Many readers seemed to like my Chugach traverses post so I’m putting up a few favorite trips from areas in the Talkeetna Mountains. Below are 4 traverses – 2 of which are easy summer-day hikes and 2 of which are winter/spring ski tours that can be done in a day or 3 depending on your preferences.

The day hikes are easy enjoyable scrambles. I did the Hatch to Government traverse with my 11 year old daughter (and 2 year old pup) and it was an easy fun day. Sheep Mountain Traverse is also an easy enjoyable day hike, albeit a little longer and with a little bit of exposure so not really for kids. Of the two ski tours listed, the Bomber in a Day is the classic Bomber Traverse that many people take 3 to 5 days to complete but it is becoming increasingly popular as a day trip. The Dnigi Hut Inventory Traverse is a slightly longer and more difficult variation of the Bomber with some good steep skiing and a lot of flat valley slogging.

In terms of gear – the summer hikes listed are just standard hikes and all you need are running shoes, snacks and water. The winter ski tours require nothing more than a standard ski tour kit, although I prefer to bring a pair of kicker skins to speed up the long flat sections. My kicker skins are an old pair of Pink Pomoca skins that I trimmed to roughly 2″ wide. I’ve never been a fan of Pomoca skins (they slip on steep icy maritime snow skin tracks and the glue stops working when it’s cold) but when trimmed down they make the perfect kicker skin. I do always throw in a light axe for longer ski tour days where conditions in the high passes are unknown. My light axe of choice these days is the Petzl Gully Adze. I find the adze is easier to grip when plunging the tip into snow while climbing whereas the hammer bruises the palm of my hand.

Weather Planning

In terms of weather and planning it’s important to note zones. 3 of the tours listed are in the core Hatcher Pass zone, however the Sheep Mountain Traverse is 50 miles to the east and there are often different weather patterns in the Sheep Mountain area. Thus for weather I consult the following:

For Hatcher Pass I use the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center weather page and specifically the Marmot web cam, Independence Mine / Hatcher Pass NWS point forecast and Windy spot forecast. (Note: If you don’t know how to compare models on Windy.com here’s a primer.) If I’m planning for a ski tour I also look at the avalanche forecast and read the observations. For summer hikes I’m just looking for a sunny day – preferably the second sunny day in a row as the first day after a long wet spell can be slick. For winter I’m looking for a long period of sun and stability – preferably a week+ of low or moderate avalanche danger combined with 5(ish) days of high pressure. In general you get about one of these per spring and when that happens everyone and their mother heads to the Bomber glacier so don’t expect to find solitude.

For the Sheep Mountain area I look at the Sheep Mountain NWS point forecast, the Windy.com spot forecast and the Sheep Mountain FAA webcams. The zone tends to be in a rain shadow and you will often find good weather when it’s cloudy and wet in Anchorage. The drive is long (2.5 hours) but when it’s been raining for weeks in August it’s worth the drive!

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Hatch to Government

This traverse is a fun day hike that traverses from Hatcher Pass / Summit lake across several eaks before descending to the Government Peak Recreation Area on the south side of the Talkeetna Mountains. This is the same route as the annual Veins of Gold mountain race which goes south to north and has 5,000 ft of elevation gain – however by starting on the north side you halve the elevation gain (but increase the elevation loss). That said – some will argue that is harder to descend the 3.700 ft Government Peak trail than it is to ascend due to the length and steepness (and slipperiness) of a trail which seems to go on forever.

You’ll need two cars for this traverse – park one at GPRA and the other at the April Bowl trailhead. Ascend the April Bowl trail to the summit of Hatch and then follow the ridge south towards Government Peak. For the most part you’ll stay on the ridge proper, however as you approach the craggy Bald Mountain Ridge peak the trail will veer across the East Face a couple hundred feet shy of the summit.

The trail then gains the North Ridge of Government Peak which you’ll follow up and over before descending the South Ridge. This descent is long (3,700 ft!) and the last 500 ft is steep slick mud and not really that much fun. Avoid going down this section of the trail during periods of wet weather!

Beyond that there’s not much to say. An easy half day hike that you can do with minimal planning. If you don’t want to deal with a shuttle then sign up for the race!

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Sheep Mountain Traverse

This is the classic ridgeline traverse from Gunsight Mountain to Caribou Creek. It ascends Gunsight Mountain and then follows a scenic ridge over the multiple summits of Sheep Mountain before dropping down to Caribou Creek. It’s a long route (13 miles and 6,000′) and several sections of the route traverse exposed ledges which keeps you on your toes. The fun exposed scrambling combined with stunning views and wild colorful rock formations makes for a wonderful day.

