Throughout Chugach State Park there are a number of ridges that can be linked up to make for long day or overnight tours and where most of the travel is above treeline. Of course sometimes half the adventure is getting to that ridge (or getting back to the trailhead after completing said ridge) at which […]  [ Read More ]

This page is a collection of notes and photos from several trips to Punchbowl Glacier and the surrounding areas over several years. Included are notes and route descriptions for Nagoon Mountain (4,403’), Lingon Mountain (4,098’), Highbush Peak (4,669’) and Lowbush Peak (4,229’). Also includes are descriptions for Berg Peak (3,917’) and Hibbs Peak (4,423’) since […]  [ Read More ]

North and east of Girdwood there are 5 prominent peaks that cap the Glacier Valley skyline. Sometimes referred to as the Skyline Peaks the peaks are (from south to north): Notch Mountain (3087’), A1 (4900’), Mystery Mountain (5300’), Pipet Peak (6000’) and Yudi Peak (6540’). From a climbers / skiers perspective they range from 3 […]  [ Read More ]

Spring 1898 – Portage Glacier In the last vestiges of the 19th century America’s westward expansion, coupled with President McKinley’s embrace of expansionism, compelled the US to once again expand beyond established borders.  Alaska was purchased in 1867, Hawaii was annexed in 1898 and that same year the United States mobilized to war with Spain […]  [ Read More ]

Bounty Peak (6,810’) lies at the very head of the East Fork of the Eklutna River and the ridgeline that makes up the peak forms the boundary between the Eklutna drainage, where water flows into Eklutna Lake / Eklutna River, and the Whiteout Glacier basin where water drains directly into the Knik.  The peak is […]  [ Read More ]

Moonlight Mountain (6270’) and White Lice (6650’+) lie near the eastern edge of Chugach State park on the Eklutna Glacier – Moonlight Peak being the peak that lies just off the West Fork the summit just above a hanging valley that is on the southern flanks of Bellicose.  The glacier on the north side of […]  [ Read More ]

Bellicose Peak (7,640’) is the third highest peak in Chugach State Park, and by most accounts, the hardest to climb due to fickle conditions that only seem to materialize a few weeks each year.  The peak was first climbed in 1963 by John and William Bousman, who proposed the name Bellicose, “Due to its not […]  [ Read More ]

Fold up your Imus Geographic Chugach State Park map and the peak nearest the exact center is Compass Butte – a “fugitive nunatak… escaping from the icy clutches of the Organ Glacier which surrounds all sides of this peak except the north” (Tim Kelley, November 1994, Scree). Compared to surrounding peaks like Polar Bear, Organ, […]  [ Read More ]

West Kiliak and Nantina Point lie 4 miles south of the Nature Center.  With Yukla they make up the 5000’+ cirque around Icicle Glacier and the walls facing northwest loom above as you trek up valley.  While both peaks have relatively moderate routes to the summit, neither are particularly accessible due to thick brush and […]  [ Read More ]

Baleful Peak (7,990′) lies in the southeast corner of the Bold / Bashful / Baleful massif that sits tucked between the East Fork of the Eklutna and the headwaters and glacier of the West Fork of Hunter Creek.  The summit is a sharp buttress that juts sharply 1000’ above the surrounding ridgelines and Rod Wilson […]  [ Read More ]