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Trail in great shape, hikers, and skiers, and snowshoes, oh my.
post holey at the top right now, but a beautiful hike. The trail starts off kind of through a corridor of trees and backyards, and then crosses a huge clear cut area, all on a steady incline, then you get some steeper areas and it would be wise to have ice cleats. Overall though, the trail is well established, and there are plenty of neat stopping points for views. I did this back in winter of 2018 too, and still haven't made it to the tip top. Have to make it a summer or fall gig.
35 and rainy, uncharacteristic of Anchorage inJanuary but it felt like being in the PNW. trail was totally ice covered and super slick. would not have made it up without spikes. so some sketchy inclined even. super fun though, some cool obstacles. grey day, but top views are worth it. many moose. careful.
First to ReviewYet another slippery day section hiking the Turnagain Arm Trail. Saw animal signs all along the trail. The weather is warm enough for a bear to wake up. Very peaceful hike. Saw very few people.
Icy for the first mile, then snow. Snowshoes needed after about 6000 ft mark. Many snow laden alders obscuring and making the trail very difficult starting about 10,000 ft until 11400 then open and clear with very deep snow. A moose track made the trail difficult for a bit just before the picnic table at 12,000. We turned around here because we weren’t sure about where the trail continued. Took 2:45 to the picnic table because we spent about an hour or more scrambling through the alders. Beautiful view, mild wind and a warm day. Well worth the effort
First it was a steep ascent through the woods. Then it was a buggy but peaceful stroll along the falls. Then it was snowy with grand views of the mountains.
It was definitely a hard hike but worth it. At first we weren't sure if we parked in the right spot as nothing was marked and we hoped for the best. Overall took us about 5.5 hours. We ended up off the path where the tree clearing were because we couldn't see the path, luckily we downloaded the map. This hike was no joke and probably not the smartest one to start with for a not so often hiker (Or the best idea to get it over with because I wouldn't have made it up if it was the 5th hike of the trip) It's incredibly steep and hard on my arthritic foot. You were stepping on lots of uneven stones and towards the top I was on hands and feet crawling up the mountain. I didn't make it fully because of wind and I was nervous. Down was definitely harder, which I didn't think was possible going up. The views were absolutely beautiful. This is not for the light hearted.
An incredible hike. Done it a few times now and it's been phenomenal regardless of time of year. Hit a little snow, not much at all though. Colder and windy as expected, but awesome nonetheless!
Pretty muddy, worse going down
This hike was pretty insane without crampons. There is a lot of snow and ice in the last thousand feet of climbing 3-4feet. But today was a clear view of Denali.
It’s 3OCT20 and I haven’t seen to many people post about Pioneer Ridge Trail. A friend and I hit the trailhead right before 8 this morning. Switched to T-Shirts as it’s non-stop up the entire trail. Mud! Mud everywhere going up to the second picnic table. Be ready for it. Water from running streams was readily available up until that point. This is where the jackets went back on. We don’t use poles or crampons or anything, but a pair of gents that started after us had both. Moose, Bull and a Cow sited around 3200 ft. Nice! At the flag pole we regrouped, grabbed a snack from the pack, swapped socks and I swapped shoes to boots. We put on our hats and light leather gloves as well. Termination dust started slapping us in the face right at 3750 ft! From then on it was ice, wind ripping around 30 MPH. We stopped again north of the iced over stream that feeds the runoff for another snack. Up up up to the third picnic table that’s laying in pieces buried almost completely by the snow already. Across the ice/snow fields ( knee deep already), along the ridge until you get to the real nasty stuff. We dropped our packs here on the top of the ridge and it turned into straight rock climbing. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you seen the wild looking rocks jutting out. 1inch thick ice is already formed on the windside of the rocks, so be extremely careful. We had to actually crawl across a lot of sections for the last 2 miles up. Don’t expect to see any trail along these ridges. We tried to stay on top of the ridges for the most part. Vertigo was real. Views from the summit were spot on. Glaciers clearly visible back through the Chugiak Range, and the Knick wrapping wildly around. We saw one Dall Sheep on the interior side of the mountain. I don’t think this trail will be passable in the coming weeks. I’d wait until summer if I were ever to do it again. Not kid/pet friendly.
Muddy but manageable. Lots of mountain goats near the lake.
First, I'm extremely excited to get this one crossed off my list! We started (9:28am) with the recommend route on this app (Lil O'Malley, ball field, up the gully). Towards the top of the gully, there was a decent amount of termination dust, nothing too terrible. Once we got past that and started the final accent, it wasn't too terrible. We were lucky to have a clear day, and following the trail was easy going. The views from the summit were phenomenal! For the decent, we backtracked a little bit and then made our way down towards the Hidden Lake Trail. 9.1mi and 6:06hr total.
Tracked from glen alps lot and back at 8.5 miles with 3665’ gain. Hike was gorgeous, even in typical Alaska weather. We encountered rain, snow, hail, and high winds. There are a few trails leading up to the peak once you pass the second gully. The second chute up looks intimidating but it really isn’t. My pup and I made it out and back in under 4 hours. We only had a partial view due to weather, but the views we did have from the trail and summit were amazing!
After mile 5, gets pretty muddy and wet. Waterproof shoes are a must. Last mile was definitely the toughest part but view at the top was incredible and so worth it!
The first 8 miles was a super easy hike and absolutely beautiful. After mile 5 the trail
I’m an avid hiker. I really enjoyed this hike. I would not attempt in the rain. You start on an easy sloped path and after almost a mile you go up and don’t stop until you reach the summit. I calculated 2900 ft of ascent and almost 2.5 miles. There are 3 false summits when you get to the top, keep going until you hit the cairn. I hiked this in September and the colors were amazing. Make sure you bring a wind breaker, the wind above the tree line in impressive. Happy hiking
reviewed Gold Mint Trail and Reed Lakes Loop
September 13, 2020First to ReviewExcellent trail with incredible views. I recommend starting at Reed Lakes and going clockwise, because the valley to Gold mint hut WILL be wet and muddy (there is no avoiding this, I promise). Be careful on the passes at Penny-Royal Glacier and Bomber Glacier. The static lines are helpful, but, due to high traffic, the rocks that you need to ascend are often very icy (crampons would be overkill, but I would recommend micro-spikes). Expect this trail to take 2 full days; 3 would be nicer (camp one night near Mint hut and 1 night at upper reed lake).
