Calliope July 2009

Calliope Mnt 6810 ft
July 5th, 2009

On a lovely and warm July 4th, I headed up South Fork Eagle River with an eye on climbing either Eagle Peak or Calliope Mnt, depending on conditions. The weather was holding and the snow on Calliope looked to be in good shape, so I decided on trying Calliope the next morning.

Ptarmigan 'mama' leadnig me away from her chicks.
South Fork Eagle River above Eagle Lake. Eagle Peak (6955 ft) is the prominent peak in the background.
Dall sheep on the tundra.
Lower reaches of valley between Cantata Peak (6410 ft) and Calliope
Hanging valley leading to Calliope-Cantata col.
At Calliope-Cantata col looking WNW. Triangle Peak (5455 ft) is rounded peak on left.
Looking back down hanging valley between Cantata and Calliope.
Calliope summit shot with Eagle Peak in the background.
Looking NW down the South Fork Eagle River drainage. Cantata Peak is on the right.
The ~40 degree snowfield leading back down to the Calliope-Cantata col. The snow was fairly soft and I was uneasy about slush avalanches so I only spent a minimal 10 minutes on the summit. On the East face of Calliope I actually set of a couple of smaller slush slides so I wanted to head back down and across the snowfield before it got too warm.
Looking back up at the Calliope WNW face snowfield. The rounte follows the ridge from the Calliope-Cantata col to the snowfield directly below the rock island. I went straight up and around the rock island to the summit ridge (~800 feet vertical on the snow) to minimize my exposure.
The Calliope WNW face.
Upper reaches of South Fork Eagle River looking down towards Eagle Lake.
The waterfalls of South Fork Eagle River leading down from Flute Glacier.
Eagle Lake with Eagle Peak in the distance.
Cantata (center left), Calliope (center) and Triangle (center right) peaks bracketed by the lush South Fork Eage River valley.
Panorama from the Calliope summit frmo NW to SE. Foreground peaks from left to right are Cantata (6410), Eagle (6955), Polar Bear (6614), Organ (6980) and Flute (6610). Many more of the Eagle River valley and high Chugach peaks are visible in the distance.

Cantata Peak

Cantata Peak, South Fork Eagle River, Chugach Mountains
August 24th, 2008
Highpoint: Cantata Peak (6391 feet elevation)

Amy Hinkle and I had planned to climb Eagle Peak on August 23rd and 24th. But I chickened out because of poor weather on the 23rd. Instead, we opted to climb Cantata Peak on the 24th. We used 10:30 roundtrip from the South Fork Eagle River trailhead. It took about 6 hours up (including about half an hour wasted on route-finding in the fog) and 4:30 hours down. We started out in beautiful weather, but most of the climb was donein thick fog, until right below the summit where we got some awsome views of the surrounding Chugach Peaks.


Cantata Peak south face as seen from Triangle Peak (October 2006). The route on Cantata follows the left hand ridge until about ~1000 feet below the summit where it traverses the south face and accesses the summit via one of the obvious scree gullies. Crossing the boulder field below the old cabin between Symphony and Eagle lakes.
Ascending the ridge above Symphony Lake (left) and Eagle Lake (right).
Soon we entered the fairy tale world (read "fog"). I got some great views of my own shadow in the clouds below us (Brocken Spectre) .

Amy at the notch where we started traversing the South Face
Heading up the gully towards the summit
Trond on the summit with Calliope Peak in the background
Coming back off the summit. The scree was the typical Chugach crud.
Heading back down the ridge. The ridge is the most enjoyable part of the climb.

Overlooking the tarn at the toe of the Calliope glacier with Calliope Peak rising in the background.
Tear lines (cracks) in the tundra. It appears that the soil is sliding downhill at a rate that causes cracks to appear.
More cracks in the tundra with the Symphony Tarns in the background. This piece of real estate looks to be heading over a cliff real soon. I have seen more of these cracks this summer than all other summers in Alaska combined. Is this a sign of permafrost thawing out?
Summit panorama (North to East to South) with Eagle Peak to the left of Amy, Calliope in the center and Triangle peak at the very right.

Triangle Peak - October 2006

Triangle Peak, Chugach Mountains
Climbed October 14, 2006

5 1/2 hour roundtrip from South Fork Eagle River trailhead.



Cantata Peak from West

Calliope Mnt South face

On Triangle Peak summit looking Southeast

On Triangle Peak summit looking South

Looking down Triangle's NW ridge

Triangle Peak SW ridge (right hand ridge)

North Fork Eagle River towards the West

North Fork Eagle River towards the West; Mt McKinley in the distance

View from the West: Triangle Peak to the right, Calliope to the left

Parting shot of Cantata (left), Calliope (center) and Triangle (right)