Kesugi Ridge - 9.28.2013

Kesugi Ridge is one of those "Alaska Must Do" activities. Running from the northeast to the southwest, the ridge parallels the Alaska Range, allowing one to spend days in the tundra staring straight at Denali, Foraker, and the other giants of the range. The ridge has three components; each of which can be done in separate chunks or as one epic. Last Friday, Alex and I headed north after work to check out the Little Coal Creek to Ermine Hill section. I needed to be back in town on Sunday, so we figured we'd just knock out the 30 km section in one day. Much of the trail was covered in boot deep snow, and strong winds battered us all day - basically it felt like the end of September at 60 degrees north. We got little peeks of the Alaska Range giants through the clouds, but the cloud level generally stayed low throughout the day. But, each peek brought that exhilarating feeling of newness and adventure. Alex and I think its quite possible to run the entire 45 km traverse in one day, I'm looking forward to doing it next summer!

This post is a little different. My pictures have been geotagged and linked to a map. Click the map below to check it out!