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More about the Adrenaline tag line half way down the article.

Three intrepid wanderers hiked the Johnson Pass Trail from South to North last Saturday, August 16th. We had put out an announcement that this would also be a great “part way” hike for those who would like to get on the trail, but just not get on the entire 23 miles of it. But there were no round trip takers. So, for the three distance-lovers, it was 23 miles in a respectable time of 10 Hours, 20 Minutes.

There is no more than 1200 feet of total elevation gain from either direction. But from the south to the north gain happens in a shorter distance, so it’s a bit steeper. When you do the trail from north to south, you see Trail Lake while you still have several miles to go, because you have to go most of the way around Trail Lake to get out to the south trailhead. But when you hike the trail from south to the north; by the time you can hear traffic on the Seward Hwy near the north side, you’re just about done.

There was a lot of high grass for many miles in the center portion of the trail. This no doubt made the trail a real challenge for mountain bikers who were encountered along the way. There was also work being done on the north end of the trail, several miles in, clearing brush on either side.

About 13-14 miles into the south-to-north 23 mile trek, the hikers came up on a short blind corner that curved downward to the left and then straightened back out. The whole area that was “blind” was only that way because of high grass along the trail. Otherwise, the entire length would be visible from south to north because of the difference in elevation.

Here, the lead hiker looked up from the trail and saw a large brown bear that was apparently hiking the trail from North to South. The lead hiker looked up! so did the brown bear, as it rounded the corner into view only 15-20 feet away. The hiker hollered “Whoa!” and stepped back, drawing his .44. Hiker # 2 ran into the back of Hiker #1, and there was a bit of a “freeway pile up” in the middle of the wilderness.

The bear, in the meantime, also snapped his head up from looking down on the trail. As soon as he saw the traffic jam ahead of him, he spun around the opposite direction and ran back the way he came. Good Bear! After a bit of delay recovering from the encounter, the travelers continued on. How close is 15 or 20 feet? Close enough to see the rippling of the fur around the bear’s head as it snapped up and saw the travelers.

But what’s worse? Being startled by a bear, or having to walk the direction where the bear retreated? He had disappeared off the trail into the tall grass to the left.

Everybody completed the trail just fine (we’re not sure about the bear). The encounter was not quite the “pick me up” you might normally employ when you need a boost of energy, but it was probably all these hikers needed for the next several miles.

We will upload some trail pictures in the next several days.