in the clouds. At this point we didn't really know where to head since we didn't bring the map ... once again. Half way up the ridge we climbed out of the cloud bank and got a superb view of the Alaska Range illuminated by the soft light of the far North. Rarely have I seen the range that close. We were even able to make out features like ridges and glaciers. That's when you wish you had a camera, I thought to myself. We further followed the Western Ridge of mystery mountain to top out just at the time the sun hit us right into our faces. What a day this turned out to be. After four hours heading up we quickly descended and were back at the trail head two hours later.
-
Wieder einmal ein Tag an dem ich wünschte die Kamera mitgebracht zu haben. Also ich am frühen Sonntagmorgen meine Nase aus der Tür streckte sah es noch gar nicht nach gutem Wetter aus. Die Chugach Kette war tief in Wolken gehüllt aber Darcy und ich entschieden uns trotzdem Wandern zu gehen. In den letzten Wochen waren wir hauptsächlich in der Nähe von Anchorage unterwegs da wir nicht lange mit dem Auto fahren wollten. Wir hatten uns bisher nur Orte ausgesucht an denen wir noch nie zuvor waren. wir fuhren eine dreiviertel Stunde nach Chugiak und von dort gingen wir in das Ptarmigan Tal (Berghuhn Tal). Im Winter ist dieses Tal oft von Skidoo fahrern besucht und somit für uns Skifahrer uninterressant. Demnach wollten wir uns dort einmal umschauen.

Nach ungefähr 8 km durchstiegen wir die Wolkendecke und hatten auf einmal einen herrlichen Blick auf die Alaska Range mit Denali im Alpenrot. Die Berge waren in der Ferne sehr deutlich zu sehen. Da wünschte ich daß ich eine Kamera mit dabei hätte. Wir stiegen am Westgrat einlang und erreichten den Gipfel in der Sonne. Was für ein Tag. Nach sech Stunden waren wir wieder zurück.

Indian House Mtn

2009-11-01T21:23:00.006-09:00

Darcy's mom gave us the idea of climbing the South Ridge of Indian House Mountain. The summit is usually pretty difficult and requires a rope but the ridge is easy. There is a trail that starts on the Seward Highway and leads through some cliffs onto steep tundra to a plateau below the SW ridge separating Falls Creek from Indian. A bit of route finding is needed though. The views along the way are breathtaking and easily rival the ones on Bird Ridge ... here you got the chance of having it all for yourself though.

-
Darcy's Mutter kam mit der Idee den Südgrat des Indian House Mountains zu besteigen. Der Gipfel ist normalerweise nur mit Seil machbar der Grat jedoch lädt zu einer Wanderung auf einem Bergpfad ein.

Darcy, Kate, und Tory. In the background Turnagain Arm mudflats.
-
Im Hintergrund das Watt des Turnagain Arm.

Kate und machen Rast (picture by Darcy Dugan).

Tory brought his paraglider which he tried. Before taking off he says: "In case you were wondering, this is the sickest spot I ever took off from."
-
Tory nahm seinen Gleitschirm mit nach Oben und probierte ihn sogleich aus. Tory war vom Abflugsort total begeistert.

Tory and mudflats of Turnagain Arm.
-
Tory und das Watt des Turnagain Arm.

Penguin Ridge

2009-11-01T20:44:00.012-09:00

The weather has been fantastic since we had a snowstorm. It's cold and clear. Since the snow in the mountains is not yet deep enough for skiing but just low enough for hiking we decided to check out Penguin Ridge near Gentoo Peak. We wanted to climb around there for a while and the superb weather just looked very inviting.
-
Das Wetter ist momentan fantastisch. In den Bergen hat es ein bißchen Schnee und es ist kalt und klar. Schon lange wollten wir den Pinguin Grat mit Gentoo Peak ausfindig machen. Das Wetter war sehr einladend.

Darcy and I on Penguin Ridge North of Gentoo Peak after ascending the ridge from the California Creek side where there is a trail that leads above timberline to provide the most comfortable ascent of Penguin Ridge besides the trail on Penguin Peak on the ridge's Western end.
-
Darcy und ich auf dem Penguin Grat nördlich vom Gentoo Peak nachdem wir sind dem Weg durch das California Creek Tal gefolgt sind.

We followed this wolf track from 2000 ft all the way to the ridge where it descended a very steep pitch into Penguin Creek Valley.
-
Wir folgten einer Wolfspur die uns von 2000ft auf den Grat in ca. 4000ft Höhe führte. Die Spur verlief vom Grat aus sehr steil ins Tal des Penguin Creeks.

Gentoo Peak on right with Girdwood in the valley.
-
Gentoo Peak mit Blick auf Girdwood im Tal.

Bird Peak (high point on left) with the upper reaches of the Penguin Creek valley.

Me on Penguin Ridge. - Toby auf dem Penguin Grat.

Darcy auf dem Penguin Grat.

Alpenglow in background with Penguin Ridge.

The descend was very easy and super fun with the new snow. Check out the video above.
-
Den Abstieg hat uns der Schnee sehr leicht gemacht. Siehe obigen Video!

Bidarka Lake

2009-10-26T20:49:00.010-08:00

The Chugach has been accompanying and entertaining me for many unforgettable moments while riding my bike to school or to work, hiking, climbing, skiing on its slopes and through its valleys. It's an always dynamic interplay between rock and clouds that provide different shutters for the sunlight to come through to hit the eye so unexpectedly. No matter what weather, I never get tired looking at the mountains that define most of what I like about Anchorage. All the more special when you discover places not seen before at times when the mountains present themselves in the rare contrast of light reflected from termination dust.

-
Die Chugach Kette hat mich schon immer imponiert sei es auf dem Fahrrad zur Schule oder zur Arbeit, oder einfach während des Kletterns, Wanderns oder Skifahrens. Es ist das immer dynamisches Zusammenspiel von Fels und Wolken das eine faszinierende Blende fürs Sonnenlicht bietet. Egal welches Wetter, die Berge die das Bild von Anchorage bestimmen werden einem nicht langweilig. Es ist zudem etwas Besonderes wenn man einen neuen Ort in den heimischen Bergen entdecken kann und sogleich die Berge in kontrastreichem Licht bewundern kann.

A beautiful valley aside the beaten path. - Ein Tal fernab vom Pfad.

Bidarka Lake with Shaman Dome and The Wing in the background.
-
Bidarka Lake mit den Bergen: Shaman Dome und The Wing im Hintergrund.

Darcy and I made it to the lake just in time before it got dark. There was little snow dusting on the ground.
-
Darcy und ich kamen noch vor Dunkelheit am See an wo wir unser Zelt auch etwas Neuschnee aufschlugen.

We set up our new tent (THANKS to STEVE!) in front of the impressive rock walls of Bird Ridge Overlook and The Beak. The next morning we hiked across the pass seen in the background.
-
Besondere Dank gilt unserem Freund Steve, der uns ein Zelt geschenkt hat das wir sogleich ausprobieren konnten. Wir zeltenen unterhalb der imposanten Felswände die den kleinen Bergsee umrahmen.

Camp with Shaman Dome in background (Hintergrund).

