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Fall hikes around the Anchorage area (10-12-2005)

Broad views, empty trails and autumn scents make walks unique

The trail is charming no matter how far you go. But if you make it to the gorge, there's an added attraction. Just up the trail is a hand-pulled tram spanning Glacier Creek on a cable.

Even if you don't continue across to the trails on the other side to visit the Crow Creek Mine or connect back to Girdwood on the historic Iditarod Trail, dangling over the creek in the metal cart provides a thrill. There's a bird's-eye view of the creek gurgling more than 100 feet below, and the tram offers a good upper-body workout.

The Winner Creek Gorge is gorgeous, too. From a wooden bridge over the gorge, you can watch the rollicking stream pounding over water-worn boulders.

Few hikes offer this kind of variety, combined with the adventure of the hand tram.

Late fall is a particularly good time to go. If you're lucky and the sun is out, low-angle light glinting through the trees can make the forest even more enchanting.

The hike is described in books such as Nienhueser's "55 Ways to the Wilderness in Southcentral Alaska" and in "50 Hikes in Alaska's Chugach State Park" by Shane Shepherd and Owen Wozniak.

To get to the trail head, park in the parking lot of the Alyeska Prince Hotel and walk behind the resort tram that carries people up Mount Alyeska.

The first quarter-mile of the trail is easy hiking, though it is not officially handicapped-accessible. This summer, the U.S. Forest Service, with help from a youth conservation crew, built a new bridge, an elevated boardwalk and a raised gravel path. Similar improvements are planned next year for another half-mile.

Past the developed portion, the trail continues along on plank boardwalks. Some sections not covered by boardwalk are muddy, so knee-high mud boots are a good idea.

Less than two miles from the hotel, the trail comes to a T-intersection above Winner Creek. Take a left to get to the gorge. The right path leads to some cabin ruins, and beyond to the headwaters of Winner Creek. The gorge is about a mile to the left from this intersection. The hike to the gorge and back takes two to four hours.

Kincaid Sand Dunes / Bluff Game Trail
These dunes are not on the Kincaid Park trail map, so most park visitors don't know they exist. Yet they are surprisingly easy to get to. Situated at the far western edge of the motocross area, they are just a few minutes' walk from the motocross parking lot, or you can come in from the park's Jodphur trail head. Both are accessible from Jodphur Street.

To get to the dunes from the motorcross area, simply walk around the track to the far western end. If you park in the Jodphur trail head lot, you hike a short way down the Jodphur loop. Watch for a dirt track off to the left that leads directly to a sand hill.

Perched on top of a bluff overlooking Cook Inlet, the dunes offer spectacular views of the water and the surrounding snow-capped mountains. They are also an excellent place to romp and play. On the north side of the dunes closest to the Jodphur loop trail is a steep, sandy hill, perfect for getting airborne.

"You can roll around, or leap in the air and jump," said Kincaid staffer Roger Besh. "It's quite an adventure. And very few people use this area."

Because the area is beside the motocross area, it's not always so tranquil. But the motocross riders can be fun to watch. Dirt bikers zoom along on trails in what looks like a post-apocalyptic landscape. And when they jump, the best of them sail 30 to 40 feet in the air.

If you have time, you can hike from the dunes to Kincaid Chalet along a game trail on top of the Turnagain Arm bluff. This route is not on the map, but Besh said it can be found and followed for about three miles to where it connects with the Lekisch loop above the biathlon range near the chalet.

Unlike most of the wide ski trails in Kincaid, this is a single-track game trail. Now is a good time to check it because the alders have lost most of their leaves, making the trail easier to find and the devil's club easier to see.

Besh calls this Kincaid's "Sherwood Forest" and likens it to the Gull Rock trail on the south side of Turnagain Arm near Hope. "You're on the bluff but you can see and feel the ocean," he said. "It's really beautiful and all southern exposure."

To find the game trail from the dunes, walk toward the southern end and look for an obvious path. The trail is undeveloped. Remember, it stays on top of the bluff. If you do lose the trail, a turn north will take you into one of a number of the park's wide, brush-free ski trails that look like roads in the summer. Pick up a Kincaid map at the chalet before you go, if you are unfamiliar with these trails.

Campbell Creek Greenbelt
If you clock most of your city trail hours on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail or along the Chester Creek greenbelt, you might be surprised by the wild character of Campbell Creek.

While Chester Creek was long ago forced into channels and ditches for most of its length, Campbell Creek still runs remarkably free for an urban stream. It bends and weaves past parks and houses, and occasionally forms large, graceful oxbows. Silver salmon use the creek during the autumn. And its resident beavers don't seem fazed by cars and people.

Last week along the trail, one small tree was chewed through and felled just feet from Lake Otis Boulevard.

The entire greenbelt trail, once complete, will follow the creek for seven miles from Tudor Road near Bragaw Street to the intersection of Dimond Boulevard and Victor Road. Most of the trail exists now, but you still have to make some of the connections by cutting along city streets. Most notably missing is a connection from Lake Otis Boulevard to the west side of Seward Highway. The paved trail ends at Lake Otis and doesn't resume until west of the highway.

For those interested in some of the best of what this trail has to offer, we suggest a tour of the newest 1.7-mile portion of the trail, completed this summer to connect Campbell Park on Lake Otis to the Tudor Road bike trail.

