Bold Peak is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, located in

Chugach State Park Chugach State Park covers 495,204 acres (2,004 square kilometers) covering a hilly region immediately east of Anchorage, in south-central Alaska. Established by legislation signed into law on August 6, 1970, by Alaska Governor Keith Harvey Mi ...

in Anchorage Municipality.

Location

Bold Peak sits on the eastern side of the head of Eklutna Lake, about two and a half miles northwest of Bashful Peak, the highest point in the western

Chugach Mountains The Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska are the northernmost of the several mountain ranges that make up the Pacific Coast Ranges of the western edge of North America. The range is about long and wide, and extends from the Knik and Turnag ...

Outdoor Recreation and Climbing Routes

Bold Peak is a popular destination for strong, experienced hikers. Conditions on Bold Peak can be challenging and can include high wind, high exposure, cold temperatures, and year-round snow. The standard route up Stiver's Gully involves a 10.5 mile bike ride in along the dirt road that leads to the head of Eklutna Lake, followed by approximately 6,500 vertical feet of scrambling, climbing, and hiking up loose rock to the summit. There is no trail, maintained or otherwise, to the top of the peak. The Bold Ridge trail starts from the road running along Eklutna Lake, and climbs 3.5 miles up an old roadway to a tundra valley below Bold Peak's western face. The trail offers sweeping views of Eklutna Lake and access to open tundra hiking in the smaller mountains and valleys below Bold Peak. Bold Peak is rarely climbed from the Overlook Trail because the peak's western face is steep and prone to rockfall, though it may be climbed from the Overlook trail via its northern ridge. During winter and into spring, Bold Peak's long, steep slopes and heavy snow loads make it prone to extreme avalanches, which can cross and bury the dirt road that runs along Eklutna Lake's northeastern side. In February 2000, an avalanche on Bold Peak's southwestern face "snapped thousands of two-foot-thick aspens and cottonwoods and created a mile-long field of debris". The slide "ripped out vegetation, windmilling whole trees so that they shattered and snapped into rails. At the base of the mountain, a tsunami of wind and snow and wood crossed the road, tearing into a forest that had stood for many decades. The slide then fanned out onto the flats, mowing down about 120 acres of mature spruce-birch forest and reaching about a half-mile into the valley. The force dissipated; a cloud of powder must have risen like a thunderhead."

References

{{reflist

External links

Lost in Alaska blog post "Autumn's almost over; Ascent of Bold Peak, 'First Attempt', 7522 feet"
a trip report with photos.

a trip report with many photos of the Stiver's Gully route and the surrounding landscape.
AK Mountain blog post by William Finley, "Bold Peak"
a trip report with numerous photos. Two-thousanders of the United States Mountains of Anchorage, Alaska