Darcy scaling the pass between Bird Ridge Overlook and The Beak. The peaks along the skyline from left to right are The Ramp and Williwaw.
-
Darcy auf dem Weg zum Paß. Die Berge im Hintergrund kann man von Anchorage aus sehen.

The greatest shutter is not in your camera, it's rock and clouds. A rare view of Mount Spurr as seen from Bird Ridge, framed by Ptarmigan and Avalanche Peaks.

Bird Ridge as seen from the Northern end.

My favorite hiking buddy (and much more!) and me.

Darcy in a snow storm on Bird Ridge.
-
Darcy im Schneesturm auf dem Bird Ridge.

Crow Pass

2009-10-23T07:41:00.011-08:00

The packrafting season is about to end, soon. But as long as the ice doesn't cover the rivers it might be fine ... so we thought. Somehow we could convince Stefan to go packrafting with us. Stefan probably didn't think that it had to be a 24 mile trip across Crow Pass. He happily came along. (Photos by Stefan Milkowski, Darcy Dugan, and me).
-
Die Packraftsaison naht sich dem Ende. Aber solange es noch kein Eis auf den Flüssen gibt dachten wir ist das O.K. Irgendwie konnten wir auch dann noch Stefan dazu überreden mit uns zu kommen. Es war seine erste Packrafttour. Das es dann gleich 40km über den Crow Pass sein mußten hätte er sich sicherlich nicht geträumt.

Stefan and me at the trail head in Girdwood. - Stefan und ich am Anfang des Pfades.

Stefan and Darcy carrying their packs and packrafts across Crow Pass near Crystal Lake.
-
Stefan und Darcy tragen ihre Rucksäcke und Packrafts über den Crow Pass in der Nähe des Crystal Lakes.

It was a bit chilly as the sun rose around 10a.m.
-
Es war etwas kühl als um 10 Uhr langsam die Sonne aufging.

As expected the river turned out to be running at low water ... but we thought we could at least float from the river crossing at mile 12. Not so, we hiked all the way to Twin Falls and put in there for a 1.5 hour leisurely float to Echo Bend.
-
Wie erwartet hatte es nicht viel Wasser und so mussten wir bis zum Twin Wasserfall laufen um dort unsere Boote aufzublasen. Nach 1.5 Stunden war die Paddlerei ach schon wieder vorbei.

Stefan is always a great sport to go on trips with. During the float we saw a grizzly and two cubs. After taking out at Echo Bend we hiked through the dark with headlamps illuminating magically frozen grasses. The night was crisp and clear. It made for a great ending of our trip.
-
Stefan ein stolzer Paddler. Auf dem Fluß sahen wir einen Grizzly mit zwei Kleinen. Die Nacht war zauberhaft klar und am Wegesrand glitzerten die von Frost geladenen Gräser im Schein unsere Kopflampen.

Raina Peak

2009-10-19T21:26:00.011-08:00

Stefan from Fairbanks came for a visit and we went hiking on Raina Peak (6795ft) together. Not only did we get some great weather and awesome scenery, we also saw a grizzly ... almost too close for our taste. You can reach Raina Peak through beautiful Ram Valley, North of the Eagle River Nature Center. The days are getting shorter and we almost ran out of sunlight. We approached Raina through several gullies on its SW side where large gendarmes force you to keep looking for a possible route. There was plenty of loose rock and scree. (Pictures by Stefan Milkowski and me)
-
Stefan aus Fairbanks war am Wochenende zu Besuch. Wir unternahmen eine Wanderung auf den Raina Peak über das wunderschöne Ram (Schafbock) Tal, nördlich des Eagle River Naturzentrums. Wir hatten nicht nur super Wetter und eine traumhafte Aussicht sondern kamen auch fast etwas zu nah an einen Grizzly heran der sich die Sonne auf den Pelz scheinen ließ. Die Tage werden merklich kürzer und fast hatten wir beim Abstieg kein Tageslicht mehr. Unsere Route führte über die Südwest Seite des Berges. Das Gestein war dort recht instabil und ein Helm ist sicherlich zu empfehlen.

Across one gully into the next one. Part of the summit ridge is to the left of my head. We chose a fairly direct route from here on up.
-
Über eine Felsrinne in die nächste. Ein Teil des Gipfelgrates ist am oberen Bildrand zu erkennen. Unsere Route war von hier aus ziemlich direkt.

Bombardment Pass and the impressive North face of Korohusk Peak (7030ft). The highpoint to the left of Korohusk is Mount Kiliak (7450ft). Further left is Icicle Peak.
-
Bombardment Pass mit der eindrucksvollen Nordwand des Korohusk Peak. Im Hintergrund sieht man den Mount Kiliak und den Icicle Peak.

Ram Valley offers an interesting moraine landscape. - Interressante Moränenlandschaft.

Stefan on the descent enjoying the evening light. - Stefan genießt bei Abstieg die letzten Sonnenstrahlen.
A moose eating willows while we enjoy the view onto Polar Bear Peak in the far back.
-
Ein Elch frißt Zweige während wir den Blick auf den Polar Bear Peak genießen.

Fall packrafting

2009-10-13T21:17:00.011-08:00

After many summer weeks in my brace, I could finally go and packraft a bunch of rivers I wanted to do for a long time. In September I took a white water rescue course and got to know new people to go out and run rivers with. Scott Solle, left us with some great skills for self rescue in a packraft and how to swim in the river. The four day course was a lot about swimming and building confidence with the river and your raft. Scott will teach more courses next year. Below are some shots and videos from packrafting this fall.
-
Endlich kann ich wieder packraften. Nach einigen Sommerwochen in meinem Korsett bin ich überglücklich endlich wieder was mit meinem Packraft unternehmen zu können. Bei einem Wildwasserrettungskurshabe ich neue Gesichter kennengelernt und das natürlich gleich ausgenutzt. Während des viertägigen Kurses schwammen wir viel im Fluß und konnten so unsere Selbstvertrauen aufbauen. Anbei ein paar Bilder und Video von diesem Herbst.

Packrafting class on Eagle River (r. to l.) Marielle, me, Ed, Ty, and Carlene

With a group of packrafters I went packrafting the Matanuska River at Lionshead (@ 2000 cfs). Video by Doug VanEtten.
-
Mit einer Gruppe von Packraftern bin ich hier auf dem Matanuska River am Lionshead.

On the way to the put in of Six Mile Creek (IV-V) here in the back of Luc's van together with J.T.
-
Auf dem Weg zum Six Mile Creek im Kofferraum eines kleinen Bus hier mit J.T.

Two groups of 8 to 10 packrafters and hard shell preparing to float Six Mile. Packrafters definitely outnumbered hard shells.
-
Zwei Gruppen von bis zu 8-10 Packraftern und Kajakern.

The first canyon of Six Mile as seen from the bridge (@ 580 cfs). Rapids from the top are: 17th Ender, Predator.

The waterfall (6ft) in the first canyon as seen from the bridge.

On another trip, I went with Jeff, Wayne, and Joe to do Willow Creek's guard rail section. Above, a view updiver across me and my boat. Jeff in the background. Picture by W. Todd.
-
Blick flußaufwärts von mir und meinem Boot.

