Another early start time from Girdwood, Alaska down the Winner Creek Trail.
We stepped off in light misty rain and low hanging clouds, occasionaly the precip would stop and a few clouds would lift revealing glaciers and peaks around the valley.
Fireweed still in bloom
Winner Creek Trail 7 miles to the Pass, plus 2 additional miles bushwacking to the 20 Mile River while dropping 2000ft elevation
Waterfall coming from unknown glacier above
More Fireweed
Almost to the pass
Winner Creek Pass, very interesting, several little ponds were on the pass, with creeks trickling in both directions North and South flowing
Just before the bushwhacking begins, this is the part where we saw several Black Bear paw prints going in all directions with an unidentified animal scat across the trail
Finally, after 2+ hours of bushwhacking we met up with the 20 mile River
Stream we'd been "hand railing" downhill that intersected with the River
Ready to paddle
45 minutes of Class 2 whitewater led to 2+ hours of casual "lazy" river floating in a typical Alaskan swift current
We stepped off in light misty rain and low hanging clouds, occasionaly the precip would stop and a few clouds would lift revealing glaciers and peaks around the valley.
Fireweed still in bloom
Winner Creek Trail 7 miles to the Pass, plus 2 additional miles bushwacking to the 20 Mile River while dropping 2000ft elevation
Waterfall coming from unknown glacier above 
More Fireweed
Almost to the pass 
Winner Creek Pass, very interesting, several little ponds were on the pass, with creeks trickling in both directions North and South flowing
Just before the bushwhacking begins, this is the part where we saw several Black Bear paw prints going in all directions with an unidentified animal scat across the trail
Finally, after 2+ hours of bushwhacking we met up with the 20 mile River
Stream we'd been "hand railing" downhill that intersected with the River
Ready to paddle
45 minutes of Class 2 whitewater led to 2+ hours of casual "lazy" river floating in a typical Alaskan swift current
AK R&R Whistle Stop Train
Finally, the Seward Hwy, and we only missed dinner by 4 hours.....
2 comments:
Awesome. Going to try this next weekend. Could yo answer a few questions?
The float took about 3 hours?
Did you have to take tides into account?
How long did entire trip take?
Yes, I remember the float taking about 3 hours, that was nearly 2-2.5 hours of solid paddling, depending on how far up you launch. We didn't take tides into account, I have no idea if you need to, good thinking! The hike was the longest part. It took a couple hours to the top of the pass then a couple hours of bushwhacking. Plan a full day. Start early and finish in time for beers in G-wood.
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