The clouds are no where in sight and the sun is bright! Eklutna peak, our goal, is the triangular one in the middle background. I forgot to bring my hiking boots, and luckily Dash was willing to wear his sneakers (with gaiters) while I used his winter boots. Luckily, it worked out and we both had warm feet!
It was so clear you could see Denali and Foraker, 200 miles away
After some deceptively mellow ridge-walking, we had a steep descent to a saddle before we could climb the peak.
At the saddle before we started our ascent, we got another glimpse of Denali
Looking back towards Knik Arm
The climb was really steep. We were on a scree field, and though there was little snow the rocks would slide out from underfoot from time to time.
We got to the top just as the alpenglow began to settle over the mountains
The full moon rose early enough for us to catch it from the summit! Pioneer Peak looks like a tooth in the alpenglow
One last look at the peak as we head back down - a nice symmetrical, triangular peak. We followed the valley starting from the saddle below Eklutna back down to the Peter's Creek trail, which looped us back to where we began our hike.
We had a fun descent! Running downhill in snowshoes almost feels like skiing, because if you keep your toes up you can feel some glide.
Another great day of hiking in the beautiful Chugach!
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