Trout Lake Backpacking

Alaska celebrates Seward's Day on the last Monday in March. We celebrated being in Alaska and not speaking Russian by going on a backpacking trip on the Kenai Peninsula. Our house was full of visitors, so we traded in our three bedroom house for a one room (plus loft) cabin at Trout Lake along the Resurrection Pass trail.

Callie, Lila and I all took Friday off so we could have a four-day weekend. Our house was abuzz Thursday night as we packed. Our party was composed of Callie, Vivian (Callie's friend visiting from LA), Lila, Hillel (Lila's fiance), Andy and Lea. Lea made gear runs to friends' houses to grab extra sleeping bags, pads, poles, snowshoes and sleds. Andy and I made a grocery run. Then it was a long night of packing.

I took some time to convert my store-bought plastic tobaggon into a sledge (or pulk). A sledge/pulk is a sled that you load gear on a pull behind you. Because the trail was going to be snowed over, Lea, Andy and I decided to pull our loads while wearing only a light backpack. The sledges were attached to us either by rope and carabiners or metal poles. The poles (on the sledge that Lea used) worked well on mixed pitch ground because they held the sled back on a downhill so it didn't run into your feet. Andy and I opted for the simpler rope attached to pack belt by carabiners. It was a bit cumbersome when descending, but workable. We eventually devised a system of unclipping one 'biner and walking to the side of the sled on the short downhills. For an article on how to build a pulk, check out this article. ("Pulk" is the term they use up here - I use the term "sledge" because that's what they called them on Shackleton's voyage.)

Friday morning we loaded up the cars and headed south on the Seward Highway. The sky was bright and clear. The views as we drove along Turnagain Arm were spectacular. We spotted bald eagles perched on the water's edge. The peaks of the Chugach and Kenai Mountains stood out white against the dark blue sky. Portage glacier was clearly visible as we rounded end of the Arm and headed over Turnagain Pass. Tin Can (a popular backcountry ski area) was on our left as we descended the pass and continued on to Cooper Landing.

At Cooper Landing we left the highway and found the Bean Creek trailhead. We loaded up our gear, let Jackson (MK's dog) run around and surveyed the terrain. Our luck with the weather continued to hold and the day remained clear and warm.

We set out. The group stuck together and those with packs were kind enough to humor those of us with sledges as we got used to pulling a load. Steep uphills were the biggest challenge. Parts of the trail were slick with ice. Mostly, though, we walked comfortably on packed snow with good traction. We began to make good time.

Our lunch stop was at the convergence of the Bean Creek and Resurrection Pass trails. Much to our chagrin, we discovered that the bag containing our lunch meat and fish for dinner had been left in the refrigerator. Luckily Andy and I had bought liberally and there was still plenty of food for all.


At this point we noticed that Jackson was starting to have trouble with his feet. The snow had cut his paws. We put his three booties on (he'd already lost one on a previous trip).

The rest of the walk to the cabin (total of about 5 miles) went well.

The cabin itself was about a half mile off the main Resurrection Pass trail at the end of Trout Lake. The cabin is an A-frame with a loft above the main room. It has a nice porch, two sets of bunk beds, a wood fired stove, a table with benches and a food prep area. In short, it was perfect. There was already a large supply of split wood and a number of unsplit rounds. A small firepit was in front. See more about the cabin here and here.

When we arrived, we made short work of getting down to having fun. The ladies enjoyed the bright sunshine on the deck. The men (12 year old boys?) immediately busted out the sleds for some serious fun. The trail down to the lake from the cabin was a great run with two slightly banked corners and a nice increasing drop off before shooting you out onto the frozen, snow-covered lake. The end of the run went by the snow-buried boat that comes with the cabin.

Andy, Hillel and I made numerous runs and constructed a small jump beside the boat.

Our next hill was across the lake. The powder was deep and we almost ran into a small tree. So of course we had to do it again. It was fun, but we all ended up drenched in powder.

Finally, we headed back down the main trail to a spot that we had noticed on the way in. The trail made an S-curve and had naturally banked sides that were remarkably similar to a luge-track. So of course we had to try it. Jackson ran beside, behind, and, most often, in front of us. Eventually we figured out how to make a continuous, sinuous run down the trail. The best and most fun method was head first.



Jackson was in heaven. He had seven people to run around with. He played his version of fetch: you throw the stick, he runs and get it and then doesn't give it back. You then throw another stick and he gets that stick while also trying to hold onto the original stick.

The only downside to Jackson's running around was that he kept losing booties. Eventually we were down to only one.