Surfing a wave on Willow's guard rail section (picture by W. Todd)
-
Surfen einer Welle im Willow Creek

home

2009-09-24T05:24:00.022-08:00

Home - Heimat - after another year it was time to go back to family and friends in Germany. This time though with Darcy - yeeepeee - who started off with a couple words in German and after two weeks could fluently speak a couple sentences. I am so proud of her. You got to understand that we speak a difficult dialect (Allemannisch) in Schwarzwald.

My grand parents used to live in the house to the left with gorgeous views into the valley. Cows and their bells were a welcome noise and somehow left a sense of tranquility.
-
Mein Großeltern lebten im linken Haus mit schönen Blicken ins Tal. Die Kühe mit ihren Glocken waren ein wilkommenes Geräusch das paradoxer Weise einem das Gefühl von Ruhe gab.

My mom and I on Bildstein a viewpoint. Unfortunately, there was fog.
-
Meine Mutter Elfi und ich auf dem Bildstein, einem nahen Aussichtspunkt. Leider hatte es Nebel.

There are always projects when owning a 400 year old house.
-
Es gibt immer was zu tun wenn man ein 400 Jahre altes Haus hat.

Darcy putting her skills to work.

My grandparents' called Schniderhisle (taylor's house)
-
S' Schniderhisle

Breakfast in Schniderhisle, enjoying the views.
-
Frühstück im Schniderhisle.

neighbors' house called d'Wildehof

My longtime friend Franz-Herbert with his wife Barbara.
-
Mein langjähriger Freund Franz-Herbert mit Frau Barbara.

My dad and Darcy. Darcy was wearing traditional Black Forest straw shoes.
-
Mein Vater und Darcy. Darcy trug traditionelle schwarzwälder Strohschuhe.

Stef and I with obligatory hotdog in Freiburg.
-
Stef und ich beim obligatorischen Freiburger Wurst und Wecke auf dem Münsterplatz.

Belchen (GER)

2009-09-24T05:24:00.021-08:00

One of our hikes in the Black Forest was on Belchen, a mountain with usually perfect views onto the Alpes. Unfortunately, it was pretty foggy.

Sulzfluh (SUI)

2009-09-24T05:24:00.020-08:00

One of the highlights of our Germany visit was a three day trip to the Swiss Alps with my family. We hiked in the Sulzfluh region of Graubünden near Davos and Klosters the famous ski resort towns.
-
Ein highlight unseres Deutschaldbesuchs war ein dreitägiger Aufenthalt im Berggasthof Alpenrösli an der Sulzfluh. Wir wanderten dort mit meiner Familie. Die Sulzfluh ist in der Nähe von Davos und Klosters.

Mom and dad in front of the Sulzfluh - Mama und Papa wandern zur Sulzfluh

My brother and I - Mein Bruder und ich

Dad found two old teabags on the trail that he displays as ear rings
-
Papa fand zwei Teebeutel die zugleich als Ohrschmuck neue Bedeutung fanden

excellent German student -

group photo in front of the Sulzfluh - Familienbild vor der Sulzfluh

Darcy and her new friends - Darcy und ihre neuen Freunde

Stef on his way to climbing some lime stone
-
Stef auf dem Weg zum Klettern im Kalkgestein am Gruenewändli

Darcy in front of the customs "shack" on the border between Switzerland and Austria
-
Darcy vor dem Zollgebäude zwischen der Schweiz und Österreich

Above and below: Mama, Papa, and Darcy on the East ridge of the Sulzfluh with summit in distance
-
Oben und unten: Mama, Papa, und Darcy auf dem ostgrat der Sulzfluh mit Gipfel im Hintergrund

Mom and dad on the descent from the Sulzfluh East ridge. It strated to rain and the rock got a bit slippery. Particularly the last steep section along the chains was a bit hairy for mom but she did great.
-
Mama und Papa beim steilen Abstieg vom Sulzfluh Ostgrat. Es begann zu regnen und der Fels wurde zunehmends glitschig. Mama hatte ihre Bedenken vorallem im sehr steilen letzten Teil des Abstiegs, wo man sich an Ketten festhalten muß. Mama hat jedoch auch diese Passage gemeistert.

Mom, dad and me with the steep last part of the descent in the background.
-
Mama, Papa, und ich mit dem letzten steilen Teil des Abstiegs im Hintergrund.

My dad and I in front of an Alpine hut.
-
Mein Vater und ich auf der Bank vor einer Alpenhütte.

Alm in a remote valley.
-
Alm in einem entlegenen Tal.

As you all see we had great fun.
-
Wie ihr seht hatten wir sehr viel Spaß.

Skilak Lake

2009-09-24T05:23:00.014-08:00

After two months my brace was off and Darcy and I decided to check out Skilak Lake in Darcy's parents Klepper boat. Again, the weather was great - calm which is good to have on Skilak Lake.

Beautiful view towards the Skilak River delta.

These logs scattered on the lakes Northern shore are evidence that the lake can quickly turn on you.

In the middle of the night we had a visitor . I woke up when I heard a bear barking right behind our tent. He must have been upset that we camped right on his trail. YIKES!

Cormorants and seagulls are a common sight.

View onto Skilak Lake from a hill on its Northern shore.

Peterson Bay

2009-09-24T05:23:00.013-08:00

Sometime in August our neighbors the Burkholders invited us to their cabin in Peterson Bay near Homer. We happily accepted had we heard about their place on a cliff for a very long time. We were very excited to visit. Since Darcy had to be in Homer for work before the weekend, I decided to come along. We visited the NOAA laboratory near Homer and then spent the weekend at Burkys' cabin.

Jim and Sally on their boat

the cabin with stairway to the upper cabin in which we staid (below)

Sally and Jim in their cabin from which one has a great view onto the bay. The beautiful stove you see in the picture above, Jim built himself.

We had great fun exploring our surroundings. On our trip we went into Halibut Cove.

Darcy had also great fun collecting huge blue berries that grow on Jim and Sally's property.

Morning paddle in China Poot Bay where we unfortunately had to see a black bear that was shot laying dead on the back of a boat we passed while paddling.

Falls Creek

2009-09-24T05:22:00.006-08:00

Over the 4th of July, Josh, Cema, Darcy. me and Keith and Kendra's dog Kaja went into Falls Creek on the Kenai Peninsula. The weather was superb.

Winner Creek

2009-09-24T05:19:00.005-08:00

I took a first weekend hike after my accident in late June six weeks after. I could hike in a brace and had to give my gear to Darcy, Tory and Kate. I am very lucky to have friends that care and I was glad to get out of town to enjoy the outdoors once again. Thanks so much to Tory, Darcy, and Kate for slogging my stuff.

Darcy's dad (right) and Uncle Doug joined us for the first section of Winner Creek Trail. On the far left my old coach Paul Crews.

Kate balancing on a fallen log across one of the creeks.

Kate and Darcy navigating remains of an avalanche.

The Winner Creek Pass is really fantastic offering nice camping ambient and gorgeous views.

We camped right on the pass.

With one of Tory's essentials in the bag (whiskey) the evening turned out to be real fun.

Tory making coffee with lots of half and half that he carried up here.

Darcy giving her looks.

