Girdwood to Anchorage

In summer, adventurers’ hearts turn to wilderness traverses. Many are through Alaska’s most remote landscapes: The Brooks Range, Wrangells, or Alaska Range. Closer to home, backpackers can walk past glaciers, over high passes, through endless tundra, and past dozens of tarns--and that’s just on a weekend hike from Girdwood to Anchorage.

No official trails connect the two communities, but topographic maps suggest several potential routes that start at Crow Pass and end at Glen Alps. From Crow Pass, tundra and scree lead up to Steamroller or Paradise Pass. From Steamroller, it is a fairly short walk past the Archangel Lakes to the upper North Fork Ship Creek Valley. Paradise leads directly into Ship Creek. From the massive moraine piles and rock glaciers above Grizzly Bear Lake, long views down valley lead back toward town. One could walk down the North Fork of Ship Creek, then hang a left at the South Fork and walk up toward Ship Lake Pass, but less brushy routes cross passes between The Sail and Tailfeather peaks, or just south of The Wing.

Clear Creek valley; Steamroller Pass is on the horizon

The high country west of Crow Pass is imposing, with steep rock walls and high peaks. From the trail superhighway over Crow Pass, the backcountry quickly asserts itself amidst peaks such as Camprobber and Grey Jay. This alpine landscape is awash in old moraine left by retreating and departed glaciers. Where there isn’t moraine, bedrock scoured by ice presents polished cliffs and bulbous undulations entirely unlike the standard Chugach choss. Soft bands of alpine tundra, often around 3,000-3,500 feet in elevation, invite backpackers to stay for a while.

Staying around camp can seem to make sense when rain, snow, and fog cloak the peaks around Crow Pass. To stay motivated, prepare to travel in extremely low-visibility conditions, which make it difficult to identify the correct scree gully that leads to your pass of choice. Many of the passes have intermittent cliff bands amidst passable scree slopes. When descending the west side of Steamroller, for example, traverse hard to the right to avoid cliffs and the remnant glacier that once dominated the upper Archangel Valley.

Travel becomes easier west of Grizzly Bear Lake, where moraine and scree give way to tundra and (generally) very low brush. Animals’ paths reveal themselves where lichen has been worn off the tundra but moss remains. Further downvalley, west of Bird Pass, these routes become game trails as the game concentrate on particular routes through increasingly inconvenient brush. To avoid the brush of lower Ship Creek, cross through more passes to either the north or south of Tailfeather Peak and The Wing. These connect to more divine alpine tundra rambling in the upper South Fork Ship Creek Valley.

Just north of Indian Pass, the walking becomes even easier: A small but well-established trail runs from that valley up to Ship Lake. From there, it is a 1,300 foot or so ascent up to Ship Lake Pass, then an easy stroll on increasingly large trails for the final seven miles or so back to Glen Alps.

North Fork Ship Creek

This tour of the Chugach State Park backcountry is an extraordinarily convenient traverse--just thirty minutes from Anchorage. It is possible to hike it in a weekend, but it would be nice to spend a week, taking the time to explore tarns and climb up peaks along the way. Many of the state park’s fairly remote peaks are a short walk from Ship Creek’s headwaters, and alpine lakes surrounded by tundra provide the best camping within twenty miles of downtown Anchorage.

Ship Creek Valley near Bird Pass

If you want to set out on a traverse through wild country in Alaska, you don’t have to go to the Brooks Range or the Wrangells. Just start at Crow Pass and start walking back toward town, giving yourself as many days as you can to explore the remote lakes, peaks, and valleys of Chugach State Park.