Hatcher Pass climbing
July 16-18, 2012
Alaska 2012 index
Trips page
After getting rained on a lot in Seward, the weather improved -
we headed back to Anchorage and rented an awesome truck camper!
The comfort was very welcome, especially in the frequent rainy
evenings - so nice to cook dinner, hang out and watch movies
at night without being in a soggy tent.
We didn't have a lot of information about climbing there,
but mountainproject.com
had enough to get us going. We climbed the 5-pitch 5.10 climb
on the Diamond which had 2 great pitches, and explored some other
climbs on the Monolith the next day. The whole Archangel valley
is super gorgeous, we couldn't get over how cool it is, and being
mid-week we hardly saw anyone!
In the afternoon on the
second day we hopped back in the truck and headed onto the
next part of the trip, but not before driving over the pass
and seeing the other side of the valley - what a beautiful place!
We even saw some paragliders.. that sure looked like fun.
The whole area had a bit of a weird vibe though, with all of the
old mines, and lots of rusty junk around...
Next: Homer and sea kayaking!
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
Little Susitna river |
On the way up to Hatcher Pass (Little Susitna) |
|
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
Our objective for the next day. Interesting erosion! |
|
Lots of beaver dams! We didn't see any resident beavers though... |
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
Our home for the next 2 days |
|
|
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
|
Enjoying breakfast in our amazing camper |
|
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
|
The start of “Toto” climb on the diamond (next to a memorial plaque) |
First pitch |
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
3rd pitch follows the arete |
So green! |
4th pitch. Note the super sweet corner above! |
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
|
Enjoying the awesome corner |
Crux pitch, a burly fist crack but short (extra exciting since I had a single #3 camalot and no #4... and it started raining) |
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
|
|
Pulling the wet rope - it is still raining but blue sky in the background... |
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
Old mine |
Old batteries... nice |
It started raining again - back to the camper! |
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
The Monolith |
A fun 5.9 crack on the Monolith (tricky start) |
|
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
Starting up a technical 5.10+ (crux is above me) |
|
Another crux move going right (note the leaver biner too) |
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
|
|
Starting up Orangutan Overhang, another fun climb |
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
Melissa topping out on Orangutan Overhang |
Grilled cheese sandwiches and beer for lunch! |
|
| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
Paragliders at Hatcher Pass |
|
|
| |
 |
 |
|
| |
Beautiful road |
We pulled over and cooked dinner to this view... at 11pm - sunset |
Previous Page
