Alaska Outdoor Reports

Hillside Wednesday 8AM by L. Kytomaa Lane

Be Bear Aware! There is fresh bear scat all over on Homestead Trail. At least 5 different piles. Please be careful on the trail. I had bear spray, and a Karelian Bear Dog (on leash, as always) with me today.

Crevasse Moraine Trails Monday Jun 11 by Dave Musgrave

The MSB trail crew just emailed me that they started on the bypass of the College Connector (near our beloved K-Mart Alley) last week to avoid the Landfill construction. They're having to deal with rain - and horses.

In spite of signage closing the trail, horses have ridden through there damaging the trail. Which means the crew has to go back and redo that portion of trail. That bypass is your lifeline to get past the landfill working face there. This will slow down the trail construction and make it cost more.

Campbell Creek Trail Sunday Jun 10 by Loraine

The Campbell Creek bike path/trail is closed for the 2018 summer season due to construction upgrades from just east of the "C" Street underpass westward to its end at Victor Road.

Lazy Mountain Trail Saturday Jun 2 by Doug Hill

Motorcycles just below top of Lazy today.
Saw dirt bike tracks on Southside Trail last weekend.

Hatcher Pass Saturday Jun 2 by Terri Pauls

Tons of snow at Hatcher and bluebird skies, at last! Not knowing what I'd find after a 38-degree night, I took lightweight touring skis. Snowpack firm enough (didn't fall through), with ego corn snow by 1:00 that made me wish I was on my tele skis. Snow was faster where it had been groomed last week -- Independence Mine and around the bowl to the east, across the creek (wish that eastern bowl grooming had been reported weeks ago; would've made the drive from Anchorage worthwhile). Only slightly slower off prior grooming, including Gold Cord. Seems like the snow will be there for quite a while...

Arctic Valley Ski Area Saturday Jun 2 by Dede

Walking up the valley to the saddle the trail disappears under snow about half way up. Some mud and patches of snow in the first half, all manageable. I saw folks postholing hip deep in the upper valley so I left the trail to the left and sidewinded to the saddle. From there the trail to Gordon Lyon is great, as is the ridge and descent down valley before the Nike road. The down part is muddy but not snowy.

Singletrack Advocates (STA) Trails Thursday May 31 by Bear

Kincaid STA is outstanding. Dry everywhere, but still packed dirt, no dust. Get it while it's good.

Impressions:
South side of the park is in excellent condition.
Northwest Passage is pretty pitted and rattly to ride fast.
Hanging Chad, Evolution and Candy Mountain are all in the same shape they were last year.
Drop Zone is in like-new condition.

Granite Creek Thursday May 31 by Greg V

I biked today from the Six Mile Creek whitewater put-in to near the Johnson Pass TH. The path has been swept and is mostly smooth. I then floated Granite Creek/Six Mile from above the campground back to the whitewater put-in where I took out. There were no wood hazards that werenât easily avoidable in my 13â cat. It was a nice uphill ride followed by a relaxing downstream float on a beautiful day.

Cabin Valley Trail Wednesday May 30 by Adrian

Partially eaten moose carcass in Campbell Creek right alongside the Cabin Valley trail a couple hundred yards below the Prospect Heights bridge.

Independence Mine Wednesday May 30 by Jeff

Groomed the trails. There is snow falling from the sky. Ski should be good this morning. Three people headed up the trail already.

Independence Mine Tuesday May 29 by Cape St. Elias

Great day of skiing up through the mine and then up above Gold Cord. Nice soft corn. I think there could be skiing well into June unless we get a lot of rain. Big thank you to Ed and the crew for all of their hard work this year.

Independence Mine Tuesday May 29 by Ed Strabel

Jeff Kase will do the final grooming of the ski season early tomorrow AM up through the mine buildings. The Mat-Su Ski Club will then pull all our grooming equipment out for the season. We'll be back in early October. Have a great summer. Sign up for the Alaska Mountain running series. Gov't Peak Climb is this Saturday. No limit on entries.

Johnson Pass Monday May 28 by Leigh ann

Trail is in great condition, only biked in about 5 miles but did not run into any snow.

Mat Valley Monday May 28 by Valley Dud

The greenbelt trails are dry and, in places dusty, and good riding. Quite a bit of horse traffic the past few days, so be aware of them out there moving slowly.

Government Peak trails are closed, and for good reason. Beyond the first trail junction - Fireweed/Connector it gets damp and then past the second junction - Connector/Fireweed/Fiddlehead - it gets soupy and muddy in a real hurry.

Independence Mine Saturday May 26 by Jeff

Hard snow from the freeze this morning made for easy grooming and good ski conditions on and off trail.

Rabbit Creek Valley Saturday May 26 by devo

Hiked Rabbit Lake trail to near Rabbit Lake and camped overnight. Breezy, 32F, and light sleet at 7am. Numerous snow patches and drifts along trail, but reasonably passable until ~1/2 mile below lake. Then post holing thru deeper snow required.

Independence Mine Saturday May 26 by wayne

Skied on good crust from 6:30AM to 8:30AM; crust on east/SE facing slopes broke shortly before 8:30AM, but other aspects were still holding. Best crust was above 3,400'.

Independence Mine Thursday May 24 by Kruser

As Ed says, "go anywhere" crust. Very easy skiing up to Gold Cord and beyond. A skiff of fresh, the just corning out on the descent, and then out Ed's great trail. Best conditions in a while, and sunshine!

Independence Mine Thursday May 24 by Ed Strabel

Hard freeze "go any where crust". MSSC regroomed through mine buildings for classic and skate. Pedestrian post hole Swiss cheese in spots. Nice corduroy up high.

Independence Mine Wednesday May 23 by Ed Strabel

Temp staying around 32 degrees. MSSC will re-groom the trails thru the mine for classic and skating early Thursday AM. Trail will be mushy, bring poles with large baskets. We will probably also re-groom early Saturday AM also. If you are coming out from Anchorage for the state track meet at Palmer HS, leave Anchorage early and get in some skiing before the events start.

Independence Mine Tuesday May 22 by redwop

Skating was mushy and difficult. Classic tracks were great! Just need the right wax or waxless

Independence Mine Tuesday May 22 by Jeff

The trails are groomed. There was rain then snow and now sun.

Talkeetna Lakes Park Monday May 21 by Ed O'Connor

Please sty off trails until the gate is opened so we can have undamaged trails for the season.

Independence Mine Monday May 21 by redwop

I skied up the maintenance trail (snow machine tracks) which was smoother than the post-holed road. 1/2" fresh at Gold Cord, 2" fresh High Grade. Off trail smooth and supportable on wide touring skis

Independence Mine Sunday May 20 by Ed Strabel

MSSC plans on re-grooming the trails up to, and thru, the mine area for classic and skating early Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings. This will be depending on the weather. We will do a posting following each grooming.

Turnagain Arm Trail Saturday May 19 by Y Goldsmith

Trail was closed today at 10:45 am due to a bear feeding on fresh kill. The mother moose was spotted lying down on the downhill side of the trail at about mile 1, she looked injured. According to the posted sign, the trail will be closed for about one week.

Independence Mine Saturday May 19 by Ed Strabel

Crust skiing is fair, collapses at times. Classic and skating lanes have been groomed up to and through the Mine area, but because of the weight of the grooming ATV there are ruts, still grooming to smooth them.

Hatcher Pass Friday May 18 by c

The large slide on x4068 happened between 6:13 AM and 8:13 AM, the slope is visible on the webcam.

Crust Skiing Friday May 18 by Julian Mason

Any information on Turnagain Pass, particularly Sunburst? Thank you.

Independence Mine Friday May 18 by Redwop

No freeze, but still good. Best of touring gear, too soft for comfortable skating. Lots of potholing bottom half. Should be good after a groom. Good off trail with wider skis above the mine. Lightly raining
Check out the huge avalanche across the road from the Fishhook parking lot- most of the fact went, must be several hundred feet wide. Avalanche debris crossed the approach to Friendship pass just above High Grade

Independence Mine Friday May 18 by redwop

No freeze, but still good. Best on touring gear, too soft for comfortable skating. Lots of postholing bottom half. Should be good after a groom. Good off trail with wider skis above the mine. Lightly raining
Check out the huge avalanche across the road from the Fishhook parking lot- most of the fact went, must be several hundred feet wide. Avalanche debris crossed the approach to Friendship pass just above High Grade

Independence Mine Thursday May 17 by ED Strabel

MSSC is planning on re-grooming the mine trails early Saturday AM for both classic and skating. During our trail cleanup at GPRA we found a real nice U.S. Ski Team warm-up top. If it is yours, call 354-7524 and identify and we will get it to you.

Independence Mine Wednesday May 16 by Dan Libbey

Big thanks again to Ed and the Matsu Ski Club! I arrived too late for the crust, but plenty of great skiing to be had! Any feelings of guilt for leaving work disappeared during the first K. Looks like there's a trail on upper Renshaw's now. Snowed lightly, no wind, temps in the upper 30s.

Independence Mine Wednesday May 16 by Ed Strabel

Hard freeze, good for crust skiing.
MSSC groomed trails up to and through the mine area for classic and skating.

Independence Mine Tuesday May 15 by Ed Strabel

MSSC packed the trails thru the mine. Unable to find the upper portion of Renshaw's Rd so the Sochi/ Kimchi hill was not packed. We will groom the trails that were packed early Wednesday AM for both classic and skating. If anyone can give a hand locating the upper section of Renshaw's Rd (leave a trail thru it), we will pack and groom it early Saturday AM when we will re-groom the other trails

Independence Mine Monday May 14 by Ed Strabel

MSSC is planning on packing and grooming the mine area for classic and skating early Wednesday AM. (We will be pulling our groomer out of Archangel Rd. Snow is going isotherm there.) We will post a report on conditions Wed AM.

Kincaid Park Sunday May 13 by America Town

That bear was indeed a beauty of an animal. He surprised us while we were sitting down and we walked away and he monkeyed around with our packs for quite a while. He was very calm and unperturbable and polite. lots of single track in kincaid have low visibility distance and that bears percieve speed as a threat so if youre biking or running youre at higher risk of triggering aggressive behavior
Also its important to note that the effectiveness of bear spray diminishes dramatically if its more than 6 months old.
This video that explains black bear behavior is worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E-eRSrt0fM

Kincaid Park Sunday May 13 by theresa

Today around 5 pm I saw a black bear on the Roller Coaster trail. He didn't see me and my dog and I turned around. On my alternative route back to my car though we did get chased by a Cow with a Calf over by the biathlon range. Mom was on one side of the trail and the calf was on the other.

Kincaid Park Sunday May 13 by Jim Falconer

Lots of folks out on the Coastal Trail between the Kincaid Chalet and mile marker 7 or so. Mostly walkers and bikers. Point Woronzof also had a full parking lot, and lots of people watching the jets take off and land on top of the hill near there. On my way back home, I watched a beauty of a large black bear cross the multi-use trail on Raspberry Road about 3/4 of a mile before the chalet. He did not seem particularly bothered by the presence of 5 humans and 3 dogs watching him on the trail, nor did he try to bother us. We turned around and found other routes to get around him as he rooted around near the trail.

Portage Trail of Blue Ice Sunday May 13 by Valesa

We went down to check out the campground to see if there is still snow. Surprisingly the campground and the Trail of Blue Ice was completely clear. It was a rainy day but a nice hike along the trail. The trail was dry and in good condition for walking or biking.

Independence Mine Sunday May 13 by Bobbo

Great snow conditions off the road: smooth and firm with just enough surface softness.

Hatcher Pass Sunday May 13 by Spirit Cave Man

Crust ski in the pass...soon we have Independence Mine Glacier.

McHugh Lake Trail Saturday May 12 by William Koeppen

We hiked on the McHugh Lake Trail today. It was great for the first ~4 miles. We were hoping to go all the way to the lakes, but then the trail got into soft snow and we were postholing up to our knees so ended up turning around. The trail to McHugh Peak from the Turnagain Arm side was clear up to the ridge, though the section between the top of the talus slope and McHugh Peak looked like it probably still had a snowy section or two.

Bird to Gird Trail Saturday May 12 by Kirk Fisher

Moe, I road Bird to Gird on May 3rd on my road bike. At that time the trail had not been swept, had some debris in areas (sand/gravel by bird creek and leaves in areas) but overall was in pretty good shape. The Alyeska highway into Girdwood had been swept.

Independence Mine Saturday May 12 by Ed Strabel

4-6 inches of fresh snow. MSSC packed the road almost to the outhouse loop (2 passes). Flat light conditions. Drove the Snowmachine into an opaque milk jug and decided to turn around. The Ski Club will probably start grooming up here starting Wednesday or Thursday. May be able to get another 2 weeks of skiing up here.

Archangel Road Saturday May 12 by Ed Strabel

MSSC regroomed Archangel Road. Classic tracks and a narrow skate lane out to the bridge. Up to 4" of new snow above the bridge. Wide skate lane above the bridge, no classic tracks. Bright sunshine, no wind. Corn snow, kind of crusty and icy, but looks good.

Archangel Road Friday May 11 by Ed Strabel

MSSC will re-groom the full length of the road for classic and skating early Saturday AM.

Bird to Gird Trail Thursday May 10 by Moe

Has anyone biked the trail recently - has it been swept? Road bike or fatter tires?

Archangel Road Wednesday May 9 by Chuck Kase

Did not freeze last night. 45 degrees at tailhead. Skate skis sank in 2 inches and pole punched through to ground about 2 feet in center of trail. ??isothermic?? Quit after 1 km. Time fo me to put on the storage wax and oil the chain. Chuck

Archangel Road Wednesday May 9 by Ed Strabel

MSSC has groomed the full length of Archangel Road for Classic and Skating. Corn snow.