On September 2, Matt Callahan and I set out to climb a peak that we have been eyeing for a while. Hidden deep in the mountains north of Juneau is what we had been dubbing the Shark’s Tooth (ca 5,700’, 58°43'4.45"N, 134°45'32.11"W Google Earth) for its resemblance to a tooth of the ancient megalodon, a prehistoric 40-foot shark.

Approaches in Southeast Alaska are always worthy of note—this one consisted of four miles of nearly continuous bushwhacking through devil’s club from the Glacier Highway, up the Davies Creek Valley, which is a small old-growth section of the massive Tongass National Forest. We reached the head of the valley, and from here we climbed to the 4,500’ saddle separating the Davies Valley and the unnamed valley to the east that flows north to the Gilkey River, where the Shark’s Tooth sits. Reaching the saddle we exalted in the views of the stunningly prominent peak. We descended into the new valley, traversed to the base of the mountain, and climbed up 2nd- and 3rd-class benches to a campsite on a majestic granite slab with pools of water and boulders all around.

We awoke with psych, knowing that we would be doing some technical rock climbing. Our intended line was the southeast ridge, which was obviously the easiest way up the mountain, gaining about 1,800’ from the saddle. It required a 5.7 intro pitch to gain the ridge, then scrambling, which led to two pitches of memorable 5.6 and 5.7 climbing on great granite. Before we knew it we were standing on top—a dream come true. We couldn’t stay long because we had to be back in town that day. We reversed our approach and made it to the car at dusk.

– Dylan Miller