Falls Creek Trail, Chugach State Forest, Alaska
Falls Creek Trail, Chugach State Forest, AlaskaI regret hiking this trail. Mainly because I thought I was on another trail. One that didn’t go five miles straight up a mountain and then five miles back down. I was ill prepared for the journey, lacking both the water, and to my surprise and disappointment, the fitness. The trail I thought I was on was about two hundred yards up the road to the north. That trail was supposed to be relatively easy and meander along somewhat level ground through a sheep meadow. This one didn’t do any of those things. It was very tough. And there were no sheep. But I was rewarded with amazing views at the top. These two photos were taken nearly there. In the top photo, I am looking back down upon where I came. In the second, I’m looking at what I had left to climb. You can see the creek which gives the trail its name. Most of the trail was a muddy, rocky, thickly forested slog along that creek. It finally opened up and dried out as the trees disappeared and the trail moved to higher ground. It wasn’t until the next day, legs barely working, that I noticed the trailhead I was supposed to have taken. I did end up seeing a few of the white dall sheep I was after along the Falls Creek Trail, but they were all over on the adjacent mountain. As they say, next time. But the colors of the tundra plants and flowers were at their autumnal best, so it was worth it for that. Kind of.
Top Photo — Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/18 at 1/200th of a second
Bottom Photo — Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/18 at 1/160th of a second