Palmer Area & Hatcher Pass
Detailed Alaska Hiking Maps, Narratives, Trail Plans and Photographs.
A heavy, gray wind was blowing through the dark, cold day.
It was not a day to sit out in the open. Only after finding a hollow on the lee side of the bluff did we dare hunker down for a little snack. Around the perimeter of our little basin the sere grass of the still early season rocked frantically back and forth in the wind. Through the eye-level grass we could see just a few skeletal branches of the nearby treetops. Beyond them we could see the white, snow-draped summits of the surrounding ridges. Finally, above and beyond the mountains, there was only the gray sky of the cold evening.
I turned toward steel-colored snows covering Matanuska Peak and pointed. "I'm glad we're not up there," I said to Dave
His head framed by the snowy mass of Pioneer Peak that towered above the bare valley behind him, Dave nodded in agreement. "Wouldn't be much fun," he said.
It was hard to believe it was early May. It felt more like mid-March. The buds were just beginning to peek out from the ashen branches and the birds were just starting to sing in the naked brush, so in one sense it was spring. But with the strong, chill wind blowing out of the southeast where Knik Glacier could be seen crawling out of the deepest Chugach, it didn't feel like late spring. It felt more like late winter. Yet though we were chilled and the weather was far from the best, we were satisfied to have come. After all, someone has to be on the lookout for spring's true coming.
This is easier said than done. Considering the harshness of Alaska's climate and weather, spring does not always let itself be known so readily. It does not come striding over the hills like a great bear; instead it comes sniffling through the undergrowth like a nervous hare. Then there are years when spring never seems to come at all. Not that it doesn't come; it just doesn't assert itself. It stays in the shadows, shying away from every switch in the wind and change in the temperature. On such years, one has to have a keen eye to see it at all.
For all Dave and I knew, this could be that year.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Grading Trails
My Pack
PART I - PALMER AREA.
Chapter 1: BIDING TIME ON THE BUTTE
Walk-About Guide to Bodenburg Butte Trail
OTHER TRAILS IN THE PALMER AREA
Walk-About Guide to Jim Creek Trail
Walk-About Guide to Crevasse Moraine TrailChapter 2: PORTALS OF MAGIC
Walk-About Guide to Lazy Mountain Trail
Walk-About Guide to Morgan Horse Trail
Walk-About Guide to McRoberts Creek Trail
Option A-Matanuska Peak TraversePART II - HATCHER PASS AREA
Chapter 3: "CHANGE ALONE IS UNCHANGING"
Walk-About Guide to Grubstake Gulch Trail
Option A-Bald Mountain Ridge
Walk-About Guide to Purches Creek Trail
Walk-About Guide to Box Ridge Trail
Option A-Box Lake Overview
Option B-Box Ridge Trail to Craigie Creek TrailChapter 4: "SURE DOESN'T LOOK LIKE KANSAS . . ."
Walk-About Guide to Craigie Creek Trail
Option A-Craigie Creek Trail to Fairangel Lake Trail
Option B-Craigie Peak
Walk-About Guide to Lower Willow Creek TrailChapter 5: Hard Work AND Simple Wants.
Walk-About Guide to Upper Willow Creek Trail
Option A-Gold Bullion Mine Trail
Overview of Summit Lake State Recreation Area
Walk-About Guide to Summit Lake Trail
Walk-About Guide to Hatch Peak Trail
Walk-About Guide to Skyscraper Mountain Trail
Option A-Traverse from Skyscraper Mtn. to Bullion Mtn.
Walk-About Guide to Hatcher Pass Road in WinterChapter 6: CREATIVE HIKING Walk-About Guide to Friendship Pass Trail
Chapter 7: WALKING WITH GHOSTS
Overview of Independence Mine State Historical Site
Walk-About Guide to Independence Mine Trail
Walk-About Guide to Interpretive Loop Trail
Walk-About Guide to Hard Rock Trail
Walk-About Guide to Mill Loop Trail
Walk-About Guide to Gold Cord Mine Trail
Option A-Granite Mountain
Option B-Gold Cord Peak
Walk-About Guide to Pinnacle Lake
Walk-About Guide to Gold Cord Lake Trail
Walk-About Guide to Rosenthal-Rae Trail
Walk-About Guide to Fishhook Trail
Walk-About Guide to Government Peak
Walk-About Guide to Sidney Creek Trail
Option A-Sidney Creek Pass
Walk-About Guide to Ski-Touring in Hatcher Pass
Walk-About Guide to Rock-Climbing in Hatcher Pass AreaChapter 8: THANKFUL TO BE AT FAIRANGEL
Walk-About Guide to Fairangel Lakes Trail
Option A-Fairangel PassChapter 9: A DANGER BIGGER than All of us
Walk-About Guide to Lane Hut Trail
Option A-Snowbird Glacier OverlookChapter 10: FILLING IN BLANKS
Walk-About Guide to Reed Lakes Trail
Option A-Bomber Glacier Overlook
Option B-Lynx Peak
Option C-Idaho Peak
Walk-About Guide to Snowbird Mine Trail
Option A-Glacier PassChapter 11: A CLASSIC . . . RELATIVELY SPEAKING
Walk-About Guide to Gold Mint Trail
Option A-Backdoor Gap
Option B-Arkose Peak
Option C-Penny Royal Glacier to Bomber Glacier Traverse
Option D-Montana Peak
Option E-Grizzly PassAPPENDICES
Appendix 1: INFORMATION SOURCES
Appendix 2: CAMPGROUNDS AND CABIN RENTALS
Appendix 3: PERMITS AND FEESABOUT THE AUTHOR
Copyright 2001 by Shawn R. Lyons All rights reserved. No part of this guide may be reproduced in any form by means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2001089645
ISBN: 1-888125-83-7
