MT BASSIE
Summiting Mount Bassie in Sitka, Alaska and the Tongass National Forest during a brilliant weather window was a long, challenging hike/climb that included, banana slugs, bear poop, reflective lakes, chicken of the woods, blueberries, salmonberries, watermelon berries, bushwhacking, muddy scrambling, mountain goats, ptarmigan, scree, narrow ridges, and exceptional views of 5390 and the peaks of Baranof Island. I recommend this hike to anyone who thinks stunning scenery is worth suffering for. This route to the summit of Mount Bassie utilizes the first portion of the Baranof Cross Island Trail.
CROSS MOUNTAIN
The mountains on Baranof island may not be the tallest but they certainly know how to work you, especially in the winter. During this attempt to summit Cross Mountain (Cupola Peak) I unfortunately ended up summiting the lowest of the three peak, then ran out of enough time, energy and warmth to correct this error. Winters in Alaska have limited daylight, so for bigger day trips like this one leaving and returning in the dark is all part of the game.
NORTH SISTER
North Sister is a mountain in Sitka Alaska who's summit was by no means easy to reach. A first attempt was foiled by trail finding blunders and bushwhacking nightmares while the second attempt was nearly abandoned due to the fear of slipping off the exposed, narrow and snow covered summit ridge. I don't look back at this summit attempt without a shudder.
GOOSE CLIMBS MIDDLE SISTER
It started as a day like every other for Goose. He ate a breakfast of his favorite food, he jumped up on his comfortable couch and he sat staring at the same TV screen that always made him happy. But after seeing a movie that both scares and inspires him, he leaves the house to face his greatest fears and his day turns into and epic adventure. Goose runs to Indian River to follow the trail over salmon filled water, across the muskeg, into the forest, up steep terrain, and ultimately to the summit of Middle Sister.
DEVIL’S MISTRESS
Starting at the Eagle River Nature Center we hiked the Crow Pass Trail then bushwhacked / thrashed our way up towards Red Eyed Pass, dropped down to Blue Eyed Lake, set up tents, ate healthy meals and slept before scree climbing our way up to the chossy summit of Devil’s Mistress. The following day we used Inferno Pass to hop on the Eklutna Glacier, crossed the blue ice and snow, reached the base of Sunlight Mountain, then scrambled our way to the top which offered brilliant views of the sounding glacier and peaks.
devil’s thumb
Devil's Thumb, a 9000ft+ peak near Petersburg Alaska, has an unclimbed Northwest Face which has been attempted by a number of climbers and written about in a number of articles/books. On March 6th of 2020, During the first weather window we'd seen in months we were able to fly laps around the peak and score some aerial shots of the Northwest Face.