The early morning, however, was not a good start. I got to the van at 7:30am to let the dogs out to pee and discovered a massive explosion of diarrhea on my sleeping pads and sleeping bag and part of my pillow. No wonder Sadie jumped out of the van so fast! Luckily the mess was only on my washables and I had a hose outside the lodge to spray the mess off, but had this happened along the remote Alcan, I would have been literally in deep shit. I won't be feeding raw meats to the dogs so late in the day again! They seemed fine once on the trail.
Doug dropped us off at the trail head and we started the hike at 9:18am. There was no one else at this trail head. The more popular route to start at is the southern trail head going north. We were alone and Holly made an effort to clap her hands and chat to warn the bears of our presence. I was tired and still lethargic from having been up late the night before. I blew my whistle a few times. And when at the 4-mile mark I discovered that I had dropped my phone and had to retrack my route for .6 miles, I knew my fatigue was making me do errors I wouldn't normally do. I was up late the night before trying to update this blog and now I was paying a price.
The trail slowly ascends through a spruce forest. Open views north expose Kenai lake. An old ski lodge is off the trail three miles into the hike, but the alpine views don't come until around the fifth mile as the glaciers approach and the trail follows a fairly level ridgeline. Approaching Lost Lake from the north like we did is longer, but the ascent is not as steep as from the southern terminus. Holly hadn't hiked the trail from this approach and got to enjoy the views for the first time just like I did. The ridgeline was like hiking the John Muir trail all over again, except that trail lingers more at the 10,000' and not 2000'.
The NO CAMPFIRE rule goes into effect at around 2000, or at the 5th mile. That is when the trail going south approaches the ridgeline and the timberline ends. This alpine elevation continues until the 11th mile. We crossed several snow patches and a bridge over a creek (which Zeke insisted on fording rather than using the foot bridge)
We ate a snack at the 7th mile facing Lost Lake. The dogs each got a pouch of wet food and rested. Once I rested with some trail mix and an apple, I felt more energized. We had a final ascent to the highest peak at 2240' and it was all downhill from there. Most of the people we met were now coming up from the south, both mountain bikers and hikers. Many of the local men were shirtless despite the 55F. Some of the fitter women were wearing tank tops and running gear, And here I was keeping warm in two layers of DriWeave and a winter rain coat!
Seward and Resurrection Bay are visible from the high peak. Seward is not a big town and its small size is even minimized from this view. But what a view this is! We were now slowly reentering the rain forest and nearing the southern trail head. The hike took us 6:20 hours. At 3:38pm we were at the southern parking lot and Doug came within a few minutes later to pick us up. It's only a few minutes from their lodge. In my final fatigue I had left my cellphone camera on the bench while waiting for our ride, and that camera was still there 4.5 hours later when I came back to retrieve it!
This hike is highly recommended for those visitors who want to experience Alaska's southern coast. I am so grateful I had a willing, patient guide like Holly showing me the local beauty.
I knew the dogs were as tired as I was. I gave them water and they rested the rest of the day in the van with no other explosive surprises. I ate my breakfast burrito that I had purchased in Knik on the drive down, had a few local beers from my 12-pack and called it a day. Both Dough and Holly go back to work tomorrow and I will be on my own for the day.
The big kicker today was learning from Doug after the hike and on our short drive home that a home owner at the northern trailhead had stopped Doug as he was driving away to warn him of two grizzlies that were in his yard that showed no fear of humans. They were near the trail when we started. That now explains Zeke's stance at the start when he stopped in front of me to smell the air. He probably got a scent of the bears. He never chased or ran around me like he normally does at the start of any hike. Both dogs stayed close by the entire time. We did spot some scat near the start, too, a dark brown furless pile that we wondered was grizzly scat. It was still soft to the touch. As Holly said, ignorance is bliss. Had we known at the start that two bears were nearby, we probably would have hiked in a more panicked mode. Why ruin a good thing?
http://www.mapmyhike.com/workout/2271734108
Miles driven today (to and from trailhead looking for lost phone) 18.
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