Eklutna Lake

More from Amy

Feb 6

Next up on our tour of the Alaskan wilderness: Eklutna Lake!

Not realizing that I needed to equate the Alaskan version of a “moderate” hike to a hard one in Minnesota, I had naively planned for us to hike a second mountain the day after we scaled Flattop Mountain outside of Anchorage. Needless to say, when we woke up, our muscles strongly protested the idea of another 4+ hour trek up a rock face.

Time to channel my inner Kevin and embrace a little spontaneity!

Quick research raised the Eklutna Lakeside Trail as a good option for our day, featuring a 12.7 mile long journey following the Elklutna Lake and river to Eklutna Glacier. The fact that it was much flatter than the previous day’s hike was appealing and we decided to make the short drive from our Air BnB in Eagle River to explore another part of Chugach State Park.

The day started with low clouds, a light mist, and a slight chill in the air: absolute perfection. It cost $5 to park, with a pit toilet and easy access to the trail and lake right off the edge of the lot. We hurried to the shore to get our first look of the water where the bank seemed to stretch out forever. There were a few families getting settled with camping chairs along the shore, but the spaciousness of the area turned them into dots in the distance.

When we hopefully return one day, we want to try either the bike or kayak rentals that were available a short distance down the trail! As you can see from the photos below, the trail was wide and well-maintained in most places; there were some sections that narrowed and would provide a truer mountain biking experience, but they were still relatively easy to navigate on foot as long as you watched your step. We shared the trail with a few other families toward the beginning, but after about three miles we only encountered the occasional biker or hiker.

Grumbling tummies interrupted us about six miles in so we followed a small branch off the path toward the lake in hopes of finding a spot to sit and enjoy our picnic lunch. The glacier rock had settled in tiered layers in a steep drop down to the water; we settled on some fallen logs at the top because the thought of attempting to climb back up the shore’s impressive incline after eating didn’t seem like a particularly good life choice for the day. Sandwiches and cans of root beer from a local brewery paired perfectly with a view that stretched for miles.

The sun began making an appearance between retreating clouds shortly before we stopped for lunch; soon our jackets were packed away and I was, as usual, applying more sunscreen to my pale Irish face and arms. We encountered a partial wash out on the trail and decided that was a good point to turn around, especially if we wanted to be back at our Air BnB in time for dinner!

Many of Alaska’s glaciers are shrinking due to global warming; Eklutna Lake is glacier-fed and, as a result, the water level was much lower than we expected. Another indicator: the constant light haze in the air, even on perfectly clear, sunny days. A collection of lightning-induced wildfires was burning to the north, a daily reminder how fragile our beautiful Earth truly is.

Eklutna Lake was well-worth the visit! I only hope it will continue to be here for future generations to enjoy as much as we did.