Falling for the Landscape All Over Again - Mat-Su Valley, Alaska

Aug 27

Written By Kat Carney

Long hikes, stunning flights, and memories from another time in Alaska

It had been 12 years since I set foot in one of the most beautiful places on earth… Alaska. So when the folks from Mat-Su Valley, Alaska, (visitalaska.com) reached out I was so excited to get to work and roam the incredible area I once knew and loved.

I met my now-husband, Craig in the summer of 2008 while working on Lake Powell in northern Arizona/southern Utah. But most people don’t know we actually didn’t start dating until the next summer when we worked right outside of Denali National Park together. That summer was one of the most incredible of our lives to date. We were exhausted most of the time because we worked morning shifts in the Alpenglow restaurant at Grand Denali Lodge. He worked 5 mornings a week and I worked 3 mornings and two nights, so we were often up before 4 am and every single day off we had we spent in the backcountry of Denali National Park. We saw moose, bears, dall sheep, snowshoe hares, caribou, marmots, and so many other amazing sights that summer. Our days where spent walking through glacial streams, and our nights spent camped out on the perfectly comfortable natural mattress that is the tundra. Once we woke up in a herd of caribou, and as we started to get out of the tent they began charging. Craig picked up a rock and I picked up my camera, and they turned out to be bluffing, but it was a wild ride.

So to be back in this place, which not only has some of the most intense and wild landscapes in the world but is also the place that I fell in love with my husband, was truly special. I asked if I could bring Craig along, and they were stoked that he was available to join.

We arrived in the evening and immediately saw a moose on the road on our drive to Wasilla. We stayed at the Best Western Lake Lucille, and my gosh, I’ve never seen the backyard of a hotel have grounds as gorgeous as the magnificent Lake Lucille which had a lovely mountain backdrop. We fell asleep quickly, but our views during breakfast the next morning did not disappoint. Low lying clouds hung around the mountains and Lake Lucille was made even more dramatic by a blanket of mist hovering just over the surface.

We met Mak, who was also on the job for Mat-Su Valley and we collectively decided to do a 16-mile hike to a stunning cirque near Hatcher Pass. If there was going to be a day for a big hike it was going to be day 1, because our schedule for the rest of the week was packed. The forecast called for rain, so we packed up our rain gear and got ready for mud. And mud we found!

The first 4 miles of the Gold Mint trail were relatively easy and flat and we all managed to keep our feet fairly dry. But the second half of the hike would not be so generous. The trail turned to marsh in numerous places and our feet were engulfed by mud on more than a few occasions. But the payoff, in the end, was worth it. We crested a pass and walked up the tundra in almost complete silence. The wind was calm and there was just the light babble of rainwater draining through the streams. Much of the cirque of mountains was obscured by the rain and fog, but what we could see of it was stunning, and the contrast of a tiny red hut against the backdrop of gray was almost shocking. We headed toward our hut destination, checked out the interior, wrote in the log, and then started back because dinner was calling our name, but we still had 8 miles between us and a substantial meal. Needless to say, that night dinner at the Palmer Ale House, was a hard-earned, delicious meal.

The next day we were in for a less strenuous adventure, but equally as stunning, and quite frankly awe-inspiring. I don’t know what I expected going into the flight tour of Denali National Park with K2 Aviation, but what I got was a whole lot more. I had flown over the park in 2009 with the postal plane from Glitter Gulch to Wonder Lake. I thought I had seen the park from the air, but I hadn’t seen it from the air like this before! We flew down the valleys of the biggest peaks, and the slopes felt like they were within reach. We saw the glacial rivers from above and landed on an actual glacier with skis attached to our plane. It was overwhelming because every single direction was the most stunning thing I had ever seen, which felt like sensory overload for a photographer. Our pilot said that only 5 percent of the people who fly with him are lucky enough to see Denali, Foraker, and Russell- 3 of the biggest peaks that make up part of the Central Alaska Range. It’s hard to put the sights into words, so just see the photos below.

On our final full day in Alaska, we headed out to trek on Matanuska Glacier with MICA Guides. As we put on our crampons I thought back to Craig and my adventures on the Muldrow Glacier in Denali NP. In fact, we had been on several glaciers in the park, and one of my favorite memories is stumbling upon a glacial pool so blue I thought surely it was acidic, it couldn’t be that color naturally. We were both so stunned and spent the afternoon just walking around it and feeling the water. In fact, there was an island in the middle of it, that was close to one shore, and Craig jumped over to it. Those are still some of my most cherished memories from our first year of dating.

However, on this glacier trek, we were able to do something we had never done before- enter an ice slot canyon. We are avid canyoneers, and love hiking and rappelling slot canyons in the desert southwest. We never thought we’d see the day that we were inside a canyon similar to the red sandstone slots that dimple the southwest topography, but instead, it would be made of ice. Winding our way through the incredible blueish white ice and stepping in the frigid stream at the bottom was surreal. Every time I think I’ve seen the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen in my life, I’m delivered another that makes me wonder what other amazing things are out there.

And honestly, that’s the beauty of Alaska. There’s something that surprises and amazes around every corner. It truly is the last frontier in terms of untouched and incredible wilderness. I look forward to going back, but the next time I might have to stay for the whole summer again.