Twin Peaks

2009-09-24T05:18:00.010-08:00

In early May Ian, Josh and I wanted to climb the North Face of Pioneer Peak. The conditions looked great but we for some reason one of us did not have the crucial footwear to do the steep climb so we opted to do the Twin Peaks instead. The snow was melting fast due to a layer of ash remnants from the outbreak of Mount Redoubt earlier in the year.

Ian on the way to East Twin Peak 5,873 ft.

Ian and Josh climbing through a couloir on East Twin Peak.

Ian on the East Ridge of East Twin Peak

Me descending East Twin Peak (photo by Ian Laing)

Compared to East Twin Peak, the climb up West Twin Peak (5,401 ft) is more straight forward. We hung out at the summit enjoying the views.

View from West Twin Peak into the Matanuska Valley where the Mat River meets the Knik River.

Ian descending West Twin Peak.

West and East Twin Peak

Southeast view from West Twin's South ridge. The summits of Bold and Bashful are on the left side of the image.

I am still here ...

2009-05-30T12:43:00.009-08:00

I am still here …

I cannot explain why I am still alive. It’s like being born again or having a second chance. The last time I felt like this was ten years ago when I was hanging on 220 Volts. I was sanding a wooden floor and drove the sander across its power cord. Back then the circuit breaker saved my life. This time it was my helmet and a rope bag that softened the blow when I hit ground. I am lucky - extremely lucky. “We are glad the guardian angels did their job”, mom and dad said. “You send them every week” (at the end of our obligatory weekly phone call), I said.

The terms of your existence can change any second.

A small rock gully seemed to be the obvious way to ascend in order to set up a top rope for climbing Black Lung, a nice 5.11 at the far right of the Puriton Creekside Cliff. It was supposed to be our last climb after Marital Bliss and Unknown. Dugan and Tucky sorted out gear while I took off, scrambling up the roughly 40 degree rock gully to set up the top rope. After about 15 meters, I started to question my judgment. Too late!? I carried a rope bag that got in the way of scrambling and the rock became increasingly lose. It was only 5 meters to top out of the gully so I decided to keep going and grabbed a large rock fin, the perfect hold for my right hand, I thought. But not so! The same rock, the size of a suitcase, came loose and blew me off my feet immediately. Within milliseconds I was on my way to hit ground hard at G-force. Rocks hissed by like projectiles. Reality blurred into a spinning wheel of colors. My body fell. My mind blacked out in disbelief.

Quiet …. peace … then I woke.

“Where am I?”, I asked. Somebody stabilized my neck while others checked for bleeding and called the medics. The rescue personnel arrived within half an hour and strapped me onto a backboard. I loved it. I felt stable and secure as my climbing partners carried me down to the medical transporter. Usually it’s five minutes to the road – but it was more like thirty to get across talus and through thick brush.

With adrenalin … time flew by.

My memory came back. I had survived. “But will I keep access to my life - the access I took for granted every single day of play during my thirty four years?” After an hour’s drive to the hospital, x-rays revealed: compression fracture on vertebrae T11 (mid-back), broken 6^th rib, and lacerations on my left shin, left hip, head, and chin. My helmet broke but my spinal cord seemed to be O.K.! I was extremely lucky.

I have been given the world again.

Then, they rushed me to the operating room. A sharp rock cut all the way to the bone scraping off bone pieces. My wounds needed to be cleaned and stitched up in order to prevent bone infection. I felt the anesthesia hit like fuzzy warm liquid rushing quickly into the farthest parts of my body.

I went under … and woke … a second time.

About nine hours after my accident, I was fixed. It was midnight, May 17^th 2009. Dugan stayed with me all this time. He slept on the couch, checked on me during the night, brought me chocolate the next morning, and made the all important phone calls to let friends and family know about my condition. He also sent for the nurse when I needed any kind of relief.

Loved ones … care about you.

One of the toughest challenges was to keep adequate communication between me and my family in Germany. Nobody around me spoke German but my girlfriend Darcy turned out to be my magician acting from afar. She crafted many e-mails, one of them to my parents in English. But she had to get it translated so she sent it to Kate in Alaska, who knew a friend in New Zealand who happened to be in Africa at the time and sent it to another friend in Germany, who then translated it for my parents, in just … half an hour.

Since the accident, the support and care I received from family and friends is truly breathtaking and once again reminds me what really counts in life. I know time and life will soon move quickly and this incident will remain as a stark reminder of the important things in life far aside from schedules, plans, and work. It’s good to sometimes re-discover what it means to hang out and enjoy each others’ company rather than resuming the solitary independent ways of modern life.

To this day, it remains a miracle to me where I was during my black out and what it meant. Was I losing consciousness because my body’s protective mechanism kicked in to conserve valuable life resources? Was it because my mind could not process the overload of horror I found myself in? Or was it the first step on a path we all need to walk some day?

talking to Darcy - am Telefon mit Darcy

Me on Unknown a couple hours before the accident - Ein paar Stunden vor dem Unfall kletterte ich Unknown im Vorstieg.

pictures by Bob Dugan

Kayak to Ski

2009-05-25T10:24:00.006-08:00

On the first weekend in May, my friend Kat was visiting from Vancouver. The weather was great so we decided to go on a paddle to ski trip in Prince William Sound. With us were Raphael Wunderle and Joshua Mulkey.
-
Am ersten Wochenende im Mai, Kat eine Studienkollegin aus Vancouver war zu Besuch. Das Wetter war prima und somit haben wir uns zu einer Paddel und Skitour im Prinz William Sound entschieden. Mit dabei waren Raphael Wunderle aus Bubenbach und mein Kletterkollege Joshua Mulkey.
Because the road to Whittier was still closed due to rockfall, we took the train which was for free.
-
Da die Straße nach Whittier noch immer wegen Erdrutsch gesperrt war nahmen wir den Zug. Der Fahrpreis wurde vom Staat übernommen.

Josh and Raphael crossing Blackstone Bay towards the Tebenkof Glacier.
-
Josh und Raphael beim Überqueren der Blackstone Bay.

We made camp near the Tebenkof Glacier.
-
Wir zelteten in der Nähe des Tebenkof Gletschers.

Kat on the way to where there was good skiing
-
Kat auf dem Weg zum Skifahren.

Kat and Port Wells in the background
-
Kat und im Hintergrund Port Wells

Blackstone Bay

Toby, Kat, Joshua, und Raphael

Sealions come to visit us while paddling back to Whittier
-
Seelöwen kamen vorbei als wir zurück nach Whittier gepaddelt sind.

Puriton Rock

2009-04-19T20:41:00.004-08:00

John invited me to come along to rock climb at Puriton Creek on the Glenn Highway near Palmer. For April the weather was great with a bit of sun that made for warm rock. We climbed a total of four routes and were the only ones there. Aside from the great times, climbing with John is awesome as I always seem to learn a bit more every time I go with him.
-
John lud mich zum Klettern bei Purinton Creek am Glenn Highway in der Nähe von Palmer ein. Wenn man bedenkt daß es April ist hatten wir echt gutes Wetter mit etwas Sonne die den Fels etwas erwärmte. Wir kletterten vier Routen und hatten den ganzen Fels für uns. Ich klettere gerne mit John denn jedes mal lerne ich mehr hinzu.

