Penguin Ridge has been called the best ridge run in Alaska and we would have to agree. There we said it! It is a point to point run on the ridge that links Girdwood and Indian and parallels the Seward highway. If done on a proper sunny day you are treated to views of Turnagain Arm the whole way, nice!
https://www.strava.com/activities/2512182617
We did this traverse with Eli Holowatch on that hot, smokey summer in 2019, you know the one! With seemingly unlimited sun in the forecast, hitting a good weather window was easy. Unfortunately we actually chose July 6th which ended up being the hottest day Anchorage had ever seen in recorded history up to that point. The record was broken again the next day. No shade or water on the route isn’t usually an issue, but on this particular day it was. More on that later Bob!!
The Penguin Traverse is about 16 miles and 9500′ of elevation gain, which is plenty enough! All of the peaks you tag are named after penguins which is a fun little treat, I wonder who came up with that! A lot of people start in Indian and end in Girdwood due to the more technical scrambling being on the Indian side (get it out of the way while you’re fresh). But none of the scrambling is too bad and we actually prefer it the other way because the trail coming down from Penguin is more established than the trail coming down Gentoo into the Girdwood valley (less chance of getting lost when you’re tired!)
We stashed a car in Indian and drove down to Girdwood to start the run. We parked at the tiny little pulloff next to the bridge over California creek off Crow Creek Road. We started heading up California Creek doing our best to follow the trail until we were eventually swimming through fireweed. It was truly popping off this summer! We didn’t need the trail much longer anyway, once you are out of the trees you pretty quickly turn left and head straight up almost 4000′ to tag Gentoo Peak.
It is nice you are able to bang out almost half the climbing right off the bat and enjoy the ridge. There were still a couple of snow patches for snowball fights!
By the time we got to the ridge Eli and Ryan had drank most of their water. We brought a ton of water but still SEVERELY underestimated how much we would need on such a hot day. Kianna is some sort of camel that is adapted to hot Salt Lake summers and didn’t have the water problem nearly as bad. We had all the great snacks packed, power mangoes and gummy bears!
Once you are on the ridge, the running is truly dreamy. Miles and miles of rolly-polly hills high above Turnagain Arm!
I mean that is as good as it gets! After running out of water before we hit the halfway point, the snow patches became life savers. We would roll around in each one we came across, stuff our hats with snow, and pack our water bottles to try and get a few extra sips of water. Hot Hot Hot!
Don’t worry though, we did remember to bring beer and bubbles! HIGHLY ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT!
Eli brought a tiny beer an a normal sized beer. It’s good to have options!
It was a little smokey out but compared to the rest of July this was actually a pretty clear day!
By the time we made it to Penguin Peak we were all feeling extremely dehydrated. To this day, probably the most dehydrated I’ve ever been! Luckily it is all downhill from there!
We finished with time to make it back to Girdwood for the Forest Fair. We zipped south to pick up our car and then straight to the beer garden!!