Portland, OR to Haines, AK - Must do climbs along the way?

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jfailing

Trad climber

PDX, North Slope, The Open Road

Topic Author's Original Post - May 1, 2014 - 08:49am PT

I'm driving up to Haines, AK from Portland in June (for 2 weddings). Probably headed up the Cassiar, and back down the Al-Can. I have about 3 weeks total for the trip before I have to head back to work.

Anyone have suggestions for any must-do climbs along the way?!

I saw a picture of Joy on Mt Indefatigable in another thread, and thought "I must have that." So that's on the list...

johntp

Trad climber

socal

May 1, 2014 - 08:58am PT

I have no clue what is up there but would appreciate seeing pics of the road trip. Always wanted to make that drive.

bump

Moof

Big Wall climber

Orygun

May 1, 2014 - 09:28am PT

Spend some time in Squamish, but you probably already knew that.

Scott Patterson

Mountain climber

Craig

May 1, 2014 - 10:11am PT

3 weeks isn't much time if you are driving since you will lose a week in drive time alone. By car, the quickest way to Haines is going to be to drive to Skagway and then take the short ferry hop to Haines.

What type of climbs are you mostly looking for? Day trip or multi-day, rock, ice, ?

Near Haines, Mount Emmerich is incredibly impressive. The NE ridge is a classic alpine climb, but quite difficult. There is lots of rock climbing on the nearby Cathedral Towers (which are huge).

If you want something fairly easy, Tukahgo Mountain is a good one. The ridge between Mount Ripinski and Mount Shakuseyi is just a hike/scramble, but the views are incredible (if the weather is good). The impressive and spectacular Mount Sinclair, just over the channel is a real expedition mountain and seldom climbed.

Some have mentioned the Petersburg area, but I wouldn’t plan on the Devils Thumb and Petersburg area if you are pressed for time. If you are short on time, you’d have to get really lucky with the weather to even see, let alone climb anything there. It’s also a long way from any driving route, so the only practical way to do it would be as a stopover on the ferry between Haines and Washington. Petersburg isn’t even remotely close to Haines or close to any driving route enroute to Haines.

Watson Lake, enroute to Haines makes a nice stop over with some pretty good scrambles. Farther south, the Mount Stalin area is spectacular, but you will need at least a week for the major peaks there. If time is short, there are lesser peaks in the same area that are closer to the highway.

There are actually an incredible number of mountains between Portland and Haines, so it will be a hard choice. You may just have to pick one area and focus on it, with a few day climbs mixed in to break up the drive.

An alternative for your trip would be to simply fly to Juneau (or fly to Haines, but it’s a short ferry ride from Juneau) and focus on the area between Juneau and Haines. If you want to get to Haines, flying and the short ferry ride will probably work out to be cheaper than driving and you don't need a car to climb a bunch of stuff in that area since the ferry provides good access and there are buses along roads as well. The mountains between Juneau and Haines are some of the most spectacular I’ve seen anywhere in the world (I’ve seen most major mountain ranges in the world). You have to get a little lucky with the weather though. June is perhaps the best weather month though, so you should have at least some spells of good weather.

Rock Monkey

Mountain climber

Thousand Oaks, California

May 1, 2014 - 11:17am PT

No clue about Alaska, but if you have the option I'd find it hard not to head up there. Incredible scenery/topography/weather (if you'r not unlucky). Either way, you can't go wrong. enjoy.

jfailing

Trad climber

PDX, North Slope, The Open Road

Topic Author's Reply - May 3, 2014 - 12:01am PT

Thanks for the great responses all! Perhaps a trip report will be in order...

Myles Moser

climber

Lone Pine, Ca

May 3, 2014 - 12:17am PT

Wahoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Do it!!!

Get some!

Don't die failing!

climbingcoastie

Ice climber

Sacramento, CA

May 3, 2014 - 12:34am PT

Love that drive, driven it five times. First time in Oct’97 then July of ’01, ’05, ’11, and again in September of ’11; really the only “family” vacations I’ve had. Pick up a copy of the Milepost, best $30 you’ll spend on the whole trip.

Here is a list I put together for my trip in 2011, but unfortunately my plans changed and had to make both trips rushed.

Bugaboo's
Squamish
Mt. Erie
Washington Pass
Leavenworth
Index
Smith

I’ll second the drive to Skagway and ferry to Haines. Plenty of rock around either of those places to keep you busy if you’re adventurous enough.