Eagle River to Seward

On August 11th I set out to hike the AKLT from the ER Nature Center to Seward, with my dog and a friend from the PCT who had never been to Alaska before 8 PM on August 10th. I’ve hiked a lot of the route in segments before, but this time I intended to do it in one shot.

Day 1: ERNC to Crow Pass (~19 miles)

As usual, this is a beautiful trail and probably the highlight day of the trip. There was actually quite a lot less overgrowth than the last time I hiked it (2021).

The only pertinent thing to note here is the water crossing. I’ve done it multiple times, and I believe as long as the river is not at an unusually high stage height, it is very doable. The important thing is making sure to follow the white posts and cross sort of diagonally. I don’t think my dog even had to swim to cross it. I have done it other times, not using the white posts, and the water was waist-high and possibly dangerous.

I had actually done two bonus crossings earlier in the day to rescue a lost packraft, which were rather sketchy; I was really close to getting swept away and actually lost my camp/watershoes. I don’t know of any other crossing points that are better than the one currently in use. We ate a ton of berries and camped just N of the pass. The dog got a few small porcupine quills after sticking his head in a hole, which we were able to pull out.

Day 2: Crow Pass to Rose Creek (~22 miles)

Descended Crow Pass and entered Girdwood. I thought about trying to find a crossing of Winner Creek since the hand tram is inoperable. It would have saved a few miles, but I also figured if someone were actually doing a “thru-hike” of the AKLT, walking through Gwood is a good spot to resupply. I did read that they’re planning to replace the hand tram with a bridge, which is awesome! (though still not as awesome as the hand tram)

So we walked down the road and then took the INHT (they did great work on this section this year!). Walked right through Gwood, stopped at Gwood Brewing, and then back into the woods at the Winner Creek Trailhead. Through Berry Pass the trail is in great shape, and then maybe a mile beyond it becomes barely decipherable.

After about a mile and a half of bushwhacking we got to the “bridge to nowhere” and camped near Rose Creek (maybe 200’ right of the bridge, N side of creek). It is really the only good camping spot in the area.

Day 3 Plan: Original Plan: Rose Creek to the start of INHT just before Turnagain Pass. What actually happened: Rose Creek bushwhacking and eventually back to Girdwood (~20 miles planned, 15 hiked)

I knew ahead of time this was going to be the problem section. I opted not to bring packrafts as my friend had never used one, and was not nearly as comfortable with white water, plus I had the dog as well. In the morning, we made numerous attempts - first we crossed the bridge to nowhere - insanely thick alder and devil’s club on the S side. We made it maybe half a mile, then turned around. Next, we went down to join Rose Creek and follow it, alternating between the riverbed where possible and bushwhacking if necessary. Not as bad as the first attempt, but still really rough going. I should mention we also crossed Rose Creek, but neither option worked out for us. We did maybe 1.5 miles here, reached the Twenty-mile confluence, and decided to turn around. We’d spent half the day and walked only about 2.5 miles total, with the prospect of still 10-12 miles of the same terrain still ahead of us. This section will require major clearing or travel by water. I had also considered a high route, following the Kinnikinnick ridge, but felt that wasn’t in the 'spirit’ of the trail.

The problem with water travel is that it’s unidirectional. Then, if other parts of the AKLT require water travel in the opposite direction, then it basically becomes impossible to thru-hike. 

I also understand we could have taken the highway from Girdwood. There are also other options like Powerline Pass + Bird to Gird trail, but both of these just involve more road walking. I think Twentymile is the best/most beautiful route, but it will require a lot of trail work. The next best and certainly easier option might just be a paved path following the highway from Girdwood to Twentymile.

So we turned around and met my wife back at the Winner Creek trailhead, who took us back to our house in Anchorage

Day 4: Original Plan: Start of INHT in Turnagain Pass to Johnson Pass. What actually happened: Bikeraft Knik Glacier (~20 miles planned, 20 bikerafted)

There really aren’t any good camping areas in this section. The only possible camping area I can think of would be the pullout by the Kenai Welcome Sign, but that is pretty rough and subject to a lot of highway noise/tomfoolery. 

I had planned that from the mouth of Twentymile, we would take the paved path following the highway until just before the highway starts to go uphill. Then you can walk the power line path a short distance, and finally have to walk on the highway itself for a minimal distance before getting onto the INHT. I think the AKLT plan is to create a connector trail so you never touch the highway? 

Once on the INHT, it is a great trail all the way to Johnson Pass. I have done this entire section before, and we opted not to do it since it involved the most road walking, we were now behind schedule, and it was also raining a bit that day. Instead, I took my friend on her first packraft trip to the Knik River with the plan to restart at Johnson Pass the following day

Day 5: Johnson Pass N to S (~20 miles)

Now joined by my wife, the four of us (including the dog) started again at the Johnson Pass N trailhead. I had surprisingly never done Johnson Pass before, but it is a really nice, mellow trail. There are plenty of camping spots along the north end, and unfortunately, basically none in the last five miles. We ended up camping behind the outhouses, right next to the highway, at the southern trailhead. Really a shame, I think it would be pretty easy to clear a small spot next to Upper Trail Lake.

Day 6: Original Plan: Johnson Pass S to Vagt Lake. (~20 planned, ~24 hiked)

Started the day with a road walk along the highway to Moose Pass. We had recently seen news about the new trail construction near Victor Creek, and the same map indicated that much of the rest of the trail in that area was nonexistent (see picture)

The seeds of mutiny were starting in the group (haha) as my friend was very reluctant to experience another Twentymile-esque bushwhack. We talked to a local in Moose Pass to see if they believed the INHT heading S from Moose Pass really existed, and they stated it did not. With that confirmation, as well as our continuous footpath already broken, we decided to hitchhike to the next known trail. 

Sticking our thumbs out at Moose Pass, we quickly got a hitch to the southern end of Kenai Lake, where another short road walk took us to the Primrose Trailhead. This trail also had a lot of fresh trail work and was in fantastic shape. Hiking south from here to the southern Lost Lake Trailhead, we opted to push for a bigger day and finish with a 6-mile road walk into Seward, finishing at the SeaLife Center and then a celebratory dinner at Seward Brewing. I have not hiked any of the INHT from Moose Pass to Seward, but maybe will try it out in pieces this winter/next summer.

Out of a planned 140 miles, I think we hiked a little over 100. The trail actually reminded me quite a bit of the PCT, as it was very gradual terrain compared to most of what I do in AK. I know that this is a relatively small section of the trail, and there are many more unknowns and concerns about the trail heading N from Eagle River

Despite this, I am still ecstatic about the AKLT and have been following its progress for the last five years or so. I know it is a long way off, but I'd love to help in any way that I can.