Here are the three peaks we were attempting to climb. We anchored the boat at the south end of Jackpot Bay on Friday night so we could get an early start Saturday morning.

When we awoke on Saturday, these two goats were slowly and cautiously making their way around the end of the bay. Mama looks a little nervous. And once we started hiking, we found out why she was nervous...

...not more than three minutes into the hike, we saw our first black bear. And a few minutes after that we came across five bears fishing in this Humpy salmon spawning stream! Of course we scared them away with lots of noise before taking any photos, wh

Who says there aren't any hiking trails in Prince William Sound? We found this well-trodden trail leading uphill from the salmon stream. Of course, it was a BEAR trail, and we ran into ANOTHER bear on the trail. That made for a total of 7 bears and 2

Hiking in PWS always involves some bushwhacking. This was one of the open spots between 'whacking on our way up to the ridge.

It took about 90 minutes to get out of the woods and onto the ridge. But once we were up there, it was classic Prince William Sound ridge walking. Spectacular!

This is the first peak we attempted to climb.

As we got closer, it started looking pretty difficult. Photo: Tim Kelley

We found a route that we were pretty sure we could scramble up, but there was a huge drop-off on all sides, so the margin for error was pretty slim. Tim pulled out his climbing rope and we harnessed up, just to be safe. Here's me about to start up the tr

Tim led, and then coached me up the rocks and soon enough we were hanging out on the summit.

Then we did a combination of scrambling and rappelling to get back down. I went first, then took pictures as Tim cleaned up the gear and made his way down. That's him just off the right side of the peak.

With the most technical peak down, we set our sights on the other two. Our route was to go down this snow field and up the small peak on the left side of this picture (our second peak), then on to the third peak, which is the highest point on the horiz

Another shot of the third peak.

Rumor has it that Tim had a milestone birthday this year - but it wasn't until today that he really started looking older.

After going up and over the second peak, we were nearing the top of the third when we came across this unlucky guy. If nothing else, he's got a very scenic spot to enjoy eternity.

Tim checking out a spur on the top of the third peak.

Not a bad spot for a photo.

We could see Nassau Fjord, which had lots of ice from Chenega Glacier. Seven years ago, almost to the day, in my first trip into the Sound, I went kayaking here. [click the link then scroll down to...

Panoramic view from the top of the third peak. Click through to the movie, then click on the movie to scroll through the entire view.

View of the Princeton Glacier.

Cool striated rocks we saw on the way down. With three peaks in the bag, we started heading back to the boat, which meant climbing the second peak, and a good part of the first one, again.

Nothing beats the heat on a hot summer day better than cold water from an icy tarn. Photo: Tim Kelley

Scouting our route back down through the trees. Unlike most bushwhacking, this time it seemed harder on the way down. Photo: Tim Kelley

Headed for the boat after another great peakbagging trip. Total time was about 8.5 hours, with about 6000 feet of vertical. Photo: Tim Kelley

A waterfall as we entered back into bear country on the way down

Just before reaching the salmon stream, we stopped and took a few pictures and video of the bears in the stream, before we would have to scare them away. Here's a video of a bear catching a Humpy salmon