Just got back from 7 days in the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska with Joe and Dylan. Our plan was to ski from Solo Lake, where a bush plane dropped us off, to McCarthy, over the wall of Regal Peak. After a few days of experiencing incredibly low snow conditions, avalanches, and generally high pucker factor, we bailed early on the trip down the Nizina glacier and valley. What this meant, though, was 30 miles of walking in ski boots over dry glacier, river bed, and bushwacking.
We drank lots of J-Dubs, shot many bottle rockets and roman candles to ward off the grizzly bears. We actually ran into bear tracks in the middle of the Nizina glacier miles from nowhere, and then a few miles later saw a mother and two cubs cruising down the edge of the glacier.
Heading into the upper Chisana Glacier
A hard slab I remote triggered
This type of trip is what one would call an ultra-slog, and if there were an award for the most miles walked in ski boots, with skis on packs, we might win that award. Unfortunately there is no such award, because this is against the point of skiing. But, we did have a good time and as usual for a trip like this, learned a thing or two about the mountains and how they affect a person.