Brad and Kathy’s Alaska Adventure

We just returned from an incredible trip to the Anchorage area. You see, we love Alaska! This was our third trip to the wilds of this great state. The last time was 4 years ago and we spent 5 incredible days in Denali National Park at the end of the road at Wonder Lake, where we were blessed to experience the grandure of Denali for three full days! But this trip we decided to put the packs on and go for an adventure. 

We left Seattle in 90 degree weather to head for who knows what up there. Bugs, rain, snow? We were prepared for anything. We arrived in Anchorage to good weather and it just kept getting better. We picked up our rental car and headed to our nephew Greg's condo. We found it in no time and proceeded to invade his space pretty convincingly with all our gear.

Our first adventure was to visit Humpys for new t-shirts and Halibut burgers before we headed to Girdwood to see some Elvis impersonator sing LED ZEPPLIN on stage with some of the most bizarre, barely dressed band members, screaming and jumping around. They had the almost as bizarre "Girdwood crowd" in a frenzy. Wow what a show and I don't mean the one on stage! We got back late and fell into bed even though it still wasn’t dark and slept late the next morning. Went to the "HOGG BROTHERS CAFE" for breakfast. Then on to REI for fuel, pepper spray, food and maybe some advice on which trail to try. We talked to a nice knowledgeable guy who knew about the trail we wanted to do so we bought a map and a book full of Alaska Hikes and headed back to the condo to pack.

We had decided on a 26 mile traverse starting at Crow Creek trailhead, 5 miles out of Girdwood to Eagle River. It is described on a trail marker one mile from the Eagle River Information Center where we ended our trip, it says "The historic Iditarod Trail 1883-1927, from Seward to Nome is 1000 miles long. This portion of the trail over Crow Pass was used as a winter dog sled route until the Alaska Railroad established regular service between Seward and Fairbanks. The trail became virtually impassable through years of limited use. As a Bicentennial project, the Susitna Girl Scout Council has restored some portions of the actual route." This took place in 1971. Now the forest service maintains this section of trail. 

Greg gave us a ride to the trailhead first thing monday morning. The night before we had dropped our rental car off at the end of the trail in Eagle River. They informed us that the trail had been passable for the last month and that the river ford was doable. 

The morning we left the trailhead we were to climb a little over 2000 feet to 3500 ft Crow Pass at three miles in. It was a beautiful trek through the amazing Chugach mountains. Upon reaching the Pass we visited the Forest Service cabin available by permit during the summer and fall. There is a guide book about ‘How to Rent A Cabin in Alaska’ and they have public use cabins all over Southcentral Alaska. After our short break, down the valley we travelled. Across snow and moraine we went. The Raven Glacier on our right and Raven creek to our left.

Along the way we were fortunate to have near perfect conditions and constant sightings of incredible wildlife. Our first day we saw ptarmigan, marmot, six black bears, one big bull moose right off the trail and three Great Horned owls and scenery to take your breath away!  We followed Raven Creek to a bridge overlooking a beautiful water fall cascading down through Raven Gorge.  This was another great place to stop and take the packs off and enjoy some rays.

We headed down to Raven Ridge spotting the occasional black bear feeding on the hill side as we went.  As we entered the timbered ridge and hiked along this new terrain Brad spotted the owls sitting in a tree only about 50 feet off the trail. A momma and her two babies.  It was quite a sight. We looked down into the Eagle River Valley where we were heading to and up to the Eagle Glacier that fed Glacier Lake, the headwaters of the Eagle river.

We wanted to camp down there so we took a deep breath and away we went. By the time we made it to the river bank we were pretty tired and still needed to find a camp near the ford. Brad found a nice spot near the river ford and we set up camp. We were low on clear water so we made sandwiches for dinner with an avocado I had found up near the pass laying in the snow! It was in perfect shape and we thanked the avocado gods for sending it to us.

We had hiked 13 miles that day and after we ate I was just going to take a little nap for a couple of hours then get up and have a look around. I didn’t wake up till 3 am. Yeah it was light out but it was also the middle of the night and Brad was sawing logs pretty good so I rolled over and went back to sleep too. 

