Alaska Chugach Mountains Backpacking

[Brad Rogers]

First Post

[Brad Rogers]

[Brad Rogers]

[Brad Rogers]

14 nights in the Chugach Mountains of Alaska, approximately 105 miles off trail.  5 grizzlies, 1 wolverine, 3 glacier crossings, a couple of waist deep glacier fed creek crossings…..Awesome Trip

[David Thomas]

I was so happy for you and all the stuff you’d seen until I saw you saw mention of a wolverine.

Damn you.  In 56 years including 20 in Alaska, I have never seen a wolverine.  It, a polar bear, cougar and (if it counts) walrus, are the only ones I haven’t seen in the wild.

Yet.

[Ken Thompson]

Happy with your shelter choice?

Really appreciate the required effort taken to post photos. Awesomeness.

[Philip Tschersich]

Cool. Looks like a sweet trip. Starting and ending points and a rough route?

@DT- the closest I have come to a wolverine was one that was eating a walrus. :)

[Sven]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing. The landscape looks similar to northern Sweden but maybe you have higher / more dramatic peaks.

I am also interested in your thoughts on shelter and the Duomid. Did you have any really strongs winds? How fiddly is the separate inner? Do you connect two poles for added strength? I have been trying out a Duplex this summer. Great when weather is nice but very draughty and sometimes annoying not being able to move the inner away to create a larger vestibule. I also don’t like that lowering the tarp lowers the bathtub. Wondering wether I should try a Duomid / Ultamid (or Duplex tarp only?!) or stick with Hilleberg for above tree line trips.

[Brad Rogers]

The Route was WNW from Iceberg Lake to Tebay Lakes going through the abandoned mining town at Bremner (where there is a airstrip so you could re supply though we didnt).  This is (in reverse) part of a route done by Jim Harris (Perpetual Weekend) a few years ago, and where I first heard of it. (He has an awesome trip report with photos a lot better than mine).

The Duomid was fantastic though it really never was tested by wind.  I have used a Solomid in high winds in WRR and it was a rock, but wanted something a bit bigger.

I set it up in an inverted V using two trekking pole extensions.

I was using a Solomid XL inner and it never seemed to fit quite right but it worked and kept the bugs (not a lot) at bay.  I normally will use just a ground cloth but will keep the inner for bug season and trips in buggy areas.

The Wolverene was pretty cool. It came through camp as I was packing up (I saw it out of the corner of my eye and thought it was a small black bear).  I got a few (poor) photos (as you can see) and a video before it noticed us. When it noticed us, it went up this huge, steep talus slope with impressive speed and ease.

[Brad Rogers]

Some gear notes from my trip

 

Rab Merino Plus (65/35) 160wt hoody – fantastic baselayer that I didn’t take off one single time in 14 days.  I hiked in it and slept in it and the combination of hood and sleeves with thumbholes made it warm when I wanted it, and when I didn’t I took off the hood, pushed the sleeves up, and used the long zipper to vent.  I don’t want to say it didn’t smell after 14 days, but not as bad as a synthetic shirt after one run or a weekend hike.

La Sportiva Ultra Raptors – This was my first big trip for these shoes as I have worn Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultras for the past nine years, but I was very happy with them.  I had one hot spot, that I fixed with a piece of Leaukotape on day 3 or 4 and had no other foot problems the entire trip despite my feet being west most of the days.  My two caveats about the shoes are the outsoles of the shoes were literally shredded by the end of the trip, and the insole seemed to hold a lot of water (I guess they all do being open cell foam).

Seek Outside Unaweep 4800 Fortress (no talon) – I used an Unaweep 4800 on an 11 day trip in Brooks Range in 2015 as well, and like then, the pack performed flawlessly.  I started out with around forty pounds including a my normal gear plus a  Bearikade Expedition, Microspikes, Bear Spray, Inreach,  14 days of food, and a liter of water.  The pack carried wonderfully and the new version has some improvements (including better water bottle pockets) over the older version.  I kept my down quilt, jacket, etc in a compactor bag, but I seam sealed the pack prior to the trip and had no leakage.  I wouldn’t ever trust any pack to be 100% water proof, but the Unaweep was about as close as it gets.

Raingear – Montane Spine Jacket and Mountain Equipment Firefly(?)Pants – Both made with Gore Tex Active, have 30d face fabrics, are lightweight (17.9oz total for both) and were purchased at significant discounts.  My raingear worked great on this trip and I wore it more than normal as we had a misty “Seattle” style rain quite a few days, which in turn made the brush walking a wet business.  Both made it through the trip with no rips or tears (I couldn’t say this about my Golite Reed pants in 2015) and though the DWR was worn off most of the front of the pants, they still kept my hiking pants dry underneath so they did their job.  Raingear still sucks, but these items met if not exceeded my expectations on this trip.

Javan Dempsey 20*Quilt – Javan made this quilt for me 8 years ago and it is still one of my favorite pieces of gear.  I have used it all over the southeast, as well as two trips to Alaska, two to the Sierras, three trips to Wyoming, one trip to New Mexico, and  a trip to Colorado.  Temps ranged from 43 to 25*F at night on the trip and the quilt never let me down, nor has ever.

Neo-Air X-Therm – Not sure what kind of pixie-dust Thermarest puts in these things, but they are warm despite no “real” insulation.

MLD Duomid – I didn’t really get the wind I was expecting this trip, but I was prepared.  I normally use gold eastons for the corners, and blue eastons for everything else, but I added in some groundhogs this time and didn’t need them.  The Duomid does provide a lot of room for the weight and I was able to leave the door mostly open a couple of nights it was raining (but not windy) without getting wet.  My one complaint about MLD Mids (I had a Solomid before) is that I can either get the door taut with the door open or closed, but not both.  It may be user error.

Gaia GPS – This is only my second trip using a GPS and of course I had paper maps (printed 48K:1) so it wasn’t an issue, but if I wanted to check my location, it took forever for Gaia to locate me.  I did not have this problem last year in WRR so it may be something with a recent change in iOS.  I need to investigate further, but I wouldn’t have brought my phone if I had known it would have been as useless as it was.

 

[Ryan Tucker]

Great photos.

[BlackHatGuy]

Thanks for sharing Brad, wonderful photos.

[Brad Rogers]

A few more

 

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