Eventually we headed back to the cabin for dinner. Lea had remembered to pack some salmon she had caught and smoked the year before. We had that, couscous, vegetables and wine. Desert was s'mores around the fire. Jackson chased his stick.

While Andy and Hillel took a nap, the rest of us crowded around the fire to toast marshmallows and make s'mores.

After a beautiful sunset we retired to the cabin for a game of cards. The cabin was warm and inviting with seven people, one dog and a roaring wood fire.

The next morning dawned with clouds obscuring the sun. I took Jackson for a morning walk along the frozen lake.

Unfortunately, our group was going to have to split up. Vivian had to fly out the next morning and so she and Callie were headed to Girdwood for the evening to attend "Telepalooza". Lila and Hillel also left to go to Homer for the next night.

The group that was leaving headed out after breakfast for a quick snowshoe around the lake. We said our goodbyes and took some pictures.

Andy, Lea and I decided to spend the day climbing the peak to the west of the cabin. It was 3295 feet high and the cabin was at about 1300 feet. We strapped on our snowshoes, hoisted our packs and headed out across country to try our luck.

The snow was deep. Jackson had a blast plowing through the powder and sniffing moose and rabbit tracks. We hiked through the trees around to the north-east side of the hill.

Walking through fresh, untracked snow along a path of your own choosing on snowshoes is truly fantastic. The day stayed partly cloudy, but we caught patches of sunlight.


As we slowly traversed north, we gained elevation. We slowly rose above the valley floor and were rewarded with views across the pass to other glacially carved valleys. Juneau lake came into view. Several planes fitted with skis flew down the pass, circled and landed on Juneau lake. Two cabins are on the lake and it looked like a large group had flown in for the weekend.

We continued our climb after a brief lunch stop. Our goal was to hit a ridge free of snow on the north-east side of the mountain and finish our climb by hiking up over the tundra and rock. We eventually rose above the snow onto the wind-scoured and sun warmed slopes. The weather continued to threaten to cloud up, but stayed sunny. The last assault on the top was over fields of berries left over from the previous fall that had been frozen in the snow all winter.

As we reached the top the clouds finally covered the sun. We had a brief glimpse of Cook Inlet off to the west before clouds and mist obscured the view. The top was worth it, however we didn't linger long as a wind had been whipped up. We named the peak "One Booty Mountain" in honor of Jackson's lost booties.

Our descent was made on the south-east corner of the mountain. We tromped down a steep ridge over berries and shale. Eventually we reached the snow again. We glissaded when we could, but the snow was a bit too soft and deep to make that a fast method of descent. Also, thickets of alder stood in our way. We had to push through the underbrush and bushwack a trail.

Eventually the slope leveled enough to allow us to put on snowshoes. We made our way to the lake. Once out of the Alder and onto the lake, the last mile was quickly covered and we were back at the cabin.

The cabin seemed quiet and roomy with only three of us (and one VERY tired dog).

We immediately set upon the snacks and wine. Andy then got started with making some instant soup while I started the fire and fetched snow to melt into water. Once our immediate hunger was sated we relaxed for a bit. Lea read. Andy and I split some wood, which is play for us city-kids unless you have to do it for a long time.

Dinner was pasta. We thought we'd have too much food, but our hike had left us ravenous. We polished off every last bit.

Our evening was finished drinking wine and hot chocolate. We talked and played cards. Jackson continued to sleep curled up by the wood stove. He was one tired but happy pooch.

Sunday morning we awoke to softly falling snow. I stoked the fire and once again ran Jackson around on the lake. After breakfast we packed up, swept out the cabin and enjoyed the morning.

Lea was able to get cell phone reception and found out that Vivian had slipped on the ice at the top of a hill and had cut her lip. She turned out to be fine, but we appreciated the warning.

Our trip out was considerably faster than our trip to the cabin. Normally you can hike downhill faster than you hike uphill, so that was to be expected. However, we were all equipped with sleds! We converted Lea's sled to a rope pull and we rode our sleds whenever we could. Andy preferred to just sit down. I started off riding the sled on one knee facing forwards and using my other leg for balance and to push. The sitting down method proved better for the longer descents.



For portions of the ride down we were able to sit and fly along for periods of almost a minute. That really reduced our time. We passed hikers headed up.

Before we knew it, we were back at the top of the large, icy hill where Vivian had slipped. One by one we carefully maneuvered around the ice and then rode down the straight part of the hill.

Once back at the car, we loaded up and headed out. We ate dinner that night in Girdwood at Maxine's. It was fantastic.

PICTURES: http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.r.mckenna/TroutLakeBackpacking