The right part of Puriton Creek climbing area. This is were we climbed. The walk up to the climbs is only 5 minutes. 5.9 to 5.11
-
Die rechte Seite des Klettergebietes am Puriton Creek. Nach ungefähr 5 Minuten Gehzeit gelangt man an den Fuße der Wand. VI - VII

John studying the (what used to be the only) "guide book" which are pieces of hand drawings on copy paper "published" about 15 years ago.
-
John studiert den Kletterführer, den bisher einzig erhältlichen, auf Kopierpapier der etwa vor 15 Jahren verkauft wurde.

View of the Chugach Range from the top of one of the climbs.
-
Blick auf die Chugach Kette.

John putting in some friends.
-
John legt zusätzliche "friends" Sicherungen.

View towards the Wiener Lake climbing area with King Mountain in the background.
-
Blick auf das Klettergebiet Wiener Lake, im Hintergrund King Mountain.

Skiing on Mt. Williwaw

2009-04-12T20:44:00.004-08:00

Work at my new workplace starts on Monday, so I thought it's time for some final play time. Josh and I decided to give Mt. Williwaw a try. The weather was overcast with the occasional break in the clouds and the summit was hiding behind clouds as we moved up the Middle Fork of Campbell Creek. After a little more than two hours we reached the lower end of the southwest gully and started boot packing. The snow in the couloir was solid which made for an easy way up. However we got spooked by sudden hip deep post holing as we topped out of the couloir at around 4500 ft. In some spots I could easily poke my pole with basket first all the way to the rocks - SCARY! So we decided to bag it and turn back. Whiteout conditions on the last 1000ft of our climb made the return a bit easier.
-
Am Montag fange ich an meinem neuen Arbeitsplatz an und somit wollte ich an diesem Wochenende natürlich etwas unternehmen. Joshua und ich entschieden uns auf den Mt. Williwaw zu gehen. Der Himmel war bewölkt mit vereinzelten Lücken in der Wolkendecke. Der Gupfel war auch in Wolken als wir den Mittelarm des Campbell Creek Tales hoch gingen. Nach etwas mehr als zwei Stunden waren wir am Fuße der SW Felsrinne angelangt und trugen beim Aubstieg durch die Rinne die Ski am Rucksack. Der Schnee war sehr stabil anderte sich jedoch drastisch als wir aus der Rinne herausstiegen. Ans Weitergehen wollten wir daher nicht denken und sind schnurstracks umgedreht. Zudem war der Gipfel immernoch von Nebel verhüllt.

Josh skate skiing on telegear near Williwaw Lakes. In the background Mt. Williwaw
(5445ft).
-
Josh beim Skaten mit Telemarkski im Campbell Creek Tal. Im Hintergrund der Mt. Williwaw (1660m).

Josh topping out of the couloir.
-
Joshua beim Ausstieg aus der Felsrinne.

Josh skiing the lower portion of the couloir which in its steepest section is roughly 40 degrees.
-
Josh im Telemark im unteren Teil der Felsrinne die im steilsten Stück ungefähr 40 Grad steil ist.

Josh skiing out. See the SW couloir in the background.
-
Josh auf dem Heimzug. Im Hintergrund das SW couloir.

Ice climbers on O'Malley Falls North of O'Malley Peak.
-
Eiskletterer auf der Nordseite des O'Malley Peaks.

Hunter Creek Ice

2009-04-07T21:50:00.008-08:00

On a weekday in the second week of April Josh and I went ice climbing in Hunter Creek. WE met at 9 a.m., started climbing at 11:15, and finished at 6p.m. for a total of 5 pitches. Approximately at 8 p.m. I was back at home. It turns out, a couple days later Tucky and I went back there climbing Lost Chord.
-
An einem Wochentag in der zweiten Aprilwoche waren Josh und ich zum Eisklettern im Hunter Creek. Um 9:00 gings mit dem Auto zum Hunter Creek Parkplatz. Nach 45 min Fußmarsch auf dem Bacheis fingen wir um 11:15 an zu klettern. Nach insgesamt 5 Seillängen Kletterei ging es um 6 abends wieder zurück nach Anchorage. Um 8 war ich dann zuhause.

Josh and I on top of "Split Finish."
-
Josh und ich am Ende des Split Finish.

Josh im Hunter Creek. Bei unserem Anmarsch war der Hunter Creek gut zugefrohren. Manchmal gibt es nasse Füße aber letztens waren immer gute Bedingungen.

Josh leading our second climb on Lost in Space (WI 3). I lead the previous climb further to climber's right.
-
Josh am Lost in Space (Wasserfalleis 3). Ich kletterte eine Route mehr rechts bei unserem ersten Versuch.

Josh on the rapell off of Lost in Space
-
Josh beim Abseilen am Lost in Space.

Lost Chord (WI4). We did admire this massive water ice climb.
-
Lost Chord (Wasserfalleis 4). Wir bewunderten diesen sehr großen Wasserfall.

Split Finish (WI3). I led the first pitch and Josh lead second and third pitch up the right side finish. Since Josh brought a 70m double rope we rappelled twice from a rap ring placed on a large cotton wood on climber's right in the middle of the climb. After the first steeper section there is a rap ring off an alder on climber's right.
-
Split Finish. Ich kletterte die erste Seillänge vor und Josh die zweite und dritte. Da Josh sein 70m Doppelseil mit dabei hatte konnten wir mit zweimal abseilen auskommen.

Pastoral to Grand Daddy

2009-04-06T12:10:00.004-08:00

The first weekend in April nine of us went do a long day in Turnagain. The party: Lars, Bart, Andrew, Brian, Charlie, Mark, Toren, Collin, and me. The tour: Sunburst PL, Taylor Pass, Pastoral Peak, Grand Daddy, Bertha Creek, Sunburst PL.
-
Am ersten Wochenende im April war ich mit acht Freunden im Turnagain Gebiet auf Skitour. Mit dabei waren: Bart, Lars, Andrew, Brian, Charlie, Mark, Toren, Collin und ich. Die Tour ging vom Sunburst Parkplatz zum Taylor Paß und von dort auf den Pastoral Peak. Vom Gipfel runter zum Sattel auf der Südseite und hinauf auf den Grand Daddy Peak und über das Bertha Creek Tal wieder zurück zum Parkplatz.

North side of Pastoral Peak as seen from Taylor Pass
-
Die Nordseite von Pastoral Peak wie man sie vom Taylor Paß aus sieht.

The Sail an imposing cornice. In the background Carpathian Peak - Das Segel ist eine imposante Wechte. Im Hintergrund Carpathian (Karpaten) Peak.

Paul below the Summit of Pastoral Peak.
-
Paul unterhalb des Gipfels des Pastoral Peak.

Mark and Lars backing off from skiing Grand Daddies main couloir.
-
Mark und Lars beim Rückzug aus der Felsrinne am Grand Daddy.

The group inspecting recent avalanche debris.
-
Die Gruppe inspiziert eine Lawine.

Scandinavian Peaks III

2009-04-03T15:59:00.007-08:00

After 9 days we actually had planned to get picked up by Meekin but the weather was bad and we stuck it out another three days.
-
Nach neun Tagen wollten wir wieder abgeholt werden aber das Wetter war schlecht und so saßen wir für weitere dre Tage fest.

wind swept ridge behind the hut
-
Durch den starken Wind lag hinter der Hütte kein Schnee mehr.

