Kigluaik Mountain Photos

Kigluaik Mountain Photo Page

by Tom Busch

The Kigluaiks are a rugged range located about 25 miles north of Nome, Alaska. Stretching 40 miles east to west, these mountains are rarely visited, except for bears, reindeer herds that pass through seasonally, an occasional geologist, and a few backpackers and other travelers a year.

Mount Osborn is the tallest of the Kigluaiks: at 4,714 feet, it's the highest point on Alaska's remote Seward Peninsula. Osborn's shorter siblings rise 2,000 to 4,000 feet above mazes of long, narrow swampy valleys, typically less than 3/4 of a mile wide.

The Kigluaiks have been well studied, and several geological papers are available on web, such as Diapiric ascent and cooling of a sillimanite gneiss dome revealed by ⁴⁰ Ar/³⁹Ar thermochronology; the Kigluaik Mountains, Seward Peninsula, Alaska by A.T. Calvert and P.B. Gans of UCSB and JM Amato of UWis-Madison. Though filled with scientific jargon, they provide a fact or two for the layperson. (Reading works like this, it may help to know that Ma. is the abbreviation for megannum, or one million years. Something dated at 80 Ma. is 80 million years old.)

There are no hiking trails through the mountains. Footing is loose and irregular and often wet in the easiest spots, dangerous in others. It's real ankle-twisting country, highly populated with grizzly bears. Most of the valleys have probably not been visited by human beings in many years.

Only individuals trained in arctic survival should venture into the Kigluaiks, even during the summer, and then only after consulting experienced locals regarding suggested routes and hazards.

Click on a thumbnail to view for a full image:

Note: Unless otherwise noted, photos are Copyright 1990-2003 Tom Busch. Enjoy viewing them. However, they may not be used or reproduced in any way without express written permission.

Close to Nome, the best view of the central Kigluaik Mountains is along the Dexter Bypass Road, about one-quarter mile west of Dexter, with the eastern shoulder of King Mountain in the foreground. The two named Kigluaiks are visible; at left, dark Mount Tigaraha, which is about 3700 feet, and at the right, Mount Osborn; at 4714 feet, the highest point on the Seward Peninsula.
On the topo maps, the wrong peak is labeled "Tigaraha." The true peak is 2.2 miles WNW of the one marked. October 17, 2000 (33k).

The distant Kigluaik range as viewed from the coast, about Mile 15 Nome-Council Highway, with Safety Sound in the foreground. August 2001. (91k)

Mts. Osborn (rear) and Tigaraha, aerial view (39k).

The entire Kigluaik Range as seen from the north. June 2004. (258k)

Aerial photo of the central Kigluaiks depicting many of the nooks and crannies featured in this page's images (87k).

View of Grand Central River valley, looking northwest. Behind the river, from left, un-named peak 2600 +/-, Thompson Creek, peak 3147, and Mount Osborn. Osborn's peak is about seven miles distant. June 7, 2002. Copyright Charles Fagerstrom 2002. (225k)

Looking up Grand Central; the distant peak at right with tors (pinnacles) is the summit of Mount Osborn. June 2004. (189k)

View from Mosquito Pass, looking northeast toward Tigaraha (82k)

Mount Tigaraha, from above North Star Creek (69k)

View to the right of the above image. Close-up of "sawtooth" spires on the ridge that arcs southeast from Tigaraha (30k)

Crossing Buffalo Creek, looking E. (40k)

Mount Osborn, right, viewed from 3,200-ft ridge, looking down toward the headwaters of Thompson Creek. This is the view from a really terrific day hike. (18k)
Hiking instructions

From the above location, turn 60 degrees to the right and here's what you see, looking SE in the direction of Salmon Lake. This is a typical Kigluaik knife edge, similar to the one just below. (16k)
Hiking instructions

A typical Kigluaik knife-edge ridge, looking NW.   (83k)

Lake 1391, Mosquito Pass. Those are automobile-size boulders in the foreground. This wide-angle image does not even hint of the spooky majesty of this location. (54k)

Placid lake, 1450 ft. AMSL, Mosquito Pass, just NW of the spooky lake above, and quite opposite in feel. (88k)

Headwater lake of Cobblestone River, looking NW (27k)

Lower reaches of North Star Creek's gorge, looking N toward Tigaraha. (30k)

From the apex of North Star Creek's valley, looking S to a boulder field, and beyond it, a high swamp. (55k)

North Star Creek, near its confluence with Windy Creek on an early June day, 1980. The snowbanks are about eight feet high. (25k).

Crossing the Sinuk River near its headwaters, looking NW. Note the ridge in the background. (see next image) (40k)

Looking down from that ridge to the Sinuk River View, looking W downriver. The patch of river reflecting the sun is the location in the image directly above. (56k)
Hiking instructions

Same location, Sinuk R., looking N upriver, with Mount Tigaraha to the left and Mount Osborn to the right. This is among the best views that's less than two hours' hike off the gravel roads that lead out of Nome. I don't believe that more than a handful of people who have stood at this spot in over fifty years. There may have been others, but I know of only two others who have entered this valley during that time. (89k)      Hiking instructions

Looking S to the Kigluaiks from Pilgrim Hot Springs on a summer day. (60k)

Grand Central River valley in September, photo taken from the road. (79k)

Grand Central Valley, stretching from lower left to upper right, with Mount Osborn at right center.   The view is looking toward the northwest. This and the following two images were taken from N792AS at 7:15 PM on June 21, 2001. (258k)

Salmon Lake, looking NW. to the right of the lake, the gravel Kougarok Road is visible. (281k)

Looking northwest across the eastern Kigluaiks. The five valleys in the foreground, from left to right, are Crater Creek, Grouse Creek and three forks of Big Creek. The long valley near center is the headwaters of Crater Creek. Some 20 miles in the distance Imruk Basin is visible, and beyond it, Grantley Harbor. (212k)