Last Friday marks the first time I've ever climbed a mountain. Flattop is one of the 'skyline peaks' of Anchorage, meaning you can see it from the city. It's in Chugach State Park, and the area is incredible.
(the surrounding mountains gave me one of the most spectacular views I've ever seen)
Since I'm here for a seasonal internship I have no mode of transportation. I've relied on a few very generous people I've met up here to get me where I need to be. I rode a shuttle from a downtown bike rental shop to the first mountain (Flattop) where they left me with a mountain bike to ride back on (about 15 miles on some beautiful trails).
The first summit was easy enough. Many people climb Flattop, and there are a lot of solo hikers. I left the first peak and continued on to a second, higher peak. There was a great ridge in between Flattop and the second peak.
Snow started to become a major factor right about now. I was wearing shorts and had no hand gloves (everyone told me I'd be fine because it was sunny outside haha) so I had to frequently take breaks to warm my hands from using them to help climb in the snow. Looking up to the third peak was pretty intimidating. It ended up being a much greater effort that I originally thought- that thing was steep! And climbing ice without gloves was definitely a lesson learned.
Here's a cool shot of the last part before the summit.
And after about 4 hours:
The summit had a cool marker of sticks and paracord.
After the summit I had a great bike ride downhill into the city. I slept great that night!
I'll be posting my adventures here as often as I have them! Stay tuned for the glaciers I saw this past weekend- they were amazing!
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