cantata peak attempt - chugach mountains - june 2016
Just a couple days after we got back from our attempt on Mount Hunter, we were treated with less than desirable weather once again. We decided to give Cantada Peak a try despite the rain in the forecast. This peak lies along the western Chugach front and is fairly easily seen from parts of Anchorage. I had been up the Eagle Lake trail before so I knew about the hike in, and I was really fond of the area since it was the very first place I hiked to in Alaska. With a cloudy morning we hiked the 4.5 miles to Eagle Lake and rested a bit at the old hut. We looked at the weather again and figured it was worth continuing, since it hadn't rained yet. The hike up the ridge between Eagle Lake and Symphony Lake was again very beautiful, and once at the base of the mountain we began hiking up the steep grass slopes into the small basin on the flanks of the unnmaed peak just west of Cantada Peak. We reached the crest of the west ridge and it was here it started to get very foggy, and the wind picked up.
We pushed on, starting up the exposed Class 3 scramble traversing to the south face, but shortly thereafter, we got hailed on and the rain really started to fall, so we retreated and returned to Eagle Lake, in a constant rain. When we made it back to the hut we were soaked, but luckily the rest of the hike back out it dried out, and we got some sun peeking through. The West Ridge of Cantada Peak, although a nice scramble, isn't very good in the rain since you're on the infamous "Chugach Crud" and the rock is quite loose. When wet it isn't a fun place to be on exposed faces.
We pushed on, starting up the exposed Class 3 scramble traversing to the south face, but shortly thereafter, we got hailed on and the rain really started to fall, so we retreated and returned to Eagle Lake, in a constant rain. When we made it back to the hut we were soaked, but luckily the rest of the hike back out it dried out, and we got some sun peeking through. The West Ridge of Cantada Peak, although a nice scramble, isn't very good in the rain since you're on the infamous "Chugach Crud" and the rock is quite loose. When wet it isn't a fun place to be on exposed faces.
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