Day 26 of Lupe’s 2018 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon, Northwest Territories & Alaska!
9:00 AM – After getting back late from a fantastic day on Slaughter Ridge yesterday, Lupe and SPHP had both slept long and hard. Too long! The sun had been up for hours! The sky was an awesome brilliant blue, too. Can’t waste this day, but where should Loop go next? It was already too late to get anything done in Homer today, where the Carolina Dog was supposedly headed. Should have been there bright and early for that.
Seemed crazy to go the opposite direction, and leave the Kenai Peninsula again, but of all the options within range, Crow Pass near Girdwood was highest on the list of priorities. Even though that meant more than a 2 hour drive, Lupe would still have time to go see the Raven Glacier.
Fine! Despite the obvious inefficiency, decision made. Lupe and SPHP hit the road.
11:34 AM, 53°F – 6 miles from where Crow Creek Road left the Alyeska Highway, it crossed a second bridge over Crow Creek, and immediately ended at a big trailhead. Lots of vehicles here, but still plenty of room to park the G6. Busy place. About to get busier, too! An American Dingo had arrived! SPHP quickly checked the posted map, then Looper was on her way to Crow Pass.
Starting out, the Crow Pass trail was lined with tall bushes, so Lupe was usually in the shade. The trail switchbacked at an easy to moderate pace up an initial slope, but Loop couldn’t see much.
The switchbacks didn’t go on too long. About the time they ended, Lupe got her first look back down the Crow Creek valley.
The valley curved NNE (R), and the trail straightened out, staying up on the E side of the valley far above unseen Crow Creek. Trees and bushes began to thin out. Soon Lupe was out in the open where she could see both across the valley, and what was up ahead.
As shade became scarce, Lupe started feeling hot in the warm sunshine. She began taking little breaks wherever she could find a bit of shade. Within a few minutes, she would be ready to press on again.
1.7 miles from the trailhead, Loop reached a junction. A side trail went to mine ruins, which apparently weren’t too far away. Still climbing, the main trail made a big switchback to the SE. SPHP encouraged Lupe to pose next to the sign at the junction, but she preferred to rest in the shade instead.
Leaving the junction, Lupe stuck with the main trail to Crow Pass. The big switchback to the SE was soon over and done with, and the trail turned N again. Loop was higher than ever on the E side of the valley now, and could see the trail going steadily higher for quite a long way.
As Lupe got higher, the Crow Pass trail began crossing slopes of scree. The rate of climb hardly varied, always easy to moderate, and the trail remained in great condition. Lupe was totally out in the open now, and had terrific views of the whole valley. Cascades on Crow Creek could be seen ahead.
The trail became a bit rougher as the rocks increased in size. Near the upper end of the valley, two tributaries of Crow Creek came cascading down across the trail from much higher up. Both streams had decent flow, but were spread out 15 to 20 feet wide at the fords, so they weren’t deep. Easy rock hops for SPHP. Lupe simply waded across.
The Carolina Dog didn’t mind these opportunities to get cold drinks, and cool her hot paws off, at all!
After crossing the second stream, the trail curved W as it headed toward the upper lip of the valley, which wasn’t much farther. On a grassy shelf beyond Crow Creek, another fan of the mountains was in sight.
When Lupe made it to the upper rim of the valley, the trail leveled out. The Carolina Dog was now entering the Crow Pass region. To the W, the top of an A-frame cabin was in view. This cabin was about 3 miles from the trailhead, and sat on a slope near Crystal Lake.
Loop couldn’t see much of Crystal Lake yet, but did have a great view of Crow Creek flowing toward the trail from it.
The trail didn’t go over to Crystal Lake, but did provide a better view of the lake as it headed NW before curving N. Lupe went by several giant cairns along the trail in this area.
As the trail headed N leaving Crystal Lake behind, Lupe was in a wide valley E of a stream that was both very broad and shallow. She was gaining elevation again, but at a snail’s pace. The trail eventually crossed the shallow stream just before reaching a tiny pond.
About 0.5 mile from the cabin, Lupe reached the high point of Crow Pass, marked by a faded sign. She could now see part of the Raven Glacier, and beyond the glacier was a great view of Rook Mountain (6,685 ft.).
