Its been about a decade since the last time Tarah and I followed the gorgeous rolling ridges from Eklutna Lake to Pioneer. During that time it has stayed fresh in my mind as a special treat to return to. Finally, in August 2024, Nyssa and I left the shuttle car on the shoulder next to the packed Pioneer Ridge Trailhead and retraced our tire tracks up the steep winding road to the lake.
There was just a hint of the sharp fall smell of cranberries as we left the parking lot behind and hiked up the switchbacks towards Pepper Peak. Above the birch forest, the otherworldly aquamarine waters of Eklutna Lake stretched away from us. Across the lake, Thunderbird Ridge mirrored our plans for the day. I think it’s one of the best ridges around here; and ties into Peters Creek—a place that feels about as wild and untamed as any corner of Southcentral AK.
Its a hoof up Pepper, and I was ready for a quick lunch at the top. We looked west past Palmer towards the Talkeetna Mountains where we have so many hiking, paddling, and skiing memories.
My eyes were drawn to the Sheep Glacier, where I had a relatively unsuccessful ski trip years ago.
Back on our feet, we followed the trail east towards Salt Peak. We looked south toward Peeking Peak, dividing Peters Creek and Falling Water. From our vantage, the tops of the iconic X and Y couloirs teased our view, stirring fond memories of the times we have wallowed our way up these steep, snowy slots.
Past Salt, we left the trails of humans behind and followed the tracks of the original alpine civil engineers: sheep. The sheep trails here are incredible, allowing you to take your eyes away from your feet and really enjoy drooling over the huge mountains in every direction.
As we continued to follow the game trails east, the perspective of the giants of Peters Creek shifted with us. Soon we were drooling over Yukla and Rumble. Rumble may be my all time favorite ski, I think this one would stand up against any ski line in North America.
With each step forward our views changed. Turning north, the headwaters of Eklutna opened out of their incised chasms.
There is so much to explore back here, I've just touched the surface, and I know I'll never see it all.
The miles of excellent sheep trails continued to flow by and so did the mountains rising around us. Jogging north, more of the B Peaks appeared.
Bold's infamous north face. With a little more time, perspective, and experience, I'm realizing just how lucky I was to hit this line in perfect conditions with Jake in 2018. I think its usually unstable, has bad snow, or is a discontinuous mess of cliff bands. Or, more likely, all three.
I've also loved skiing Boisterous a couple of times. It may look little sitting in the shadow of Bashful and Baleful, but its not.
The next eye candy on the traverse was Hunter Creek. I've barely spent any time here, but its been enough to wet my appetite for more. There's a lot of potential for unique, challenging, and big ski descents in here.
As the route curved towards Pioneer Ridge, we looked across the Knik Valley at Matanuska and Frontier peaks. The sight brought back memories of linking them up on a day with some particularly bad snow.
The sheep soon had us turning west and towards Pioneer. Just like the rest of the day, the animal trails stayed smooth and we continued to jog the flats and downhills, walk the climbs, and take in the world around us.
About 6.5 hrs after leaving the lake, we were at the top of the Pioneer Ridge trail. Although the day was already approaching 20 miles and 10,000 vertical feet, the evening was young and the miles had been easy. It seemed like the natural decision to jog towards South Pioneer Peak and tag the summit.
It's been a long time since I'd been up South Pioneer, or the Pioneer Ridge trail for that matter. Returning here brought back a flood of memories from my first days as an Alaskan. What an exciting time in my life. Many of the people from that time do not live here any more or are no longer with us. I thought about how every day here is a gift to be cherished.
Pioneer with Erin and Scamp in late September 2014:
Clambering across a series of steep, gravelly ledges, South Pioneer seemed gnarlier than I remembered. We were on the south side of the ridge, and switching back to the north side "improved" the climb to the loose scree that I was anticipating.
It took longer than I expected to get to the summit (sound familiar?), and I was ready for my dinner granola bar when we got there. At the top, we sat looking at North Pioneer; its exposed north peak brought back a flood of special memories on that magnificent mountain. Like I've said before, I'd love to be lucky enough to ski Pioneer every year.
Racing a sun that's setting hours earlier than it did a month ago, we retraced our steps down the gravelly summit pyramid to the ridge trail. Below us, a large flock of sheep grazed peacefully in Goat Creek.
Finally, we jogged down the ridge trail to the parking lot. There was new work on the trail with improved drainage, planking, and brush cutting. Thanks to the trail gnomes who did this great work - its a real improvement.
No comments:
Post a Comment