With MMR behind me I can finally relax a bit and get into the mountains for some fun and adventure. Alaska's been experiencing a pretty nice summer with dry days on end that encourage travel up high. Anchorage is close to awesome ridge cruising and trail running. I thought I'd do a few posts about some of my favorites to showcase what we have and give a sort of reference for others curious about what's involved.
Karol finally out of the trees and the bears behind usI'm a big fan of loops and this is a good one. Starting at Glen Alps trailhead, this run takes the scenic Middle Fork trail north to the junction with the popular trail to Wolverine. At just under an hour for this section, it's an amazing warm up for the day. It's a little creepy in that the whole thing is below tree line. I stopped counting at 12 big piles of bear shit on the trail. Bring your spray and make some noise. The trail feels pretty flat but actually loses almost 1,000 feet to the junction.
Half way up Wolverine about to hit the saddle at Rusty PointOnce there, you get to run/hike another hour to the summit of Wolverine. You can shed the bearanoinia for awhile even though I've seen bear shit on these ridges. At least you won't sneek up on them. From the summit it's a straight shot on wonderful goat paths another 90 minutes to Elliot. The views keep getting better as you get deeper into the front range. Williwaw looms in the distance. We also got a great view of the North Face of O'malley with its tasty ski lines gestating for the upcoming winter.
The final ridge to the summit of Wolverine
Onward to Elliot
Looking back along the ridgeline
North Face of O'Malley
Some interesting bits in the Chugach choss
Mt. Williwaw and the Williwaw Lakes
Nothing like AK tundra
Some great running sections along the way
Up into the Black Lake cirque
Just about to gain the Ball Field with the traverse ridge behindThe traverse has some tricky scree in places but is straightforward. The descent off Elliot has some patches of loose scree that make for quick travel. Once down to the Williwaw lakes it's back on cruiser trails. We stopped and lounged briefly on the tundra before descending into the valley and starting the traverse to the Ball Field via Black Lake. There's some great running along this stretch. The final descent down the O'Malley gulley and back up to the parking lot completes the day. Comes in at 26km and 1,900 meters of climbing. Highly recommended.
