Reed Lakes Hike

This weekend Mary Katherine, Liz, Mike and I headed out for a hike in the Talkeetna Mountains north of Anchorage. We headed up the road to Hatcher Pass and turned off towards the Reed Lakes trail.

The day was warm in the valley and the sun almost peaked out. The trail started off flat and easy. Soon we arrived at an abandoned cabin amongst the bushes and boulders. The area had been mined for gold early in the century, and the area still sported a few old shacks and some abandoned equipment.



The area has some of only decent rock for climbing in south central Alaska and many of the boulders looked like they would be a lot of fun. A face of granite that we began to switchback up next to even had a few bolts in it.

Once we started to climb the steep wall at the end of the valley, the trail crossed a boulder strewn slope where the creek from the valley above came down.

The vegetation changed markedly once we were up into the hanging valley. The tall bushes from the lower valley gave way to a more tundra-like and low scrub environment. The stream meandered through a meadow and made a number of small lakelets.



We stopped for a snack and to let the dogs swim around. Jackson, MK’s dog, lives for swimming (as well as running and playing the stick game). Agloo, Paul Twardock’s dog, was also with us. Liz gave Mike a quick lesson in reading topographic maps.

Soon we pressed on up the trail, climbing steadily. The trail followed the stream (although it would be a river in CA) up the valley, past more lakes and several pretty decently sized waterfalls.

As we climbed the temperature dropped. When we reached the upper part of the valley, the ground began to be covered with more and more snow. It was like we were hiking backwards in time, each step sending us further back from summer into early spring.

When we reached Upper Reed Lake, we found it completely covered in ice. The clouds had come in and it started to snow. If you ever needed a reminder that when you leave for a hike in Alaska you should bring layers for all conditions, this was it. We ate our lunch on a rock and marveled at the view around us. Small ice fields and glaciers covered the cloud-shrouded peaks around us.





We headed back down the trail and returned to spring and summer (such as it is). The lower valley still had a bit of sun and we were quickly back at the car.

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