Nelchina Valley to Nelchina Glacier

Devil's Pass Mountain Bike

A mid-June 2018 ride up Devil's Pass. Amazingly easy and the extremely rocky sections are definitely easy to walk, if needed. There were three stream crossings that were tough to get through without getting wet, but it was a great time to be up there, and well worth the ride! 

Little Susitna River to the Lynx Lake Canoe Trail

It's mid-May in Alaska, and the options for big weekend trips are still fairly limited. I was looking up information on the Lynx Lake Canoe Trail, and found information on the DNR website about an access option being the Little Susitna River from the intersection with the Parks Highway. A group of 6 of us decided to give it a try, and connect it with the Lynx Lake Canoe Trail, and end at Tanaina Lake. 

We staged a truck at the Tanaina Lake Trailhead on Nancy Lake Parkway and started with a canoe, a double kayak and a single kayak from the intersection of the Little Susitna and the Parks Highway, at Mile 57. From the parking lot, there is a hardly noticeable trail that is only about 100 feet to a nice put-in on the Little Su. 

From here, we paddled, and paddled and paddled. It seemed like the water was moving a good 3 miles per hour, but considering it took us 5.5 hours paddling, the current wasn't as strong as it seemed. Nonetheless, mid-way down there were a surprising number of quick turns and fallen trees and random rocks to paddle around. 

At mile 14 was the Portage for Skeetna Lake. It's a steep muddy cliff face. It was quite difficult to get our watercraft up it, but that was the easy part...the 1/2 mile portage was a lot longer than any 1/2 mile I've ever been on. Especially since everyone was struggling with moving their gear and kayaks, so I ended up doing 3 roundtrips on every portage. That's a lot of walking for a water route! 

Over time--and there were 13 portages in total--we figured out what worked best. Since I am taller, I would carry my backpack and use it as a cushion on the front of the canoe, while someone behind me had a clear view as well. The double kayak we had with a rudder was awful to carry. 

In the future, I would do this trip again if it involved a canoe and 3 people, or just packrafts. Packrafts being the best option of all, without a doubt. 

We started floating from the Little Su/Parks Highway at about 1pm on Saturday, and we were at the Lynx Lake Cabin at about 10pm that night. The next day it took 4 hours to head up the north part of the loop to the Tanaina Lake Trailhead. 

From the Lynx Lake Cabin

The put-in on the Little Susitna. The Parks Highway is visible in the distance, as is the direction of flow. The parking lot is about a 1 minute walk from this location. 

Floating down the Little Susitna

After the first 1/2 mile Portage...a channel leading into Skeetna Lake

Matanuska Peak, Palmer, AK

I first hiked Matanuska Peak 2 years ago in the summer, and I figured based on the terrain that the entire bowl would be avalanche central during the winter. During a low snow start to this winter, I decided to adventure up there, and this became my favorite winter mountain climb, and I made it up there a handful of times. The area is incredibly wind blown, so the entire 3,000 feet leading to the summit nearly free of snow year-round.

To get to the Matanuska Peak Trailhead, take the Old Glenn Highway from Palmer (or you can go the other route by Pioneer Peak, since they are almost identical in time travel) to Smith Road. Follow Smith all the way to the parking area.

These pictures are from early May, 2018, but really are fairly representative of what it was like up there all winter!

This is the only heavily snowy area, and can even be avoided by going about another quarter mile up the valley before taking the snow-free ridge to the top

Going up the snow free ridge 

Looking at Pioneer Peak and the Bodenberg Butte from the summit

Colin at the summit making it look more dramatic than it really is

On the summit looking down on Palmer and Lazy Mountain

Near the summit looking due east

Looking north from the summit