Who:
Amy Murphy
Alaska Chapter Outings chair
Where:
Anchorage, AK
On August 6, I led a mountain bike outing to Crescent Lake on the stunningly beautiful Kenai Peninsula in south central Alaska. The ride is 13 miles roundtrip and goes through a non-wilderness area of the Chugach National Forest, located near Kenai Lake and the Quartz Creek Campground off of the Sterling Highway. This is a great trail for intermediate and advanced bikers as overall it has a gradual climb up to the lake with lots of roots and rocks to provide a challenging but stimulating ride.
Most of the trail is an old, well-packed trail goldminers used many years ago when they mined for gold in the area. The trail follows Crescent Creek as it meanders up a scenic valley towards Crescent Lake. Parts of the trail are very narrow with steep drops down to the creek, which even provides some extra adrenaline!
Once we made it to the lake, we had lunch and enjoyed the warm, sunny weather, awesome scenery, and mostly peaceful solitude. Two of the tall mountains located on either side of the lake are named Wrong Mountain and Right Mountain, and they provide excellent opportunities for hikes once you get to the lake. There are camping spots as well as a public-use cabin available to rent and there is an option to hike out on a primitive trail to Carter Lake, located on the Seward Highway. However, no bikes are allowed on that part of the trail.
The outing took a little more than four hours and we got to explore another pristine area of Alaska!