You can gain access to this trail from the park at Lake Otis or the Simonean ball fields off Tudor Road behind the Anchorage Police Station and across from the Alaska Native Medical Center. There is also access from behind the city's public works complex off Tudor; drive to the back of the lot and look for a trail head next to a statute of bear and picnicker.

From there, the new trail winds through a spruce forest and wetlands. Soon you come to the Tozier Track dog-sled trails. The bike trail has been elevated over a tunnel here so dog teams can pass safely below. Take a minute here at this high spot to look back toward the Chugach Mountains. Sled dog racing fans might want to make note of this as a new spot for watching the winter action.

Farther along, the new trail offers a new creek-viewing platform near Piper Street, where the North Fork and South Fork of Campbell Creek meet, plus two new bridges between the platform and Campbell Creek Park at Lake Otis.

It's a wonderful tour through mostly undeveloped land.

Beach Lake Ski Trails
Think of these ski trails behind Chugiak High School as a smaller, tamer version of Kincaid Park. There are lots of hills like at Kincaid -- a relentless number if you're skiing -- but they aren't as steep. Navigating here is also easier, even if you've never before explored the trails.

The 18-kilometer maze, jointly managed by Eagle River Parks and Recreation and the Eagle River Nordic Ski Club, is extremely well-marked. Maps are also posted at various locations along the trails, and each loop is color-coded according to length. Red signs denote a 10-kilometer loop, blue marks the 5-kilometer route and green signals a relatively flat 3-kilometer jaunt.

Mix up the trails, however, and there are almost endless distances and dozens of variations. It's always easy to find your way out. Black and white signs posted throughout the route signal the quickest way back to the tunnel and parking lot.

The ski trails are located off the Glenn Highway behind Chugiak High School, not far from Beach Lake. Next to the lake is another 16-plus-mile trail system, groomed in the winter for dog mushing.

To get to the ski trails, park in the Chugiak High School student parking lot. Look off northwest of the stadium for the tunnels that go beneath South Birchwood Loop Road. A wooden map of the trail system can be found next to the tunnels. Paper maps can also sometimes be found here in a plastic box.

By late fall, most of the birch trees have already shed their leaves, but it's still a pretty walk. Rod Mumma, owner of Garcia's Cantina and Cafe in Eagle River, said this is his favorite time of year to run on the trails because of the pungent, sweet smell of decaying leaves. He runs there every day after work. And compared to Kincaid, he said, the trails at Beach Lake are nearly deserted.

"It's so quiet," he said. "There's nobody here."

Powerline Pass Trail
Hike a few miles up the South Fork Campbell Creek, close your eyes, forget Anchorage is just over the horizon and you could almost be in Denali National Park and Preserve.

This wide gravel trail offers some of the best wildife viewing around. Just the other day, a massively antlered bull moose was bedded down with his harem of cows only feet off the trail a short distance beyond the turn to Hidden Lake about two miles up the trail.

On the north-facing slopes of Ptarmigan Peak, not much farther along, Dall sheep were scrambling. Ptarmigan could be heard clucking in the willows down along the creek. And a coyote was spotted across the valley, heading toward Ship Lake pass.

Even without the wildlife, this would be a great valley with awesome alpine views, but the wildlife makes it special. And the trail itself is one of the easiest mountain trails in Alaska.

It is now close to being handicapped-accessible. Chugach State Park officials this summer filled a notorious mudhole at the bottom of the first hill with crushed rock. From there on to Green Lake, at about 4.5 miles, there are still some puddles and trickles of water flowing across the trail, but the mud that once dirtied up this hike is now all but gone.

Green Lake, at 3,000 feet, is probably as far as most people will want to go now. The snow starts about there and gets deeper as one climbs the steep route to Powerline Pass itself at 3,550 feet. Do note that the avalanche danger on the slopes below the pass increases quickly as snow accumulates.

To get to the trail head, take O'Malley Road off the Seward Highway to Hillside Drive high on the Anchorage Hillside. Turn right on Hillside -- there's a Chugach State Park sign and a ''Watchable Wildife'' symbol at the intersection -- and go a mile to Upper Huffman Road. Turn left on Upper Huffman Road and keep going uphill, following the state park signs to the Glen Alps Trail Head.

Toilsome Hill Drive from the end of Upper Huffman Road to the trail head used to be an adventure, but it isn't very toilsome anymore. The road has been widened, improved and mostly paved in the last few years, which can only add to the popularity of this most-popular access to Chugach State Park.

This makes fall an even better time to visit.

Here's a quick look at great trails for autumn hikers Winner Creek Gorge Trail: This 5.5-mile round-trip in Girdwood trails follows boardwalks and crosses several bridges across short sections of muskeg that dot the spruce and hemlock forest. It also features a hand-pulled tram spanning Glacier Creek on a cable. Beach Lake Ski Trails: These trails near Chugiak High School are well marked and include many rolling hills. Along the trails is one stretch named ''junk yard'' where old cars and parts of old cars are covered in moss and rust. Kincaid Sand Dunes / Bluff Game Trail: After starting on the trail at the top of the bluff at Anchorage's Kincaid Park near the motocross track, the trail quickly changes from a sandy landscape to tall grass and forest. The view from the top of the bluff at Kincaid Park near the motorcross track shows the grassy mud flats, South Anchorage and the mountains beyond. Campbell Creek Greenbelt: This trail, once complete, will follow the Campbell Creek for seven miles from Tudor Road near Bragaw Street to the intersection of Dimond Boulevard and Victor Road.

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