The Revelation Mountains - July 2015
Wildflowers, mountains and my little orange tent nestled along the Babel River.
Mention the Revelation Mountains to almost anyone in Alaska and you are most likely to hear "What mountains? Where are they?". However, if you happen to be talking to an avid climber the response is more likely to be "Ooh, the Revs!" Even within Alaska, a state that offers up endless, far-flung, rarely-visited destinations, the Revelations are remote and remarkably under-visited. The people who do venture out to these mountains, the westernmost subrange of the Alaska Range, tend to be rock climbers and mountaineers lured to the Revs for their granite spires and massive vertical relief.
The Revelation Mountains relative to the state of Alaska.
Few backpackers find themselves in the Revelations for a variety of reasons: the Revs are not located in a National Park or National Forest (although they are certainly stunning enough to warrant federal protection) and therefore receive very little publicity, the weather at this western end of the Alaska Range is notoriously terrible - often leading to delays getting into or out of the Range, and the Revs are located 140 air miles from Anchorage and there are relatively few landing strips or large lakes making access to this region very expensive. Despite all of those deterrents, the Revelation Mountains are totally worth visiting, they are unequivocally one of the most spectacular backpacking destinations in AK.
Lucky for me, five intrepid guests of Alaska Alpine Adventures also thought that the Revelations sounded intriguing. So in July 2015, I found myself flying with five guests and my assistant guide from Anchorage to Port Alsworth, a small community located within Lake Clark National Park. From there we hopped into two floatplanes and made the 75 minute flight northwest to a small alpine lake under the shadow of one of the Revelations’ most iconic peaks: The Angel.
Immediately upon arriving in the Revelations, the vertical relief was incredible and from scanning our maps pre-trip, I knew the big relief was still yet to come! We decided to spend two nights at our drop-off point, giving us the opportunity to explore the tundra country underneath The Angel and the adjacent peaks on a day hike with lighter packs. It was a fortuitous decision to stay because on our return to camp from our day hike the following day, a classic Revelation Range deluge moved in. It proceeded to rain and blow, longer and harder than I have ever witnessed on a summer trip in Alaska - we were getting the real Revs experience! The monsoon finally let up the following day and was reduced to a light drizzle as we packed up our soaking tents and headed north.
Camped below The Angel, during a break in the storm.
By that evening we were making camp and drying out wet gear in the sunshine. Luckily for us, that early rainstorm would be the worst weather of the trip! For the rest of our ten day adventure we were treated to sunshine punctuated by an occasional drizzle, but overall we had incredibly good weather considering the Revelations’ reputation. Sunny evenings relaxing after long days with significant elevation gain became the norm. Occasionally low clouds and fog obscured our views, but overwhelmingly we were able to see the big peaks to the east as we traveled in and out of river drainages and over steep and rocky passes.
We enjoyed a decent number of wildlife sightings: large moose, a curious red fox, a few caribou and several brown bears, including a sow and two cubs who, at one point, thwarted our progress and forced us to make an early camp for the night by feeding on blueberries directly in our path for several hours.
Another layover day later in the trip allowed the male guests to relax in camp, resting up for the biggest pass of the trip the following day, while the female clients and I climbed a lesser peak to catch a more intimate glimpse of the Revs’ large granite walls. The following day, after climbing that final, steep, arduous, pass our biggest challenge still remained ahead of us: crossing the Big River to access the airstrip for our pick-up.
Ladies on top! There were some badass women on this trip!
After descending through hellacious brush for over an hour, we descended to the valley floor of the Big River. The Big is an incredibly stunning, glacially carved valley with 7000’ walls rising up on either side, all the way to the summit of the Revelations’ highest peak, Mt. Hesperus. Directly across the river from us was the airstrip, but the river was completely uncrossable here. Despite relatively little rain for the region, unseasonably high temperatures (especially at night) had meant that the Revelation Glacier was releasing more water than usual. We decided to continue up river, above all of the Big’s tributaries to try and cross the river where it was lower and safer. A full afternoon of traveling on river cobblestones brought us all the way to the toe of the Revelation Glacier: a thin bridge of blue ice, arced across the Big River, connecting on our side to a slick, steep and completely smooth granite wall.
Crossing on the Glacier would not be an option and the 12 attempted crossings I had made so far that day in waist deep, opaque, quick-moving, glacial (i.e. 34 degrees Fahrenheit) water had all proved unsuccessful and too dangerous to attempt with clients. We made camp for the night well upriver of the airstrip, still on the wrong side of the river. Often glacial rivers drop overnight, due to cold nighttime temperatures reducing the melt rate of the glacier. So, at 5am I was again waist deep in the river, probing for an acceptable crossing, but coming up short again. We headed back down the river, having explored as far upriver as we could. Although counterintuitive, I thought there might just be somewhere to cross downriver. Despite having more water in the system, there was a spot I had seen from above the day before, where a large tributary joined the Big River, and the river spread out into many numerous braids, which might just be shallow enough to cross. I made a satellite phone call to our air taxi, letting them know our plan to try to still make it across the river. Glen, our pilot, said he would also scout for landing spots on our side of the river. I left my clients and assistant guide sitting in the sunshine while I went to scout a crossing. After two hours of probing and testing different channels of the river I came back, finally successful! I had found a viable crossing I thought I could safely escort my clients across.
Looking down the Big River
Just as we were starting to move down river, as a group, heading for our crossing, a young brown bear emerged from the brush on the other side of the river and began crossing, moving steadily in our direction. We halted, waiting to see what the bear would do next. He was continuing to cross channel after channel when from the southwest, around the shoulder of the mountain on river left, our airplane came into view. Spooked by the sound of the small airplane, the bear started running in our direction. Then, just as suddenly, he hit the breaks and ran back the way he came. A second plane came into view and as the bear disappeared back into the brush on the opposite side of the river, the pilots landed on our side of the river on a relatively flat section of gravel that I never would have guessed was long enough for either a take off or a landing. As it turned out, crossing the river was entirely unnecessary due to the incredible bush flying skills of our pilots. That memory will stay with me forever as one of the most Alaskan moments of my guiding career: standing on the edge of a glacial river, under huge granite peaks, watching a brown bear charge across the water, while two bush planes descended for a precision landing. Classic Alaska!
When our pilots landed in these Stinsons one of my clients asked, "how old are these planes?" The pilot replied, "Oh, pre-war." "Like Vietnam?!" my client asked. "No, World War II." The look on the clients face was priceless!
Two hours later we were back in Port Alsworth, ready for showers and a delicious dinner at the Farm Lodge. It was an incredible trip, from the ferocity of the weather at the beginning, to the beautiful scenery and stellar weather along the route, to the excitement on our final day! I’m really looking forward to getting back to the Revelations and seeking out more of what these big, beautiful, lonely peaks have to offer.