The hut needed several repairs.
-
Die Hütte mußte an einigen Stellen repariert werden.

We had more than enough stormy days and therefore lots of room for play that we knew how to fill it with Settlers of Catan, a monopoly like German board game. What would we have done without this in 12 days at the hut and 3.5 actual climbing days.
-
Wir hatten mehr als genug von den stürmischen Tagen aber glücklicherweise hatten wir Siedler von Catan bei uns. In 12 Tagen hatten wir leider nur drei einhalb richtige Klettertage.

Chris and I decided to test out the way out on the glacier in a whiteout which is not advisable in fog and with such low snow cover on the glacier itself.
-
Chris und ich versuchten über den Gletscher zurück zur Zivilisation zu gelangen. Wir können jedoch davon abraten jedenfalls bei der miserablen Schneelage und bei Nebel.

Chris going back to the hut.
-
Chris beim Rückzug zur Hütte.

After 12 days - no comments.
-
Nach 12 Tagen - kein Kommentar.

Finally we are flying back.
-
Endlich ist es soweit. Wir fliegen zurück!

Scandinavian Peaks II

2009-04-03T15:32:00.008-08:00

Our best weather for a day of climbing came on Friday March 27. The weather so far was marginal with many storms coming and going sometimes with high winds that threw rock and ice pieces against the hut at night.
-
Das bestes Wetter zum Bergsteigen hatten wir am Freitag dem 27ten März. Soweit hatten wir einige stürmische Nächte in denen der starke Wind kleine Steine und Eisstücke gegen das Blech der Hütte schleuderte. Zum Glück hatte ich meine Ohrstöpsel bei mir.

Chris (shown here on an earlier test climb) topping out of the couloir on Ya Sure's East side where one can easily and quickly gain the Viking Glacier. From here we went North to a col on Iceland Peak's East side and climbed to the summit ( 8870ft). We reached the summit after 3 hours from the hut (5160ft).
-
Chris beim Ausstieg einer Felsrinne auf der Ostseite des Ya Sure Peaks. Von hier aus ging es über den Gletscher zum Iceland Peak (2700m) dessen Gipfel wir nach 3 Stunden von der Hütte (1570m) aus erreichten.

Chris on the summit of Iceland Peak. In the background see Mount Marcus Baker (13,176'), the highest in the Chugach Range.
-
Chris am Gipfel des Iceland Peak. Im Hintergrund sieht man den höchsten Berg der Chugach Kette, den Mount Marcus Baker (4017m).

Chris and I on the summit of Iceland Peak - Chris und ich am Gipfel des Iceland Peak.

Chris on the descent off of Iceland Peak and traversing on the ridge to Latvia Peak (8410') seen in the upper left hand.
-
Chris im Abstieg vom Iceland Peak und beim Traversieren zum Latvia Peak (2565m).

After Latvia we went to Ya Sure which is a bit more technical but lower than the previous peaks.
-
Nach Latvia ging es zum dritten Berg des Tages, dem Ya Sure einem technisch anspruchsvolleren aber niedrigeren Berg.

We climbed Ya Sure (7200') via the East ridge as seen in the above picture.
-
Wir erklommen den Ya Sure (2200m) über den Ostgrat wie im obigen Bild zu sehen.

Chris sun bathing on the East ridge after summitting Ya Sure. We made it back to the hut in 9.5 hours.
-
Chris nimmt ein Sonnenbad nach erfolgreicher Besteigung des Ya Sure. Nach 9.5 Stunden waren wir wieder zurück in der Hütte.

Scandinavian Peaks I

2009-04-03T14:47:00.007-08:00

It's still March of 2009 and I am still without work so I decided to go climbing into the Scandinavian Peaks (Chugach Range) after having spent wonderful times with Darcy in spring/summer like temperatures. The trip included Carrie Wang, Wayne Todd, and Chris Cannon.
-
Es ist März 2009 und ich bin noch immer ohne Arbeit. Nachdem ich bei frühlingshaften Temperaturen einen wunderschönen Urlaub mit Darcy verbringen konnte entschied ich mich zum Bergsteigen und Skifahren in den Skandinawischen Bergen zu gehen. Mit dabei waren Carrie Wang, Wayne Todd, und Chris Cannon.

We flew in with Mike Meekin (907-745-1626). Mike said that he has never seen such spare snow cover on the Matanuska Glacier (see toe of the glacier above).

The Scandinavian Hut was established in 1990 by the Mountaineering Club of Alaska (mca.org) and can be used by members of the club. It is located on the Northern moraine of the Scandinavian Glacier and offers breathtaking views onto climbing objectives in the vicinity, the Matanuska Glacier, and Mount Marcus Baker. You can see the hut off center left in the above picture.
-
Die Skandinawien Hütte ist Mitte Links im obigen Bild zu sehen. Sie befindet sich auf einer Gletschermoräne und bietet atemberaubende Blicke auf die umliegenden Berge.

The climbing team from left to right: Wayne, Carrie, Chris, and me.
-
Das Kletterteam von links nach rechts: Wayne, Carrie, Chris, und ich.

Wayne and Chris just below the summit of Greenland Peak (8445ft).
-
Wayne und Chris unterhalb des Gipfels am Greenland Peak (2275m).

Our next climbing objective was Finland Peak (9405ft) as seen above from the Western approach via the Scandinavian Glacier. The route took us on a northeasterly direction reaching somewhat of a plateau at 8500'. From there our route followed the North ridge as seen from the summit of Iceland Peak in the picture below.
-
Unsere nächste Tour ging auf den Finland Peak (2870m), dem höchsten der Skandinawischen Peaks. Unsere Route verlief in nordöstlicher Richtung auf ein Palteau und folgte danach dem Nordgrat der im unteren Bild zu sehen ist.

Center: the North ridge of Finland Peak as seen from Iceland Peak.
-
Bildmitte: der Nordgrat des Finland Peaks vom Iceland Peak aus gesehen.

Carrie and Wayne on the North ridge of Finland Peak as seen from the summit.
-
Carrie und Wayne auf dem Nordgrat des Finland Peak, vom Gipfel aus gesehen.

Wayne and Carrie after successful climb of Finland Peak (center in background)
-
Wayne und Carrie nach erforgreicher Besteigung des Finland Peaks (Bildmitte im Hintergrund)

Standford

2009-04-03T14:40:00.003-08:00

I finally had a chance to check out where Darcy went to school. After our Yosemite trip we visited Stanford for a bit and met up with her college adviser and other magic people at Stanford University.
-
Endlich hatte ich die Möglichkeit mit Darcy die Stanford Universität zu sehen. Nach unserem Yosemite Trip besuchten wir dort ihre Studienbetreuerin und andere Bekannte von Darcy.

