Carter Lake Trail - Chugach National Forest, AK

Friday March 30th, 2012

Finally got to go on a hike that wasn't for work!

I played rookie Friday and went to the Chugach National Forest with a friend to do a 6.6 mile hike up to Crescent Lake.  It was about an hour and 20 min drive to the trail head, which was fine with me because it was a gorgeous day and the drive along the Seward highway is amazing!

The trail head was a small parking lot partially melted from the "warm" weather we've been having.  It was about 28 when we started out hike.  We could see our breath as we put on our snowshoes, but it was the perfect temperature.  The first mile and a half climbs just shy of 1000 feet, so I was expecting the worst from the beginning, but we stopped often due to amazing views and fits of giggling from silly jokes.

Carter Lake

We could see the mountains pretty much 100% of the time we were on the trail.  Never a bad view for sure.  One we did the elevation climb, the rest of the hike was mostly flat.  There wasn't really a trail after that, but instead an open valley between high mountains.  On either side of us, we were surrounded by peaks ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 feet.  That seems tiny compared to the 10,000 ft peaks I climbed in Idaho and Colorado, but the mountains were just as gorgeous.  It's interesting because tree line here is about 2,500 to 3,000 ft above sea level, where as in Idaho it was around 11,000 or so.  Crazy what being further north does to a habitat.

Our hike took us past Carter Lake and ended at Crescent Lake, but bother were still frozen over, so they blended in with the rest of the landscape. I can only imagine what the reflection would be like from the mountains off the water.  It would be an amazing place to camp, for sure!

Boreal Chickadee (Not my picture)

By the time we reached the end of our hike, the temperatures had definitely warmed up, plus we were warm from snowshoeing.  At bother lakes we sat and laid in the snow and absorbed the suns rays.  Apparently I absorbed too much, since my face ended up burning.  Haha, O-well.  It was amazingly relaxing.  And quiet.  Not a noise in that entire valley.

We re-hydrated and finally decided to head back down the trail.  Once we got back into the forested parts I could hear some boreal chickadees and decided to try to call them in.  I used a technique called Pishing and slowly but surely convinced 2 chickadees to get within about 10 feet of me and my friend.  They were adorable.  We let them be and continued down.  The trails were slushy, but all in all, an amazing day to hike in Alaska.

"I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown,

 for going out, I found, was really going in."

-John Muir