www.KenaiHiking.com

We still want to do this hike, but Wanderer will be unavailable due to family commitments.

If you are interested in going on this hike, please submit an RSVP form here. If we can make it work, we will. We would be happy to still organize the hike.

It’s a great day hike. You won’t want to miss it.

Depart FM in Soldotna at 6:30.

View of North Beach from Camp Area

We may schedule taxi service to take gear and 1 or 2 people out and back while everyone else hike the 4.5 miles to the North Beach. If so, we can load up all sorts of gear on the Taxi and those who hike can do so with a light load. Split cost of taxi among group.

North Beach has a covered pavilion, good camp sites, a latrine and running water. Site is just a few hundred feet from the beach. Day hike to Fork, along beach, watch the cruise ships come in Resurrection Bay, etc . . .

Depart time is based on Low Tide levels when accessing a certain part of the trail. We need a good low tide. This weekend and this time was chosen by our group with this in mind.

Please consider joining us on this. Because of the added planning for the boat taxi,  I will need you to NOTIFY ME immediately if you are considering going on this hike.  Use Contact/RSVP form and give your phone number. I will get back to you immediately.

See you on the trail!

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Six people and four dogs set out to discover Lost Lake, near Seward, Alaska, on Saturday July 3rd. Did they meet their objective? You be the judge.

Other hikers coming off the trail told the first of two groups hiking in on Saturday that Lost Lake was frozen and there was a heavy mist in the air, along with deep snow, up to two miles near the lake on this side (south of Lake). They suggested going up the winter route and not trying to go all the way to the lake.

Group 1 waited for Group 2 (deciding it might be better to go in together as one larger group). After some discussion, we decided to proceed as usual despite the warning, and re-evaluate things as we went along or once we came upon snow. We opted NOT to go the winter route from this south side (good thing we did what we did) and stayed on the summer route until we came to the northern intersection of the Lost Lake Trail and the winter route. It had been raining off and on, and we still weren’t too sure what laid ahead – so we camped there.

Most of our group took a 2 mile day hike to the south from basecamp, visiting the Forest Service rental cabin on the way. There reward was an incredible view of Resurrection Bay.

The next morning, we took a day hike from this base camp out to the Lake. It was an memorable experience. I had been on this trail before in years past, but never without a full pack. I was always either hiking in or out, but never simply as a day hike without all the weight. It was great.

As we approached the Lake, it started getting colder. We stopped at the high ground a mile or so south of the lake, and looked down into another world.

Lost Lake was still completely froze over. And there was snow in the entire valley in which the lake was situated. All around the area, snow was almost entirely melted away. But it was as if the summer had forgot about this part of the world, or like someone had dropped a huge pile of snow in the middle of a summertime landscape.

I believe we had made the right call the night before. The snow looked deep, and the mist that we saw from time to time was probably at the lake, too. It would have been an interesting time navigating without winter gear, in deep snow, with no real visibility.

We ate lunch at this higher vantage point and enjoyed the the show – the sun popping in and out from behind the clouds, teasing us with its warmth.

That night, part of the group went on back the winter route, from north to south while others of us stayed at the base camp site and welcomed one more night on the trail.

We had a fire. But it started raining pretty hard in the evening and the night ended with everybody retreating to the warm coziness of their tents.

We slept the next morning until the rain stopped (sort-of). We then got up, packed up and headed up and out, along the winter trail back to the southern trailhead.

All the rain the night before made it painfully obvious that this trail was designed for snowmachines and winter conditions, and not for foot traffic. Past the cabin, the trail got steep and slippery. It was a bit hairy for a time, but we made it out OK. Out to our vehicles and a great breakfast at Alaska Nellie’s in Seward.

It was a great time. Maybe next time we do this wilderness hike, with a goal of camping at Lost Lake, we will wait until later in the season! Then again, maybe not.

See you on the Trail!
Wanderer