Yosemite IV - 2nd ski tour

2009-04-03T14:29:00.005-08:00

Our last adventure in Yosemite brought us to another ski hut, the Ostrander Ski Hut. I always wonder about the stories of naming ski huts, many of which bear German names. The same goes for Rosie's Hut, Hans' Hut, or Picher's Perch on the Eklutna Traverse.
-
Unser letzes Abenteuer im Yosemite Nationalpark brachte uns zu einer weiteren Skihütte, der Ostrander Ski Hütte. Ich wundere mich manchmal was hinter den deutschen Namen von Skihütten steckt. Auf der Eklutna Traverse in der Chugach Kette in der Nähe von Girdwood, Alaska, gibt es gleich drei Hütte die einen deutschen Namen tragen.

Darcy on Merced Ridge with view onto the Clark Range.
-
Darcy auf dem Merced Rücken mit Blick auf die Clark Kette

Morning light on the seldon seen backside of Half Dome.
-
Morgenstimmung an der selten gesehenen Rückseite des Halbdoms.

Our camp spot on Horizon Ridge before the Ostrander Hut was superb and offered great views of the Clarks Range and back side of Half Dome.
-
Wir schlugen unser Zelt auf dem Horizon Rücken auf und hatten einen super Blick auf die Clark Kette und der Rückseite des Halbdoms.

Yosemite III - 1st ski tour

2009-04-03T14:02:00.008-08:00

Darcy and I skied to a winter use only cabin on the Northern rim of Yosemite Valley. Established in the 1930s it is located off trail in the middle of the forest and can be hard to find.
(see route description below).
-
Darcy und ich gingen mit Ski zu einer Winterhütte am nördlichen Rand des Yosemite Tales. Die Hütte wurde in den 30er Jahren erbaut und befindet sich fernab vom Weg in Mitten des Waldes und ist somit schwer zu finden.

Darcy hiking in spring conditions on the Switchback Trail towards the rim of Yosemite Valley.
-
Darcy wandert bei frühlingshaften Bedingungen zum Rand des Yosemite Tales.

Darcy and I in front of the cabin we stayed in - Darcy und ich vor der Hütte in der wir übernachteten.

Half Dome as seen from Mount Watkins
-
Der Half Dome wie man ihn vom Mount Watkins aus betrachten kann.

Route description to this cabin:
After reaching the rim on top of the switchbacks, take a right at the first intersection towards Tenaya Lake. Cross the creek on a bridge, then follow the trail markers and gain elevation for a mile or two until reaching another intersection. Take the righthand trail towards Olmsted Point. After a few hundred yards you reach a clearing with a small granite cliff showing on its Northern side. Before you enter this clearing, turn sharp right perpendicular to the trail and cross one of the small tributaries of the creek which in German would be called Schnee Bach. There is another clearing extending on both sides of the creek. Cross the clearing perpendicular to the creek and enter the forest boundary. The cabin is somewhat hidden within a stand of large trees on the second clearing's Southern side.

Yosemite II - Sequoias

2009-04-03T13:42:00.006-08:00

Yosemite National Park has grove of sequia trees that we visited. Sequioas are a kind of cypress tree that can reach over 100 m and several thousand years in age. The soft wood and difficult logging conditions made it impossible to economically harvest the trees. To this day we are still able to enjoy the natural wonder of these tree giants.
-
Im Yosemite Nationalpark gibt es einen Stand von Sequoia Bäumen, einer Zypressen Art die zu den größten Bäumen der Welt zählt. Die Bäume können mehrere Tausend Jahre alt werden und eine Höhe von 100 m erreichen. Das weiche Holz und die technisch schwierigen Fällbedingungen ermöglichten keine wirtschaftliche Nutzung des Holzes und somit sind diese Baumriesen noch heute zu bewundern.

Darcy in awe below a giant sequoia
-
Darcy bewundert diesen risigen Sequoia Baum

Do you see Darcy below this giant tree?
-
Sieht ihr Darcy am Fuße dieses Baumeriesen?

Sequoias are amazingly fire resistant. Their inside can burn completely while the tree remains alive and even generating seeds.
-
Sequoias sind erstaunlicherweise feuerresistent. Das Innere des Baumes kann komplett ausbrennen dennoch bleibt der Baum am Leben.

Yosemite I - wonders

2009-04-03T13:08:00.007-08:00

During Darcy's Spring Break it finally came true - a trip to Yosemite National Park. We had planned it for last fall but my work schedule and the lack of vacation prevented us from meeting there. We were fortunate to be able to stay with Hannah, Darcy's long time college friend who now works in the park as a naturalist guide. It was so nice to see Darcy. We haven't seen each other since January.
-
Während den Frühlingsferien hat es endlich geklappt. Darcy und ich trafen uns im Yosemite Nationalpark in Kalifornien. Ursprünglich planten wir diesen Urlaub für letzten Herbst aber wegen meiner Arbeit konnten wir damals leider nicht gehen. Wir schätzten sehr daß wir bei Hannah, Darcy's Unikollegin, unterkommen konnten. Und Darcy und ich haben es natürlich genossen zusammen zu sein. Wir hatten uns das letzte Mal im Januar gesehen.

Yosemite Valley in evening light as seen from Tunnel View on the Wawona Road - Das Yosemite Tal im Abendlicht, von der Wawona Straße aus gesehen

Darcy, ich, Kevin und Hannah unterhalb des El Capitan einer 1000m hohen Felswand - ein Paradies für Kletterer

Yosemite Falls with snow from transformed water that built up over a clear cold night - Yosemite Wasserfall mit Frost der sich über Nacht vom herabfallended Wasser gebildet hat

Bridalveil Falls in evening light - Brautschleier Wasserfall im Abendlicht

North Dome and Basket Dome with Royal Arches as seen from Sierra Point - Norddom und Korbdom mit den königlichen Bögen

The commanding 3000ft rock wall of El Capitan - Die imposante über 1000 m hohe Felswand des El Capitan

Chickalloon

2009-03-04T20:21:00.004-09:00

My friend Ryan has a cabin in Chickalloon and since I am on a five week vacation we spent some time there exploring the backcountry. With us was Ryan's ice climbing buddy John.
-
Mein Freund Ryan hat eine Hütte in Chickalloon im Matanuska Tal. Da ich zur Zeit Ferien habe konnten wir für ein paar Tage auf Entdeckungstour gehen. Mit dabei war Ryan's Freund John.

Ryan's cabin - Ryan's Hütte

Ryan snowmobiling on the Chickalloon River - Ryan mit dem Skidoo auf dem Chickaloon River.

Me in full gear - Ich in voller Montur mit Skidoo.

Chickalloon Narrows

Hotel rocks
Trapper tracks - Trapper Spur

Christmas

2009-01-10T19:27:00.003-09:00

Darcy and I celebrated Christmas with her family in Girdwood
-
Darcy und ich feirten Weihnachten mit ihrer Familie in Girdwood, südlich von Anchorage.

