I just returned from a 5 day ski-mountaineering trip along the Eklutna Traverse, which starts on the Eagle Glacier above Girdwood and heads east to the toe of the Eklutna Glacier near Eklutna Lake. We had pretty good weather the whole trip and now I look like a raccoon. We got a helicopter-assist to the top of the glacier to save time and slogging 5000 feet from the valley floor below. Well worth a couple hundred dollars. It’s always an odd feeling to be in civilization and only 10 minutes later you’re dropped off in the middle of nowhere and it’s silent. We stayed at 3 Mountaineering Club of Alaska Hut’s along the way – Rosie’s Roost, Han’s Hut, and Pichler’s Perch. Bryan and I had been to Pichler’s Perch 2 years ago but Phil was totally new to glacier travel and huts, but he did awesome and we all had fun. We climbed and skied Antarctic View and Hut Peak along the way and made plans for future peak ascents in the area. There’s lots to climb there and it’s fairly easy to access everything on skis once you get onto the main glaciers. The trip out was fun – we got an ATV ride from one of Phil’s friends. We initially thought he was going to only carry our heavy packs back to the car, so we stashed mountain bikes at the end of the lake, but he showed up with a trailer also. Bryan and I crammed into the trailer with the skis, bags, and bikes, and got sprayed by mud and water and bounced around for 12 miles.