This route requires a shuttle. If you don’t have access to a second car you can do it with a bike drop, but that means an 7 mile ride with a 1000′ climb at the end of 10 hour day! For parking – on your way to Gunsight leave one car at the pull-out 1 mile east of Caribou Creek (61.80033, -147.66104) and then drive 7 miles to the gravel yard that is directly across the street from Meekins Air Service (61.81962, -147.46055).

Walk across the gravel yard and find the trail and then follow it north and west towards the creek that drains Gunsight. When you reach the creek look for a trail that parallels the creek for about 200 ft before turning off and sharply ascending the South Ridge of Gunsight. This trail is steep for about 800 ft before easing off for mellow hiking. Around 5,000 ft you’ll work your way through a band of talus before finally gaining the summit (5,441 ft).

From the summit of Gunsight look west and you’ll see the line of craggy peaks you’ll need to traverse. For the most part there is a decent trail and you’ll have minimal route finding. From the summit of Gunsight work your way northwest along rock leges until you can downclimb a short ledge to gain a decent trail that traverses through the notch and onto scree slopes and ridgelines that you then follow towards Sheep Mountain (6,223 ft).

It should be noted that when you’re on Sheep Mountain you have the options of bailing south down Yellow Jacket Creek. This descent looks relatively straight forward and you should be able to get down with minimal route finding. Beyond Sheep Mountain the bail options get steeper and more convoluted and aren’t recommended. Jon and I descended the West Face of Sheep in September 2022 and our route required a bit of backtracking and poking around to find a safe route. We had couple steep dirt sections and a long hike down a steep narrow creek that threatened to rain rocks at any minute. I don’t recommend this option but if you need to get down fast it goes.

After descending Sheep Mountain you’ll reach the crux of the route (around 61.83520, -147.52638) which is a steep scramble through broken rock. The ridgeline will be blocked by a large section of shattered rock. Stay on the trail on the ridgeline until the ridge steepens and you’d have to climb to keep going. At this point looks left and you’ll spy a steep loose gully which descends about 20 ft. Downclimb this gully until you can traverse across a short ledge of loose rock to a notch which dumps you back on easy ground. It looks intimidating, but it’s not as bad as it looks and you’re across it quickly.

Once across this section it’s easy walking on scree sidewalks and ridge-lines. The brilliant yellow and pink rock glistens against the backdrop of tundra and to the south you can see the glacier clad peaks of the ice-fields above Price Willian Sound.

Several miles of exposed ridge walking eventually puts you on the far western edge of the traverse and you begin to drop towards Caribou creek. This is where you need to start watching for the trail that splits and decends to the pull-out. The trail will split around 61.80696, -147.65089 and you’ll want to take the left hand branch that drops down off the ridge. If you stay on the ridge the trail begins to peter out and youll have to bushwhack most of the way to Caribou Creek. The trail drops about 1,500 ft in a mile and dumps you out directly in front of the pull-out.

This entire traverse takes anywhere from 8 to 10(+) hours. The scrambling – while never difficult – will keep you on your toes and the epic views in all directions will make you linger every chance you get. While this traverse can be done all summer I would suggest you do it in early September in the hopes of seeing some of the annual raptor migration as the birds work their way south for the winter. Take a camera, lots of snacks and water – and above all – take your time!

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Bomber in a Day 💣

The Bomber Traverse is a classic ski mountaineering hut trip in the core Hatcher Pass area that passes by 3 huts. The Mint Hut and Bomber Hut are managed by the Mountaineering Club of Alaska and the Snowbird Hut is managed by the American Alpine Club. If you’re doing this as a hut trip you’ll want to take 4 days so you can spend a night at each hut – that said, this trip has become extremely popular and the clubs don’t take reservations so there is a good chance you’ll reach the huts to discover there is no room. Thus in recent years I’ve opted to to the entire loop as a day so I don’t have to worry about the potential of having to sleep outside on a hut trip.

It can be intimidating to think of this as a day trip when looking at the overall distance and elevation – but it’s really not as far as it seems. This is a very popular trip and unless you’re doing it after a significant amount of fresh snow (which isn’t recommended due to the avalanche danger at Backdoor Gap) you’re likely to have tracks so trail breaking with be minimal. Watch the weather and when a high pressure system aligns with low avalanche danger you’ll be able to move quickly and efficiently and most likely will be traveling with several other skiers intent on doing the route as a day trip.

