Continued from the previous page.

CLIMBING TO THE SECOND SADDLE

After enjoying the scenery from the first saddle Cody and I began a more serious climb to the top of Rendezvous.

There are virtually no switchbacks the first 1/3 mile, just pretty much straight up the mountain. Then the trail becomes less steep and arcs around the north side of Rendevous to the saddle between it and Little Teton Peak. This saddle is about 3,900 feet in elevation.

Heading up into the sun to Rendezvous Peak

Looking back down at the first saddle from part way up the trail

The steep part of the trail has loose gravel. I knew if I went back down that way I’d have to walk on the tundra to get enough of a grip to avoid falling.

That’s exactly what three women were doing that I talked with on the way up. They showed me an alternate route down to the main trail through the tundra where another more gradual trail has been established. If I took it, I wouldn't be harming the fragile tundra plants.

One of the hikers I talked with; now I'm on a flatter section of trail.

I enjoyed seeing lots of alpine flowers at the first saddle. The higher I got on the steep trail up Rendezvous, the more wildflowers were blooming. I saw more kinds of flowers today and in larger masses than I noticed yesterday at Flattop Mtn.

Cody likes flowers, too (and softer terrain than the rocky trail we were on).

The flowers and awesome scenery were nice distractions on the steep part of the climb.

These photos are in order as I climbed toward the second saddle. Now I was even more in awe of the fantastic scenery:

Upper part of the South Fork of the Eagle River to the left

Rendezvous Ridge (L) becomes more visible.

Little Teton Peak and the top of a ski lift are straight ahead;
some of Rendezvous Peak's rock formations are on the right.

I reached the second saddle about ¼ mile below both Rendezvous Peak to the north and Little Teton Peak to the south.

Here are three views from this saddle:

West to Arctic Valley, Anchorage, and Cook Inlet

Southwest to Little Teton and two ski lifts

South to Rendezvous Ridge and more mountains in the Chugach Range

Hikers have several more choices when they reach this saddle.

I marked the options with arrows in the next photo, which I took from the trail to the top of Rendezvous Peak:

• turn north (arrow in foreground) and climb rather steeply to the peak of Rendezvous

• go west down the drainage between Rendezvous and Little Teton (arrow far right)

• turn southwest and climb to the top of Little Teton (two arrows center back)

• turn south and follow Rendezvous Ridge (more options there, the farther you go)

• or turn around and go back down the way you came up (arrow to the left)

Today Cody and I chose to go up to the top of Rendezvous first.

VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT OF RENDEZVOUS

From the saddle I still had a vertical climb of about 200 feet on more steep, loose gravel (scree).

I wasn't able to see the whole trail from the saddle. This view of Rendezvous from out on the ridge shows the rocky south face of Rendezvous and the trail that goes to the summit:

I took these photos (and several more) on the way up to the top:

The initial steep pitch up Rendezvous at the second saddle, after coming
up the the trail on the right from the first (lower) saddle

 

Above and below:  The trail gets less a little less steep closer to the top.

 

The top of the mountain is sort of flat but not nearly as large as Flattop Mountain, which we climbed yesterday.

The website above says Rendezvous' summit is about 4,100 feet elevation. My GPS said 4,001 feet.

The views from the top were even more grand than the ones at the first and second saddles because I could see farther into the mountains to the east and south and out to Cook Inlet (and beyond) to the west and north.

Starting with Mount Gordon Lyon and the lower saddle to the northeast,
I'll present the next photos from the summit of Rendezvous in clockwise order.

I did a circuit at the top so I could take in the 360-degree views. Awesome!

From here I could see much of the Anchorage Bowl and Sleeping Lady Mountain to the west, Cook Inlet with Knik Arm to the north and Turnagain Arm to the south, some of the volcanic mountains to the south and the Alaska Range to the north (I couldn't see Denali today), Gordon Lyon to the north, and the Ship Creek and Eagle River valleys below me.

South Fork of the Eagle River (center) and valley with the North Fork (background)

Rendezvous Ridge

Ski slopes on Little Teton Peak

Arctic Valley, the Anchorage Bowl, Cook Inlet, and mountains beyond

Continued on the next page . . . an old missile site, views from Rendezvous Ridge, and sliding down the mountain -- on purpose!

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, and Cody the ultra Lab

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© 2012 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil