Aleutian Islands: Unalaska – Climbing Mount Ballyhoo
Mount Ballyhoo is 1634 feet (498m) high towering above the towns of Dutch Harbor (where the airport is) and Unalaska (the historic settlement and main town) below. It’s only a 2.2km (1.4mi) long hike but given the elevation gain – it’s a steep hike! And by steep I mean like a 45% incline on some sections. You raise you head and you see the top, and you climb up to this top, just to find out it’s a fake top and another one is behind it. And this repeats itself four times, as the ridgetop zigzags with tops. Finally, on the true top – it’s a spectacular 360 panorama of the mountains, the airport below, and all the bays and islands – almost like in the Norwegian Fjords or Faroe Islands. The drop off on the other size of absolutely vertical down to the water at 1600 feet below. Supposedly two people plummeted here a month ago.