I like to break the trip into 4 blocks and wrap my head around each section individually. These consist of:

• Trailhead to Backdoor Gap (10 miles / 4,000 ft ascent)
• Backdoor Gap to Bartholf Creek (5 miles / 2,500 ft descent)
• Bartholf Creek to Glacier Pass (4 miles / 2,000 ft ascent)
• Glacier Pass to Trailhead (5 miles / 3,000 ft descent)

The first block (Trailhead to Backdoor Gap) is noticeably longer than the other sections but I like to just consider the approach and climb up Backdoor Gap as a single block. This is the first part of the day and you’ll be fresh so you should be able to hammer it out with just a couple breaks. I like to ski up valley until the bend where you first get a view of the Mint peaks, take a break, then ski to the base of the hill that leads to the hut for a second break. I then ascend the 1000 ft slope to the base of Backdoor Gap and take a final break before committing to the climb. On average this block takes me about 5 hours when moving at a steady pace.

Moving through this section in a few hours is kind of bummer. The views of the Mint Glacier and surrounding peaks makes one yearn to linger. The view looking across the valley from Backdoor Gap is one of my favorite views in Southcentral Alaska and I’ve been visiting the area for over 30 years. That said – there’s something to be said about the freedom of moving fast through fun ski terrain with just a day pack.

If the weather is nice (and you really shouldn’t be doing this route in a day if the weather is not nice) take a nice long break at the top of Backdoor Gap and admire the views before beginning the next section.

The next section is all downhill and if you pick your route correctly you should be able to get all the way to Bartholf Creek without skins. Drop off Backdoor Gap, ski the Penny Royal Glacier and then trending west towards Bartholf. If you have the legs and time you can easily get a bonus run by dropping off Backdoor Gap and climbing an extra 500 ft to the top of Penny Royal Glacier. This gives you a blissful 2,000 ft run down the fall line. At the base of the Penny Royal begin side-hilling towards the Bomber Glacier terminus. Cross the Bomber Glacier valley and continue side-hilling all the way to Bartholf Creek. This section is nothing but fun and should take you approximately 1.5 hrs.

Stage 3 is the long climb up to Glacier Pass. This section feels like it goes on forever. I’ve been up this valley several times and every single time I misjudge where I am and think I’m almost to the pass only to realize I’m barely halfway there. By the time you’re heading up this it will probably be late afternoon so be wary of warm releases on the slopes above Snowbird Lake and once on the Snowbird Glacier be wary of the giant moulins that seem to move around from season to season. Put your head down and keep trucking and you should be at the pass in about 2 hours.

Catch your breath at the pass and enjoy the view but don’t linger too long as it still gets dark in April. I like to eat the last of my food and drink the last of my water because I know I can get out without eating and drinking more. Strap on the skis and head downhill. This section by far has the most objective hazard of the entire trip. Avalanches routinely rip down and cover the trail and as you sidehill across the slopes you’ll frequently have to climb up and over and around large debris piles. You will drop 3,000 ft over 5 miles and can do the entire section without skins. Drop down Glacier Creek and then down the final hill to Reed Lakes trail. This section often has really bad snow so you’ll find yourself skiing a bunch of breakable crust or worse. Once on the Reed Lakes trail drift out to Archangle Road and follow it downhill. Around 61.79149, -149.19843 there will be a fork where you can cut off across the meadows towards the Gold Mint trailhead. If you don’t take this fork you’ll end up on the Hatcher road and have to walk an extra mile.

All that said I will rant a little. This is a world class zone that the State of Alaska has opted to neglect. The State of Alaska has made no effort to restrict motors anywhere in the state and this entire zone can be overrun with snowmachines and helicopter skiers. Technically snowmachines are not allowed to travel up the Mint trail or up Glacier Creek to the Snowbird – yet every time I’ve traveled in these areas I’ve seen fresh snowmachine tracks. Meanwhile heli-skier companies – which literally can go anywhere – are dropping clients all around you as you pass through these zones. It is not a wilderness zone. Unfortunately there is little that can be done to address this. The Hatcher Pass Management Plan was adopted in 2010 and will not be revised until 2030. There have been efforts to educate motorized users on boundaries and additional signs will be placed this season – however given that snowmachines can legally access the Snowbird and Bomber areas via Dog Sled Pass it doesn’t really change much. It’s a shame that Alaskan lawmakers do not embrace the tourism potentials of non-motorized recreation. Hopefully as more people visit these areas there will be a greater push for expansion of the non-motorized zones – especially if Skeetak ramps up development and goes through with plans to put a lift on 4068 (which will remove a large portion of the non-motorized zone).

That said – it is a beautiful and wonderful trip. And most of the people you meet – whether on skis or snowmachine – are respectful and happy to be outside. Watch the weather – and when sun, snow and stability line up go for it!

