Eklutna to Ram Valley Traverse, with Rumble ascent
There are so many superlative ridge walks and traverses through Chugach State Park that it's hard to pick which one to prioritize in a good weather window. Setting aside routes that require roped travel on glaciers, my favorite route connects Eklutna and Eagle River valleys, passing through the soaring peaks of upper Peters Creek. This remote, rarely visited valley is otherworldly in scale, kaleidoscopic geology, and glaciation. While limited access via the Ram Valley used-to-be trailhead makes route planning a tad challenging, it is possible and worth the effort.
This route description assumes starting at Eklutna Lake and traveling from north to south, which is easier for several reasons. First, there is a well-used hunters' trail that starts just on the south side of Eklutna dam and heads directly skyward into the alpine on Thunderbird ridge. Although the brush grows in and sometimes obscures the trail, it does go all the way so look carefully for the tread and occasional chain-sawed log as you ascend.
Route from Eklutna Dam to Thunderbird summit(s)
After gaining Thunderbird ridge, it is a fairly easy if hours-long walk ascending gradually while tracing the southern skyline above Eklutna Lake (Note the very large tarn near the toe of the Thunderbird Glacier would make a stellar campsite for a mellow overnight from Peters Creek trailhead over to Eklutna). Thunderbird has twin summits that are only about a seven minute walk apart; we walked over both of them and couldn't figure out which one is taller.
From the summit of Thunderbird, your next destination will determine route of descent or descent+traverse. If you're continuing on to Bees Heaven, it is not worth trying to follow the ridgeline that connects the two peaks. The ridge running south from Thunderpeak is slow, and becomes 5th class as it ascends from the saddle to Bees Heaven's summit. Instead, descend south-by-southwest and traverse from Thunderbird aiming for the mellow pass with a sheep's trail at around 4,300 feet on the first east rib stretching down from Bees Heaven. Drop packs here and climb approximately 2,000 feet up an easy gravelly ridgeline to the summit. Bees Heaven has some of the best views of upper Peters Creek, including stunning views of Benign, the Shroud on Bellicose, and Rumble's north face.
Rumble is a singular and appealing summit that is a very, very long day trip from any direction. Unless you like traveling 20+ hours in a stretch, climbing Rumble makes more sense as part of a traverse through this beautiful central region of the Chugach. There's almost limitless good camping to the west, south, and east of Rumble. We spent all day walking from Eklutna Lake, climbing Thunderbird and Bees Heaven, and camped on the west side of Rumble. The next morning, we walked around the south side of Rumble, dropped packs at the bottom of the valley that leads to Bombardment Pass, then day hiked Rumble. The climb to Rumble is quite long and not fast. While there's grass, tundra, and nice walking to around 4,400 feet of elevation, above that Rumble's southeast gulley becomes progressively steeper and slower to ascend. Bring an ice ax and crampons in early or midsummer as there will almost certainly be snowfields to cross and ascend. There is a very large gendarme at the head of the gulley; take the climber's right fork as it narrows toward the col. Approximately fifty vertical feet short of the col, there is a rock catwalk approximately two feet wide that leads to your right, gently ascending to a scree gully. Climb this catwalk, which has low risk of falling but definite exposure. Within a couple dozen feet, you should be back in a scree gully without much risk of falling. Climb directly upward to the ridgeline, then follow the ridge east to Rumble's summit about a quarter mile and a few hundred vertical feet away. After peering up at the sheer gendarmes near the head of the gully, Rumble's mellow ridgeline is a welcome surprise. While climbing these gullies has very low fall hazard on dry rock, wet conditions or summer snow would increase the fall hazard. Definitely wear a helmet to protect from rockfall, and group sizes any larger than two people will make it very hard to manage rockfall hazard from within your group. At a fairly steady pace, it took us about 7 hours round trip to climb and descend Rumble from where we dropped packs, and we had the luxury of spending an additional 45 minutes on top on a nearly windless day.
Purple line is route up gully, catwalk, and ridge
Descending Rumble
If your destination is Rumble, you've probably thought about how far it is from the mountain to an egress trailhead. If you're lucky and know a landowner at the head of Ram Valley, that's the easiest trailhead. It's also possible to skirt private property and drop down from Ram Valley to Eagle River Road, bushwhacking downhill and traversing left in the direction of the Eagle River Nature Center. Check out the Muni's ArcGIS property map site to see where public land connects to the Eagle River Road corridor. Alternately, you could slog out the long trail to Peters Creek trailhead.
Tarn below the Bombardment Glacier
If you are traveling through Bombardment Pass and down Ram Valley, there are a few logistical details that may save you time. Use the moat between Raina/Mt.Pleasant and the Ram Glacier (north side of the glacier) to avoid huge boulders and ice in the middle of the glacier. At the head of the Ram Glacier, two chutes in the middle of Bombardment are quite steep; the climber's left chute dries out fastest and is steep but climbable. It's also possible to ascend or descend the glacier at a mellow angle to the south end of Bombardment Pass. This is the lowest angle connection from Ram Valley to the pass, but easiest with lightweight Kahtoolas or similar hiking spikes. Earlier season climbers of Rumble would want actual crampons and ice tools for snow climbing. There is outstanding camping at Bombardment Pass, and near the tarn about halfway from Bombardment down to Peters Creek.
Scree gully from Bombardment Pass down to the Ram Glacier
Finally, you could plan on another day of stellar ridge walking. One of the easy, ultra-scenic ridgewalks in Chugach State Park connects Mt. Significant with Mile Hi, Vista, and either Magnificent, Ptarmigan, or Rubbletop peaks. If heading from Significant to Vista or Mt. Magnificent, it's a convenient descent to the Mile Hi trailhead. Or continue along the ridge past Blacktail Rocks and Baldy to the Baldy trailhead. A fine four-day itinerary could be:
Day One: Hike from Eklutna Lake to upper Peters Creek, climbing Thunderbird and Bees Heaven along the way.
Day Two: Climb Rumble.
Day Three: Hike down Peters Creek valley, then climb over the low-ish pass to camp in Fallingwater valley. (Or: Go through Bombardment Pass, climb Pleasant, Peking, and Raina, and camp in Fallingwater valley)
Day Four: Ridge walk over some combination of Significant, Mile Hi, Vista, and either Blacktail or Magnificent to egress at either the Mile Hi or Baldy trailheads.
There are numerous options for two-four day routes in this area, depending on whether you want to climb Rumble. Our approximate route is the solid purple line. Dashed lines represent other options some of which might not include Rumble/Bees Heaven summits.
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