Alaska Day 4 - Twin Peaks Trail at Lake Eklutna

Overcast again. However, as we drove towards Lake Eklutna we saw no signs of the shrouding mist that we had so much of yesterday. I was imagining a trail that would wind up into the mountains with frequent views of a lake below and forests mixed with glades full of wildflowers. If only that had been what we got it would have been special: we got something rather less. It looks like a lot goes on around Lake Eklutna. You can rent bicycles and kayaks. It is probably a nice lake to kayak though it lacks a grand glacier to absorb your attention. We found our way to the Twin Peaks trail and began our hike. Up. Up. Around a bend. Up. The old dirt road we were following kept climbing through a forest of birch trees. You could not see much of anything. No wildflowers blooming along the roadside. Just steep hillside on either side of the road and no views. Up. Up. Up.

After climbing steadily for 1.5 miles gaining 1050 feet along an old dirt road built by the military for who knows why (it dead ends about 1 mile further) we found this lookout spot. It was a good place to stop and have lunch. You can see Lake Eklutna down below.

--July 12 2019 at 12:57. Anchorage, AK, United States

Someone had a bad day. You can just see the car, a station wagon we think, peaking through the foliage down the slope from the road.

--July 12 2019 at 13:32. Anchorage, AK, United States

We enjoy hiking. We are far less happy when the hiking is a relentless up (or down) with little variation. Yesterday was similar but at least it felt more interesting even though we had no views because of the mist. Today was a slog. We were looking for a bench that we could sit on and enjoy a view. It was supposedly 1.5 miles up the trail. Perhaps we stopped just a bit too soon but we had found a place we could step off the trail to a good view and have lunch. We stopped. After lunch we decided to forgo finding the bench (the trail probably had another mile to go) and just began going: down, down, down, around bends, and down.
This may be a lovely hike but it is hard to imagine it being so. I think if we return to the area we would explore the lakeshore trail and perhaps paddle on Lake Eklutna but I doubt I would choose Twin Peak Trail again. Perhaps the “high point” of the day was our stop at Rochelle’s Ice Cream store which is just a few minutes drive from Lake Eklutna. The sundaes are a bit pricy but a tasty cookies and cream hot fudge sundae with nuts and a dollop of whipped cream eases a lot of things.

--July 12 2019 at 14:32. Anchorage, AK, United States

At A Glance

• Total Distance: About 3.2 miles out and back from the trailhead. Parking is a bit more than 0.1 miles away.
• Total ascent and descent: about 1,050 feet up and 1,050 feet down. It is a pretty constant climb on a dirt road.
• Weather: overcast with a high around 60F.
• Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes with 33 minutes in breaks.