Only a small portion of the Raven Glacier was in sight from the summit of Crow Pass. However, it seemed clear that if Lupe would keep going a little way N down the other side of the pass, she would be able to see much more. So the Carolina Dog continued to a lower point where there was a large cairn. From this cairn, considerably more of the glacier was in view, including the toe.
Although the glacier view was much improved from this cairn, it still looked like the view would get even better, if Lupe kept going farther. In sight 100 feet lower, the trail led to a ridge of dark rock where another cairn sat. The American Dingo ought to be able to see just about the whole glacier from down there!
So away she went, stopping to frolic in a snow bank along the way. The trail dipped even a bit lower than the dark ridge just before reaching it, so she had to climb 20 feet to get up on top.
Oh, yeah! This was the place to be! Coming down here was so totally worth it! Lupe had a fabulous view of the Raven Glacier, all the way from its origins high on Raven Peak (6,600 ft.) clear down its entire length to the toe.
While Lupe and SPHP took a break on the dark ridge, someone started yodeling from somewhere way up above Crow Pass. Whoever it was, did a good job, too. The yodeling sounded so awesome and appropriate here! In the background was the distant roar of a waterfall seen gushing forth from beneath the toe of the Raven Glacier.
There was more to see from Crow Pass than just the Raven Glacier. Lupe also had a tremendous view of the huge Raven Creek valley to the N, which the Crow Pass trail continues down on its way to the Eagle River.
This dark ridge with the superb view was as far on the Crow Pass trail as Lupe was going, though. Instead of going any farther down the trail, she intended to climb higher to explore more of the Crow Pass region. After a last look at the glorious Raven Glacier from the dark rock cairn, she headed back up the trail.
Once back to the sign at the Crow Pass summit, Lupe left the trail and headed ESE climbing a fairly steep 200 foot high slope up to a broad bench of rolling terrain. From up here, Lupe could see even more in some directions. She ventured first to high points toward the N end of the bench for a look around.
The views of the Raven Creek valley were better than ever. On the other paw, although Lupe was closer to the Raven Glacier, see couldn’t see as much of it as from down at the dark ridge. However, another snowfield and Summit Mountain (5,350 ft.) were now in sight.
The main reason Loopster had come up to the bench was to look for the Pass survey benchmark, which was supposed to be W of a tarn farther S. From the benchmark, Lupe ought to have a commanding view of Crystal Lake from above. After enjoying the views from the N end of the bench, Loop headed S looking for the tarn, and soon saw it.
Lupe went right on down to the outlet stream at the W end of the tarn, and crossed it without the slightest difficulty, since it was bone dry. From there she headed SW up onto a small grassy ridge, and proceeded straight to the high point. SPHP fully expected her to come across the Pass survey benchmark here, but she didn’t.
Despite exploring the entire N/S length of this whole grassy ridge more than once, Lupe and SPHP never found the Pass benchmark.
Oh, well. Que sera, sera. Coming up here had still been worthwhile. Lupe had a great view of the whole Crow Pass region, and could see things she hadn’t been able to from down on the trail. Loop and SPHP lingered for a while taking in the serene beauty of Crow Pass.
When the time came to go, Lupe left the S end of the bench working her way back down to the official Crow Pass trail. The Carolina Dog stopped briefly near Crow Creek for a final look at the Crow Pass region. What a fun, easy day coming to see the Raven Glacier had been! So incredibly beautiful!
And then it was downhill all the way, with a terrific view of the Crow Creek valley on a trail so easy it wasn’t necessary to think about anything at all other than enjoying this fabulous Alaskan day.
During the return, Lupe was greatly excited to meet a fellow peakbagger on the trail. He was sort of a loner, though, and bounded away toward greener pastures where the solitude was unbroken. For a long way, Lupe kept tabs on him, and he returned the favor.
6:00 PM, 60°F – Lupe arrived back at the Crow Pass trailhead with plenty of time to get back to the Kenai Peninsula again. Awesome adventures in the Homer area were still ahead, if these fabulous blue skies could last. SPHP intended to drive the whole distance this evening, but ran into road construction by the Mystery Hills.
By the time Loop made it to Soldotna, it was starting to rain, which put everything into question again. She might as well spend the night here, and wait to see what the morning would bring. (10:05 PM)
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