ljv

Hello Alaska experts!
Am looking for some hiking advice for the following areas:
1. Hatcher Pass area- we plan to visit Independence mine, then hike.

2. Denali Nat'l Park- we plan to take shuttle to Toklat, then get off and hike. Or should we go to Fish Creek and hike. How's hiking at Polychrome pass?

3. Seward- was thinking about the Harding Icefield hike. How strenuous is this? There will be an intrepid 8 year old and 2 fairly hardy seniors(65+). Is this doable and worth it? Any other must do hikes here?

Please feel free to provide any feedback... I'm trying to gather as many options as possible before our trip in August 2006.

Thanks, and happy holidays!

birder

I would vote for hiking at Fish Creek. I've only been to Denali once but we did hike around a lot. At Polychrome, it's very steep. At Toklat, you're on a river bed so you can hike along that for quite a ways. But I thought the scenery at Fish Creek was amazing. It's very lush looking and you can hike along a wooded stream bed that's to the left of the turnaround point. On our second day, we actually got off before Fish Creek and hiked back toward Toklat, but I remember looking down into the wooded stream bed and we said to each other, "Maybe we should go hike that!" It was absolutely stunning. I think I've got some photos of it. There was a small group of people hiking it, we could see.

The Harding Icefield hike is supposed to be quite strenous, but you could always start it and turn around. It's probably your best spot to see a brown bear. We just did the three little hikes (really, just walks) around Exit Glacier and would definitely recommend them - the glacier is stunning and much large than you think!

Make sure you go down toward Portage Glacier and pull off at all the little stops. At one of them, you can hike a mile back to a glacier and actually climb onto the snow field. It was a lot of fun.

AnnMarie_C

We hiked the Hatcher Pass area in June--it was awesome. From the parking lot at Independence Mine we hiked through snow to a frozen lake beginning to thaw--it was topaz blue. The lake is not visible from the parking area because it is elevated--the folks at the mine should be able to help you locate it. But if that doesn't interest you there appeared to be tons of other places people were hiking. The views from the top of that lake were amazing and one of the pictures we took there was used as the cover of our Christmas card this year.

ljv

Thanks for the input everyone. Alaska sounds amazing...can't wait to go.
Happy holidays! Lori

birder

Sorry, I meant that Harding Icefield hike was your best spot to see a black bear. Your best spot to see a brown bear (grizzly) is in Denali, on the shuttle bus.

Miss_Maple

Seward - consider hiking to Tonsina point -- this is a shorter - easier hike than the hike out to Crain's Head Fort (also you don't have to worry about the tide). You have a good chance of seeing spawning salmon, eagles and the forest is magical dripping with green moss. Stop by the Forest Service HQ in Seward to get directions - map.