We woke to a beautiful day, had glacier water tea and a Bakers Cookie for breakfast then it was time to pack up and get wet. Just before we made our crossing we spotted a momma moose and her two babies down the bank a ways. She looked as if she might be headed the same way but she stayed where she was. It was a great sight. The river ford was well marked and we wore shorts and sandals, it was also the COLDEST water I had ever experienced. It came clear to my crotch and I had to stop part way through and warm my feet and put socks on to make it. Glad that was over! 

The last 13 miles of our trip was down the Eagle river drainage. Rocky, washed out, occasional views and beaver ponds made up the last half of our adventure. It had its own beauty, some great waterfalls and camps, but we both longed for the high country! We made our second camp 8 miles later at Heritage Falls, a beautiful spot with a gorgeous waterfall across the river. We got to have a camp fire and Brad was able to visit with several other adventurers.

It rained sometime during the night but we woke up to yet another beautiful day and off we went only to find that our trail going right into a big beaver pond. Time to backtrack, we found an obscure route around the end of the pond and we were on our way. Part of the trail was kinda rough. Permanently installed ropes and a ladder help you through the worst of the washed out areas. It was interesting anyway. Also some precarious water crossings that my hero Brad helped me across.

On our way we came upon another cow moose right off the trail busy stripping leaves from the branches. We looked for a baby, relieved that we hadn’t come between a cow moose and her baby, that can be more dangerous than a brown bear. Took a picture and away we went.

As we got closer to the end of the trail it got wider and better maintained, with a yurt and a cabin for rent and more people. There was still fresh bear sign about every 1/4 mile, there had been a brown bear in this area just 1 mile from the visitors center that had bluff charged some hikers just a few days before. But they had gone in and hazed it with rubber bullets. I had the feeling that with all that sign that it hadn’t gone far.

We passed a family out for a stroll, there was an elderly lady of about 70 that was very interested in what we had just done, she was familiar with the trail but had never done it. She told us she was proud of us and you could just tell she would have liked to have been out there.

We got to the car about noon and back to Anchorage we went for a quick shower and get the rest of our stuff and up the Parks highway we headed. We stopped in Wasilla for dinner and as we got back on the highway we could see that we were heading into a very wicked looking black sky. We decided to find a place to camp and stopped at Nancy Lakes. As soon as we got the tent set up the storm hit, thunder and lightning and pouring down rain we escaped to the tent.

Early to bed early to rise, up and out again to find a gorgeous morning without a cloud in the sky! Off to Talkeetna for breakfast at the Road House. That's where all the climbers hang out. But on a day like this most were either already on the mountain or lining up a flight to Kahiltna international airport. We wished them luck as we sat outside at the picnic table and watched small plane after small plane head for the mountain, and oh what a mountain. Without a cloud in the sky, it dominated the skyline along with Foraker and Huntington they were all absolutely breath taking! 

After a little shopping we stopped at the Ranger station where there was a Alpine Ascents Van full of climbers getting briefed on their upcoming climb. Brad stood as close as he could to the door to listen in on what they were talking about. More people summit in June than any other month and it looked like the ones that were up there already and were ready to go had a perfect window of opportunity for a summit attempt. There had already been over 100 people who had made it this year.

We decided to drive up the Parks highway further to get some pictures of the mountain and to check out the Coal Creek trailhead. We almost did this 27 mile traverse along Kesugi Ridge. In just a little over a mile you get above timberline and up on a ridge leading to the Kesugi Ridge. We hiked up a little over 2 miles and checked out the route, it looked fantastic! Have to save it for next time because now it was time to head back down and back to the city to spend our last couple of days with our good friends Pat and Colleen. We had a great visit, lots of stories, eating and drinking, went to Seward on friday and did the tourist thing. Took in the saturday market in Anchorage and more of the tourist thing before we had to get back to the airport and head for home. It was an incredible trip but a week is not long enough! We'll definitely be back!

-Brad & Kathy Monrad