Flattop Mountain

We had a sunny summer Saturday in Alaska {we've lived here long enough to know how rare that is!} with nothing on our calendar, so hiking was in order! We headed to Flattop Mountain for the first time, and it was a hike we will not soon forget! It was without a doubt our most challenging hike to date. We mistakenly assumed it would be like Mount Baldy, but it was not. ;)  Mount Baldy has switchbacks all the way up the mountain; Flattop does not, ha! It was totally doable until about halfway up, and then it was rock scrambling up the rest of the way to the summit--no distinct trail or path to follow, super steep with loose footing. I feel like the pictures don't fully convey the difficulty level of this hike, but I assure you there were many times I was questioning our sanity & our safety. Going down was just as difficult (or maybe moreso?!} than going up. On our way down we kept pausing and turning around, marveling at what we had just ascended. I don't know that we will ever attempt this hike again {although Brady & Hadley loved this hike & are already asking to go back}, but I'm so glad we did it! The views were magnificent.

{We missed this sign on our way up but spotted it on the descent: "Difficult trail to Flattop Peak, adult supervision of children highly recommended." We felt like that was putting it mildly, ha!}