I did a long day hike up to Alaska Mountain on the PCT. I took a slight detour to bushwhack up to Kendall Knob #2 (see the report there), which didn't really save any time, but seemed more satisfying. There was just a little snow up at the higher elevations, not a problem on the Katwalk. The views from way up on the PCT of Alaska Lake and then Joe Lake are very cool. They are so isolated, set back above the Gold Creek valley. Somewhere under Kendall Peak I met up with a PCT through hiker, a young woman from Alabama who goes by "Dixie" as a trail name. We had a nice time talking about hiking and the state of the union. I left the trail at the point where Joe Lake first comes into view, after rounding the south flank of Alaska Mountain. Going WNW there is a bit of a path for a while, but it gets lost quickly. Also there was just a few inches of snow on the talus field there. If there was no snow, it would be easier to walk across the rocks, and if there was deep snow, the skree would not be visible nor a problem. This was a bit of a pain. There is a false summit, which I discovered by optimistically sticking to the jagged, rocky ridge too soon. Still, once I came to a 10 ft drop-off, it was possible to go down hanging onto rocks and trees. I skirted around to the north a bit before ascending the true summit. From the PCT to the peak and back to the PCT took more than an hour.

3350 ft gain, 16.8 miles, 11:20 hours