Looking back at hiking the Wolverine Peak Trail in 1990
While scanning old papers yesterday, I came across a fairly detailed report on a hike I did at Anchorage in August 1990. The Wolverine Peak Trail remains one of the finest day-hikes I’ve ever done, so I thought I’d share a few of the Kodachromes I shot. There are 45 slides in the collection, plus another 15 of the Dall sheep I met on the hike, and I’ve posted 20. I scanned the slides in October 2022.
Getting a full day off at Anchorage was rare for me in those days – this was my first of 23 years as driver/guide for lengthy motorcoach tours around the Yukon and Alaska. I started with Atlas Tours, based in Whitehorse. We could have up to 6 people overnighting in Anchorage – 4 drivers and 2 local guides, so had an employees’ apartment.
The day began very early, as I was at the parking area at 07:00 – I don’t remember how I got there or got back to the apartment. There are over 30 websites describing Wolverine Peak Trail now, so current information is easy to find. While browsing through them, I noted that those websites variously describe the trail as Easy, Moderate, or Difficult – weird! Even with all the off-trail wandering I did, both along the way and up top, it was Moderate.
The weather was partly cloudy, but there must have been a solid forecast that it would clear soon or I wouldn’t have started.
My 1990 report says: “First bridge 07:20. Very large black cottonwood – largest about 4 feet diameter. Wild parsnips (?) 6 ft. tall (broad-leaf, open head). Very luxurious growth – going off-trail would be difficult. Black and white spruce in Wolverine Bowl.”
“Original road usage not known. Great mountain biking trail. Lots of game trails – signs warning of recent bear sightings (at start of trail). No elev. gain yet (actually slight drop).”
“7:25 trail switchbacks, starts to climb gently. First wet area is loaded with monkey-flowers.
“7:30 Middle Fork access trail. If dropped in here blindfolded, would never guess it’s Alaska. Only the higher hills are obviously someplace I’ve never been before.
“7:33 nice grove of black spruce, first excellent views of downtown Anchorage.”
“7:43 small bridge – crystal-clear water.
“7:46 Wolverine Peak Trail. No bikes, no horses. Good trail, alder is tight. Not cleared in years. Little apparent use. Fairly steep.”
“7:50 great views of city. Airport straight ahead, downtown to the right 30 degrees, Elmendorf to far right at 45 degrees. Note: no bugs.”
“8:00 390 m.
“8:13 450 m. – above treeline.
- trail forks, go straight on best one.
- pleasant level spot, large rock to perch on.
- country open.
“Climbing in high arctic through clouds with no gear except camera. [my clothes went into my pack for the next few hours except for a few “selfie” photos when I put them back on]
“Climbed through cloud layer into sun at 870 m.”
The views kept getting better and better as the skies both above and below cleared.
Looking back down the trail.
Although you can’t see them in this small photo, there’s a band of Dall sheep at the lower right of the grassy slope.
“9:00 open rocks. 700 m. Just lichen. Very different high arctic world. Trail virtually disappears.”
“1090 m. – chopper crash.” Research is much easier today than it was in 1990 – I now know that this was the remains of a blue single-engine Howard that crashed here just before noon on June 8, 1956, killing the 5 people on board. They were headed for Merrill Field when they flew into clouds, and this was the tragic result. The engine is said to be about 800 feet down the slope, but I didn’t see it.
Looking to the south. The hiking opportunities here are pretty much infinite.
“Right side of ridge is U-shape, glaciated. Left side is almost sheer drop. Volcanic rock. Lots of harebell just before peak.” More Dall sheep can be seen towards the lower right. I think this is the North and Middle Campbell Valleys.
“11:35 peak. 1260 m. Spent 3 hours on top.”
Those 3 hours on top were incredible. I had this world all to myself – well, myself along with sheep, caribou, Arctic ground squirrels and many other creatures. I left my pack and wandered for miles, barefoot on the heather, lichen, and sometimes rock. I have a few photos taken during those wanders but will just show you this distant one 🙂
On the hike back down, I made two lengthy detours to see if I could have a visit with some of the sheep, and they were very obliging – one more so than the other 🙂
One final photo looking down the trail and across Cook Inlet.
What a day. I love it when the discovery of some scribbled notes can bring back such a wonderful experience. From what I’ve seen on the various websites, I expect that the trail is a different experience today.
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