Hiking Mt. Eklutna

This past Friday I decided to go for a hike. Pastor had given me a new place that is within 3 miles of church. That’s one of the things I love about Alaska. I’ve been here a year and there are still new places to explore within a five mile radius. The destination was the top of Mt. Eklutna. This is not to be confused with Lake Eklutna because to get to Mt. Eklutna one does not have to drive to Lake Eklutna.

Pastor told me that I would start at Big Peter’s Creek Trail and about two miles in on that trail there is a fork in the path and one can either continue straight on the easy going Big Peter’s Creek Path or deviate left up a very steep, more rocky and in this case carved out from water run-off trail.

I have been house/dog sitting for the Stoltenberg’s so I decided to take one of their dogs along. Kobe is his name and he is a little Puggle. Kobe, for the most part, is a spoiled indoor dog. He sleeps in his master’s bed, gets food handed to him on a platter and does not go outside save for potty break.

Kobe was BEYOND excited to go for a car ride to the trail and when we arrived he practically choked himself on the leash because for an indoor dog there was A LOT of nature around to smell, pee, and run on. I could almost hear him speak “AH! Nature! It’s everywhere!”

Kobe was pulling with all his might

Good thing its not avalanche season anymore

For the first two miles or so, while on the Big Peter’s Creek Trail Kobe was super excited and literally pulled me along. We stopped a time or two for water breaks. There were many little streams and waterfalls from the mountain snow melting up above.

Drink from the melted snow run off stream

We reached the Mt. Eklutna trail and started up the steep grade. We trekked for a good twenty or so minutes and then stopped at the perfect rock for a snack and water break. At this point there were no streams nearby so I poured Kobe a bowl of water.

More rocky, and narrower trail

Water break

As I enjoyed my rice crispy bar I couldn’t help but be taken back by what surrounded me. I was literally in a bowl surrounded 360˚ by mountains. I felt so small. Although sitting on the ground with grass on my left and right taller than me may have had something to do with it.

After a five minute break we pressed on. Kobe had gone from pulling me along to being drug behind. Poor little guy was getting tuckered out and we still had the steepest part to go.

See that "trail" it's all mud as the melting snow water runs on the path.

We continued to walk and then hit the tree line. The trees that had been a source of shade and protection disappeared with the peak of elevation. The terrain changed below my feet from flowers, grass, and greenery, to brown gravel, rocks, berry bushes, and thorny plants.

Just crossed the tree line

The void of trees did provide an alternate view as now the Anchorage Valley below was completely unobstructed as was the mountains that were still present around me.

Follow the trail

Checking for ground squirrels 

Kobe and I reached a high point only to come to a very sharp decline for about 100 feet. There was a nice plateau which was of great relief to my calves and legs as they were beginning to cramp from being angled to accommodate the steep accent.

Anchorage Valley

After the plateau,  the most difficult and final push to the peak of Mt. Eklutna became apparent. It was difficult for two reasons. First it was very steep I would say a 50˚ angle or so. Secondly I was tired and hot.

We reached the base of the peak (if that makes any sense) and with it came snow! Kobe rolled in the snow and ate some. We continued to walk on the snow and finally reached the top.

SNOW!

I now see the source of the melting snow water-i'm standing on it

Standing on the ridge felt great. On one side the whole Mat-Su valley looking down towards Palmer/Wasilla. The mountains seem infinite as they fade into the clouds. On the other side I have Bear Mountain and other peaks capped with snow.

It's a long way's down

Looking towards Palmer

After taking a breather and enjoying the view Kobe and I began our way back down. It was slippery! The snow was in the slushy melting stage so with the steep incline mixed with snow I had to go slow. I slipped twice which resulted in very wet pants but nothing that 10 minutes in the beaming hot sun couldn’t fix.

We made it off the snow potion of the mountain. Next was the very rocky steep path. After fifteen feet or so I realized that there was much better traction in the terrain of thorny plants, and weeds than on the hard packed, gravel trail where the run-off water had made a smooth slide. It was slow going but I was able to take it all in. The view going back down is entirely different than it was on the accent.

Kobe got distracted multiple times by the dozens of ground squirrels who would incessantly bark/cheep at him. There were a couple times I dropped the leash because Kobe would get excited and want to chase the squirrels. While that’s all fine and dandy I did not want to fall from the jerk of the leash for fear I would slip and result in a very long roll/slide/fall down to the bottom.

We made it back once again to the plateau and my knees were much relieved. It’s interesting, one would think that decent would be easy but it puts a lot of strain on your knees and quadriceps. We continued the push and made it back to tree line and eventually to the Big Peter’s Creek Trail.

Two miles more and we were back to the car. It was a great day for a hike with a great view.

Total Statistics for this hike:

Total Distance hiked: 6 Miles

Top Elevation 4,110 feet

Elevation Gain: 2,700 feet

Total time: 4 hours, 46 minutes