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Eklutna Traverse Trip
By Chris Riggio, Scree, 7/96
Blue skies, intense sun, and well covered crevasses - a mountaineer's dream trip! These were the conditions encountered during our four day trip from Eklutna to Girdwood. Cory and Elena EIinds, Tina Boucher and I began early Saturday, May 4th, with a head start flight to Bold Strip at the end of Eklutna Lake (with a hard three-bounce landing), skied up most of the still-frozen Eklutna River, and ascended the steep icefall at the glacier terminus. The hanging serac amphitheater at the start was a bit scary as intense reflecting heat melted the icy walls around us. A hard first day to Pichler's - boots to skis to boots to crampons to skis to boots to skis. Spectacular view from Pichler's and joined by two Girdwood climbers, Tanya and Greg, who also shared a first trip on the traverse.
Day 2 was a skin across Eklutna Glacier (and the legendary "21 crevasses" which were very well covered and bridged) and up to Whiteout Pass. We eyed a series of fresh tracks crossing the glacier, climbing up and over a steep snowy ridge far to the southeast. Bear? Wolverine? Wolf? A second set of tracks joined these at one point. Lynx? What a crazy sight, we thought. As we neared the pass, we witnessed an odd and rare sight - a falcon chasing a frightened Canada Goose. This falcon was bearing down on the goose with all its might, but broke off the chase at the east end of the glacial valley. It appears this may have been the reported Peregrine Falcon which has been sighted recently in the Girdwood and Anchorage areas.
After a restful lunch at Whiteout Pass with the "best view in the Chugach," we made our way across softening snow toward Hans' Hut, with intense sun and heat - we were "Bakin' Potatoes - Bakin in the Sun," our adopted mantra. At poor old weather beaten Hans' Hut we dug our way through drifted snow and into the cabin. Amazing tales of cabin bound travelers waiting out storms for days. And of course we saw the burned therma-rest with Dick Griffith's account on the back (you'll have to see it yourself to hear the rest!). Cory and Elena carved some turns on the hill above the hut while Tina and Chris rested their heavy-pack-weary bodies (why were our packs so much heavier than theirs??)
The third day began with a 6:00 a.m. wake-up with hopes to ascend Whiteout Peak before a descent to Rosie's Roost. But first, Cory and Chris played carpenter and repaired the portion of the roof which was missing sheet metal and tar paper (we noticed all the light holes on the inside the previous day). We felt terrible about waking our kind neighbors sleeping in their tent, but we couldn't leave the hut unprotected from the elements.
We skied across Whiteout, stashed a bunch of excess gear on the glacier, and skinned up the south west hill with a crampon push, kicking steps up the final hill to the summit. Fabulous view! Then, an interesting first attempt at skiing roped up for Tina and Chris (just a few falls), and back to the cache for lunch. The descent down the middle of the glacier to Eagle was a quad-burner with the pack. Funky way through the middle of the first moraine trail at the lower rocks, and onto the Eagle. A few welcome clouds saved us from another afternoon of scorching sun (too much sun - whine).
The last day, hard to leave this other world. We skinned up the glacier towards the dreaded "Raven Headwall" with a stop to enjoy some turns midway up off the shoulder of the glacier. Steep, hairy headwall descent, inching across the well covered bergschrund and onto the fiats below the headwall cirque. A fantastic ski down the Raven with gaping crevasses peeking through the snow on the left and on the right. Easy ski off the left side of the glacier followed by a Lyons Family Cafe feast - we were a pretty happy team! No crevasse falls -
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