Crow Pass Hike

Today we did a big hike up to Crow Pass. The hike was only a little over 7.5 miles but it was pretty difficult.

The trail was an out and back trail and the out portion was basically up up up and more up.

 We didn't have much sun but it was still full of good views.

There was a mine up here and there is a lot of left over equipment around.

This is an ore crusher.

This is a big engine and what looks like a steam vessel.

Over this ridge several water falls coursed through the rocks pulling with it lots and lots of gold!  OK I couldn't find any gold no matter how hard I looked.

We had lunch right across the canyon from those falls and then went over ridge and had to cross the water and snow.

From here things got a little easier up to the pass.

There was a lot of snow some of which was hiding a river of freezing cold water.

In the panorama you can see the public use cabin. We didn't get much closer than this to the cabin because you are supposed to respect the people who have the reservation for the cabin.

It looks like it would be a great cabin. And there is plenty to explore up here.

Here is the pass it is the highest point on the original Iditarod Trail. We are at about 3600 feet, we started at 1500 feet so with over 2000 feet of climb this was definitely a strenuous hike.

That is Raven Glacier which was making the windy pass very very cold.

We had a quick snack and turned around.

On the way back from the pass we got a good look at Crystal Lake next to the cabin.

The way down we took a slightly different trail which was less steep but had a lot of rock fields we had to cross which were a little hard on the feet.