Chicago Bill and I decided to do some shoeing and after reading the avalanche reports I decided against Cave Ridge and figured if we went east of the crest the weather may be a little better. I had gone up Gold Basin a month before and wanted to go farther. Well, to say it was raining does not do justice to what was coming down from the sky, it was pouring, so we suited up at the snow park and headed up the valley. We skirted around the small lake about 1/4 mile up the road. I was thinking we could get down by the creek and follow it up the valley. The creek was running to full (about 12""). So we headed up the trail. After a mile up the trail we decided to stop for a snack. Climbed under some trees to get out of the rain, no luck. And when my sardines started to float out of the tin we decided three hours in a torrential rain was enough. Anyway, Bill's college team was playing in the NCAA tournament. No Blowdowns, trail snow covered, good snowshoeing. Good views of Rampart Ridge and Kendall Peaks.

This was my first time on this trail. With only 1600' vertical in 11 miles round trip, it sounds like a pretty easy hike. Not so! Keep in mind that 1200' of that is gained in the last terrible mile. This last bit of the trail is marked on the Green Trails map with a dotted line, which should have been a tipoff. I would soon find out what the dotted line indicates! The first 4.5 miles are mostly flat and fairly easy going, except for a few muddy boggy spots, possibly beaver-engineered. The trail is quite brushy for long stretches, so with the morning dew I was soon soaked from the waist down. I also found staying on the sometimes-obscure trail to be a challenge - I must have lost the trail 3 or 4 times altogether. This being a Wednesday, I saw no one else on the trail all day. However, I did have the silence interrupted three different times, as A-6 Intruders came screaming up the narrow mountain valley at low altitude. I guess the guys from Whidbey Island NAS were out having some fun, or else practicing for an invasion of Afghanistan. The last mile climbs to the lake from the junction of the Alaska Lake and Gold Creek trails, and is probably the most miserable stretch of trail I have yet encountered! Most of this section consists of a steep, rocky creek bed that tunnels through an impenetrable thicket of slide alder. You basically climb a staircase of loose boulders while parting the alder branches with your hands, and asking yourself, are we having fun yet'' The only relief is when you briefly emerge from the jungle to climb across talus fields. Well, I finally arrived at the lake in one piece, albeit pretty scraped up, and sat down for lunch. There are some nice campsites, although I think you'd have to be awfully determined, or possibly deranged, to haul up here with a fully loaded pack. After having experienced the Alaska Lake trail, I figured the ""route"" over the ridge to Joe Lake (shown in the guide book) was probably way more fun than I was ready for today, and headed back down. To sum up, Alaska Lake is a nice enough destination if you're willing to pay the price. When it comes to hiking, my attitude is ""no pain, no gain"", but... this trail pegs my meter on the pain to gain ratio.

What a difference a year makes... last July the trail was completely obscured by deep snows following the Gold Creek crossing. Arrived early and hit the trail wondering when snow would force me back. Thankfully, I reached the Alaska Lake junction on a trail that was 99.99% snow free. The first mile had some noticeable improvements but the later half has quite a few large fallen trees. Enjoyed sharing the trail with a deer and an owl. A few humans were sighted as well. The meadows following the Alaska Trail junction were rich with abundant wildflowers. Returned to pause at the Silver Creek crossing to ponder if it will ever be possible to cross it without getting the feet wet.

Got off work early and decided to do a little trailwork for the rest of my afternoon. I remembered from last month that Gold Creek needed a couple of trees taken out of it so I loaded-up my axe and saw and headed out. I got to the trailhead at 4:30pm and I was the only one there, which was very nice! I headed straight to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness boundary and started cutting away. I took out the big jackstraw of 4 trees that people have been walking around for a while now. After that was done I headed up the hill to see what other trouble I could get into... I found a big rotten log sitting right in the middle of the trail. I picked at it for a while with my iron rock bar, then cut into thirds with my axe...the hard part was getting the water-soaked pieces off the trail. *Whew!* I checked uptrail and found my next project, three more logs (two with 3ft. diameters) I was out of light so I headed back to the car. Who needs Gold's Gym' I've got Green's GYM! If you-all were wondering how those trails stay so nice and clean, this is it! The One-man Trailcrew Formerly known as The Mountain Man. :)

A WTA crew was out working on the Gold Creek Trail. Quite impressive watching them in action. When it comes to trails there are two ways to deal with the FEES - complain about them or find an alternative way to get the work done. All editorials aside, I'm impressed when I see the WTA crews out there with the pulaskis, grub hoes; and if you've never seen WTA sawyers in action, you need to. The crew was hard at work on the first mile of the trail and it looks really good - brushed out, logged out, and major drainages repaired. Beyond that point, there is one snow patch at the bottom of an avalanche slope at 1.7 miles. The first high-water crossing is at 2.0 miles and there is no dry-foot way across. There are many ways to put back into the trails that which we've taken out. WTA is one way and there are many other ways to serve as well. Griping about the fees - that's another, but not very effective.