Sheep Mountain Ridge Hike

We've seen countless unbelievable photos of what seems like everyone in southcentral AK exploring the surreal painted rocks of the Sheep Mountain Traverse. I've always wanted to go, but somehow time just flows by. Summers are so busy, and there's so much to see - what a great problem to have. Finally, on a hot and sunny day in late June of 2024, Nyssa and I joined the pilgrimage to the crumbling colors of the Glenn Highway.

By nine we're done preflighting and fueling up, and are lifting off the ground into a beautiful morning above Merrill Field. We climb over the western edge of the Chugach then cruise northeast across the Knik River Valley before reentering the mountains around the glaciated peaks of Friday Creek. We follow the creek up-valley then the little plane is dwarfed by the behemoth of Skybuster as we start to glide towards the Sheep Mountain Strip. We do a low pass before landing, secure the Cessna, then jog onto the ATV trails that depart from the lodge.

The trails are nice and smooth, and quickly bring us across the cobbles of Glacier Fan Creek and to the Gunsight Mountain Trail on the southern flank of the peak. 


The steep solar aspect feels like its perpendicular to the summer sun and cooks us as we hike up the trail. We're relieved when we reach the cooler air of the tundra benches a couple thousand feet above the road. From the grassy slopes, we look across the Matanuska Valley towards where the South Fork's headwaters spill from the toe of the Powell Glacier.


An acceptable path weaves thru the talus and to the summit of Gunsight. On top of the peak, we lunch on PB&J sandwiches and stare east thru the haze to the glaciated monsters of the Wrangell Mountains and south to the Chugach which are just out of reach.

Then, we start west past Gunsight's namesake notch and towards Sheep Mountain.
 

We look north towards the Caribou Creek basin and its tributaries where Nyssa and I both have fond memories from our early days in Southcentral AK.


Travel on the ridge is surprisingly good: like a gravel path made of the decomposing rock, and we jog the rolling terrain. Nearing Sheep Mountain, the rock changes from metallic purple to sulfuric yellow.


Once past Sheep Mountain, there's a steep pinnacle blocking our way along the ridge. To get around the feature, we try descending to the north, but the steep rock here is covered in ball bearings of gravel and it's treacherous. We retrace our steps and go over the tower. It's exposed, but much better than the north route and feels safe. From Heather, who descended to the south to get around the crux the next day, it sounds like this over-the-top route is probably the way to go.


Back on the ridge, travel is easy again, and the colors shift once more. As we climb the west peak of Sheep, the ground under our feet is now bloody orange. Above Gypsum Creek, we pass a streak of red splashed across the mountainside that is so saturated with color that it hardly seems real.

Soon we are on top of the west peak and staring into ice giants at the heart of the Northern Chugach. Icing Peak:


Mount Thor:


It's hard to tear our eyes away from these indescribable piles of ice, but it's time for us to find a way back to earth. We look at the ridge dropping south towards the highway, think its promising, and decide to follow it down. At first it is manageable and secure talus. Unfortunately, the slope steepens as we descend, and the rock detaches from the substrate. Nothing seems to be holding the scree in place, and we watch with a mix of awe and fear as rock avalanches release from our feet and propagate away in every direction.


The next 1,000 vertical feet is scary as we methodically make sure we never allow these dragons of moving rock to build momentum above us or entrain us. It's a bit like slough management on skis, but way less fun.


It's a relief when we reach the elevation where vegetation is growing and beginning to glue the unstable rock into place. Afterwards, talking to both Josh and Heather, we learn how much better it is just to follow the ridge to its western end.

The rest of the way down is uneventful though not particularly fast, efficient, or comfortable. We push thru thickets of dense young aspen, scrape our legs on thorny bushes, then avoid trespassing thru the front yard of folks who clearly doesn't want visitors before rejoining the highway for the jog back to Sheep Mountain Lodge.