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Dnigi Hut Inventory Traverse

This is a rather random tour. The idea came from Cory Hinds who wanted to do a long day ski to get our legs in shape for a spring trip – but he didn’t want to do the Bomber with half of Anchorage. Cory is also on the MCA Hut committee and he wanted to do a hut check-in so he proposed a round-about tour that would take us to both the Dnigi and Mint Huts. Matt Hickey and I joined in for the slog and during a long spell of stability in late March 2025 we packed skis and axes and a stove and started skiing at 7am.

The route is a lollipop that starts and ends at the Gold Mint trailhead. Out the Mint trail for 5 miles then hang a right and travel up the valley west of Peak 5715 aiming for the col just southeast of Nevada Peak. Over the col and down to Moose Creek and up to Dnigi Hut. Then out and over Grizzly Pass to the Mint Glacier and down to the Mint Hut – and finally out the Mint Valley.

Similar to my Bomber blocks reasoning, I also break this tour into 4 blocks:

• Trailhead to Nevada Col (8 miles / 5,000 ft ascent)
• Nevada Col to Dnigi Hut (7 miles / 2,500 ft descent / 1,700 ft ascent)
• Dnigi Hut to Mint Hut (8 miles / 2,500 ft descent / 2,500 ft ascent)
• Mint Hut to Trailhead (9 miles / 2,500 ft descent)

Knowing it would be a long day we left town early and started skiing at before the sun hit the trail. We were in the middle of a long high pressure spell with good stability and the trail was rock hard with dozens of tracks which made for quick and efficient travel. Up the Gold Mint trail for 3 miles and then a long low angle sidehill to gain the hanging valley – staying high to the south of the creek to avoid the terrain trap. Once in the hanging valley we continued due east until gaining another hanging valley which took us to the col south of Nevada Peak.

We reached the col at 11:30am and were finally in direct sunlight for the first time that day. We sat eating and drinking and surveying our descent options. Surprisingly the slope on the east side of the pass is a heli-ski zone and there were numerous tracks dropping down to the flats below. This zone is 5 miles way from one of the busiest backcountry ski zones in the Mat Valley – and the Moose Creek corridor is regularly traveled by snowmachines – but the heli companies don’t seem to care about putting in a buffer between backcountry travelers and their aircraft. They could literally fly 3 extra minutes and ski zones that would have zero impact – but with zero efforts at industry regulation they do what they please.

We soaked up the sun and then dropped in. Apparently Matt had neglected to adjust his bindings at home and none of us had bothered to bring a screwdriver to make adjustments. Matt attempted to adjust the using the tip of his skins – but then gave up and announced that he’d just ski everything with his heels unlocked for the rest of the tour. Down the run. The top was a little crusty but once we traversed over to the shade line we had good snow to the valley. Matt’s heel-free stance did not appear to be any different than than his normal stance and he skied the entire run making turns like nothing was wrong. Then a long downhill sidehill traverse up valley before finally dropping down to the snowmachine tracks on the valley floor.

Once back on the flats we put on our skins and began slogging up valley towards the hut. The Moose Valley is opened to snowmachine traffic so there was a nice solid track – however access to the valley is tricky so you don’t see that many travelers. A short while on the track and we heard a snowmachine buzzing up valley. The driver pulled up next to us and killed the engine. It turned out to be Mike Records and Nyssa Landres. “You wouldn’t happen to have a screwdriver, ” Matt asked sheepishly. They did – and they got a good laugh out of our lack of preparation – and Matt was able to adjust his binding. And then we set off again for the never ending slog to the Dnigi Hut which literally sits 2 miles off the trail at the head of the hanging valley.

We eventually reached the hut. Cory took an inventory of the supplies that were inside and then cralwed around looking at the foundation and windows and overall build while Matt and I brewed tea and melted water. Despite spending over 30 nights at the Mint Hut (over 25 years) I had never actually visited the Dnigi and it was a nice trek. One day I’ll come back in the summer and poke around a little more.

After a nice break we set off again. Across the flats where the cabin is perched and then a 1,000 ft decent to Moose Creek and across the valley and up the slopes towards Grizzly Pass.

The climb to Grizzly Pass was a 2,500 ft slog. We were in the shade for much of the ascent which made the going a little easier. Struggling uphill on a sunny April day can be exhausting if the temperature is above 25°. That said – the tour was beautiful. It began with kick turns up a rocky slope and then we worked our way up mounds of snow covered moraine and talus until finally gaining upper slopes that took us to Grizzly Pass where we looked down at the Mint Glacier below.

A quick snack and drink at the pass, then skins off and dropping onto the glacier. 2 miles of low angle powder turns. The snow was blissful.

Down the glacier and across Moonstone Lake and then down the slopes to the Mint Hut. The Mint Hut had been remodeled and expanded since my last visit and we took a minute to step inside and look around and chat with the people spending the night. Then out and skis on and downhill. It was getting late and cold and we had miles to go before we slept.

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