Peak 6710 "Relentless Peak"

Relentless Peak

       I have been waiting patiently for a weather window to climb my last few peaks down the Mint Valley all summer. The window finally showed up, and I realized I had become bored with peaks that had an ocean full of beta. So, my mind shifted into the unknown. I wandered up a valley I was in 4 years ago. This time, having the approach dialed in, I knew how to optimize progress. Essentially, meaning if there is a water crossing or thigh-deep murky wheeler water, just suck it up and wade through it. 

    My professional wheeler trail bicycle abilities rewarded me with 7.5 miles of travel each way. I can confirm it wasn't all biking, but surely quicker than walking. Recollecting on why I have so many bike issues, it's clearly the amount of mud I push it through. Maybe I should just get a wheeler? On the bike up, I was following fresh bear prints, so I blasted my airhorn every 30 minutes to reduce my bearanoia. 

Alpine came quick, and I was cruising on beautiful alpine tundra with Fireweed and older alpine flowers in full bloom. I forgot how beautiful this valley was, with plenty of camping options and fresh, crisp mountain water readily available. Relentless Peak became visible, and I remembered I had no idea how this was going to go. My plan was to take the South Face to the S ridge and take it one step at a time. I went with the name Relentless because the peak just never relents.

  

     

      Travel up the valley quickly came to an end, and I started wrapping around to the South face. The hiking was pleasant for a while. I followed grassy slopes to a rock-carved path from a small water flow that came down the mountain. This brought me to 5200ft. Time to start scree slogging. I slowly picked my way up the face, staying on the larger boulders to avoid the loose scree as much as I could. The scree later will become super fun and ease the drop to the valley. 

    I reached the ridge at 6200ft and saw a few gendarmes I would have to negotiate. But I was stunned by the view of Ice Cream Cone Mountain, or, as climbers call Skybuster. This is the tallest peak nearby for miles. My mind shifted back to scrambling. The ridge was short sections of class 3 and 4. Nothing sustained, but super scenic. After I got around the 2 main gendarmes, I continued to sidehill just below the crest of the ridge. I did not want to be on the ridge proper; the ridge was overhanging, and I was convinced it would blow out if I put any weight on it. Everything was going smoothly.

    

    This was until the summit block. From previous pictures I had, I was convinced the N summit was the higher of the 2. I scrambled up easily, and it became apparent it was lower by less than 5 feet, but still not the high point. Sigh. The true summit is just a gendarme that identifies as a true peak. I attempted this block three ways till I found a way to become successful. I cleared off so much choss. I was sure the summit was going to be lower at this point. After prying death blocks off and some class 5 moves, I was on the true summit. Took a quick video and quickly downclimbed to a better spot to relax.

Summit Block Ahead

      As always, the views of the Central Chugach are incredible. I enjoyed the views while planning out future climbing peaks. The crux in this area is identifying the high point of peaks. There are a lot of peaks that have gendarmes along the ridge that are potentially higher. I mention this a lot because it happens frequently in Alaska, with some areas not being surveyed as much as others. This trip, I was supposed to climb another peak, but there was a doubt about which summit was the true high point, and I would need crampons to obtain the other summit if I climbed the wrong one.  

Typical Biking

Future Objectives.

     With the success on this peak today, I was happy to leave the other peak for another day. This way, I can primarily focus on that peak. I was able to bypass the one gendarme on the way down by going down the face directly on the scree. The descent was quick and pleasant. Some good scree surfing down the face. I reached where I was going to camp and warmed a meal up, and decided to hike out same day because I was done much faster than anticipated.

   

It took only 3 hours to eat and hike/bike the remaining 13 miles. So I was okay with turning it into a day trip. I will be back for pristine camping when I hit some of the even further peaks.