Obligatory Christmas morning ski - Obligatorischer Weihnachtsskilauf

Winner Creek

Dugan at Winner Creek

John Samuelson on Tincan

Darcy on Tincan
View from the West ridge on Tincan into Tincan Creek on the left and Lyon Creek on the right - Blick vom Westgrat am Tincan in das Tincan (links) und Lyon Creek Tal (rechts)

Skitour on Ragged Top - Skitour am Ragged Top

Dugan and Goat Mountain in background - Dugan und Goat Mountain im Hintergrund

Residence in Girdwood - Anwesen in Girdwood

Solstice

2009-01-10T18:37:00.004-09:00

Solstice is always a special day - from here on out the days are getting longer again, finally. It get's light at 10 a.m. and dark at 3 p.m. which does not leave much time for outdoor activities. Still we went ski touring with Dugan, John Samuelson, Stefan who came from Fairbanks for a visit, Darcy, and me. We went to ski a southern aspect in Lips.
-
Wintersonnwende ist immer ein besonderer Tag. Jetzt werden die Tage endlich wieder länger. Um 10 Uhr wird es hell und um 3 Uhr schon wieder dunkel. Das läßt einem kaum Zeit für eine Skitour oder ähnliches. Aber trotzdem waren wir am Turnagain Pass unterwegs: Darcy's Vater, John, Stefan, der uns aus Fairbanks besuchen kam, Darcy, und ich.

Dugan, Darcy, and John in Lips

Darcy in steep terrain - Darcy in steilem Gelände

Stefan before taking off on his ski down - Stefan vor der Abfahrt

Darcy's dad taking a break on the ridge - Darcy's Vater macht vor der Abfahrt Rast auf einem Grat

Stefan on the descent - Stefan in der Abfahrt

After the skitour we met at the Johnson's cabin near Summit Lake - Nach unserer Tour trafen wir uns mit Diana in ihrer Hütte in der Nähe vom Summit Lake.

Meagan Holten juggling - Meagan Holten jongliert

Skitour up Freson Ridge

Tory und Stefan near the summit

Torz enjoys last sun rays on the shortest daz of the year - Tory genießt die letzten Sonnenstrahlen am kürzesten Tag des Jahres

Kincaid Winter

2008-12-13T21:25:00.006-09:00

It is December 13th, only eight days to solstice. Daylight is scarce these days but when it is around its super soft and puts everything into the softest light you can imagine. The sun went up at 10 this morning and disappeared again at 3 in the afternoon.

-
Es ist der 13te Dezember. Nur noch acht Tage bis zur Wintersonnwende. Die Tage sind momentan sehr kurz. Wenn jedoch die Sonne scheint taucht sie alles in ein weiches rosanes Licht. Die Sonne ging heute um 10 Uhr früh auf und ging schon wieder um 3 Uhr nachmittags unter.

Jodhpur Street at noon
-
Jodhpur Street um 12 Uhr mittags

Skiing behind the house in Kincaid Park at 3 degrees F
-
Langlaufen auf den Loipen hinterm Haus im Kincaid Park bei minus 18 Grad. Bbbbbbrrrrrrrr

Fire Island with a frozen ocean - Feuer Insel mit gefrorenem Meer

View from the Leekish Loop towards the Chugach Mountains
-
Blick von der Leekish Runde auf die Berge der Chugachkette

View into Turnagain Arm - Blick aufs Meer (Turnagain Arm)

I live here - Hier wohne ich

Caribou Ice

2008-12-13T20:37:00.004-09:00

Wayne and Carrie that I met during my Resurrection Pass adventure invited me to come along on a weekend full of ice climbing in Caribou Creek. It was fantastic and was lots of fun.
-
Wayne und Carrie die ich während meiner Skitour am Paß der Auferstehung kennengelernt habe, hatten mich für ein Wochende zum Eisklettern in der Schlucht des Caribou Creek eingeladen. Es war fantastisch und hat sehr viel Spaß gemacht.

Cerrie and Wayne approaching the second of many steps of "Kids around the corner" (III) - Carrie und Wayne in den Eisstufen von "Kinder hinter der nächsten Ecke"

Carrie

It's getting tight in Kids around the Corner - Es wurde eng

Wayne in Kids Around the Corner

Evening in Caribou Creek - Abendstimming im Caribou Creek

Wayne and Carrie warming at the campfire - Wayne und Carrie wärmen sich am Lagerfeuer auf

Redemption - Rückzahlung

Wayne leading the right side of Kantlellia Falls (IV - V) - Wayne im Vorstieg auf der rechten Seite der Kantellia Wasserfälle

Carrie following - Carrie im Nachtieg

Climbing in last remaining daylight, Wayne and I reached the rim of the canyon - Wayne und ich kletterten im letzen Tageslicht bis an den Rand der Schlucht

on the way out we had to walk in the dark - nach Hause gings im Dundkeln

Ress Pass

2008-12-02T21:43:00.006-09:00

To get a Thanksgiving Turkey dinner I had to ski up Ress Pass this year which I very much enjoyed because Steve (who cooked and pulled the turkey), Anne, Wayne, Kerry, and Paul skied in the day before to the Devil's Pass Cabin.

-
Um meinen Thanksgiving Truthahn zu bekommen mußte ich auf den Ress Pass laufen. Das habe ich natürlich genossen denn Steve (der den Truthahn gekochet und mitgebracht hat), Anne, Wayne, Kerry, und Paul sind am Tag zuvor zum Devil's Pass gelaufen.

Juneau Falls / Juneau Wasserfall

Devil's Pass Cabin / Devil's Pass Hütte

Steve taking off in beautiful morning light - Steve im Morgenlicht

Kerry, Anne, and Wayne on their way to Swan Lake

Steve with sled - Steve mit Pulk

me, Anne, and Kerry

Paul with Aglu the dog, me, Kerrz, Wayne, Steve, and Anne after turkey dinner at the cabin

Check out how the group howeled with Aglu the sled dog

always good to carry some wire and zip ties

Wayne, Kerry, Steve, and Anne

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T21:31:00.005-09:00

I was very fortunate when Darcy decided to come up to Alaska for a visit full of love, fun, and adventure. The weather cooperated leaving us with some pow to ski. And for Thanksgiving dinner we had homemade pizza.
/
Glücklicherweise hat sich Darcy dazu entschieden über Thanksgiving nach Alaska zu kommen um mich zu besuche. Wir hatten eine super schöne Zeit zusammen mit viel Spaß und jeder Menge Abenteuer. Das Wetter hat gut mitgespielt und uns etwas Pulverschnee verschafft. An Thanksgiving hat es dann selbstgebackene Pizza gegeben.

Anna and Teagen came to get her harp lesson and we got a lot of laughs out of it
-
Anna und Teagan kamen zur Harfenstunde. Natürlich gab es viel zu lachen.

Mendenhall Ice

2008-11-16T21:02:00.004-09:00

What a day - this November 16th 2008. Kate, Rob, and I went ice climbing on Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau and had a blast. After climbing in a crevasse and outside an ice cave we walk back along the shoreline under a gorgeous night sky.

/
Was für ein Tag. Kate, Rob, und ich gingen heute am Mendehall Gletscher in Juneau eisklettern und hatten jede Menge Spaß. Nach dem wir in einer Gletscherspalte und an einer Eishöle kellterten gingen wir am Seeufer entlang zurück zum Auto. Der Nachthimmel war wunderschön.

nature's art / Kunst der Natur

Kate and Rob walk towards the glacier / Kate und Rob auf dem Weg zum Gletscher

Kate and Rob taking a break / Kate und Rob machen Pause

Mendenhall Glacier with Mendenhall Lake / Mendenhall Gletscher mit Mendenhall See