Adventures in Alaska: Hiking the Resurrection Pass Trail

In my last post,  I gave you a glimpse into what I consider one of Alaska’s greatest assets—at least for those who love backpacking: its public use cabins.  Alaska’s wilderness is unparalleled in its beauty and its enormity, but exploring the backcountry of the Last Frontier can be daunting.  The weather is known for being unpredictable, and the sheer magnitude of the Alaskan wilderness makes accessing it difficult, to say the least.  But thankfully, the state has a huge network of over 200 public use cabins that can be rented for almost nothing (usually between $25 and $40/night, depending on the season).  The possibilities are endless.  For an idea of just how many cozy wilderness cabins you could make your home for a night, check out this website and eat your heart out.

My good friend, Michelle, lives in Anchorage and was in charge of picking a cabin for us to hike to during our trip.  Given that we chose to visit Alaska fairly late in the fall, we were somewhat limited in our selection.  Her original plan was to rent a canoe-in only cabin on a remote lake, which would have been amazing aside from the fact that temperatures dropped dramatically and all of the lakes in the region froze over.  So, we settled instead on the Swan Lake Cabin, located on the Kenai Peninsula, roughly 12 miles in on the Resurrection Pass Trail.

We left Anchorage before sunrise and  began the roughly two hour drive down to the Kenai Peninsula.  The views along the way were spectacular.  As
soon as we entered the peninsula, the taller and more jagged peaks of the Chugach Range gave way to the rolling, snowy mountains of the Kenai, which turned a pale yet vibrant shade of pink with the sunrise.  We encountered only one or two other cars the rest of the drive, and the fresh snow gave the entire scene a pristine feel.  Already, we felt alone in this expansive and relatively untouched wilderness.

We parked at the Resurrection Pass trailhead and began the long trek
into the cabin.  I hadn’t hiked 12 miles since being on the PCT, and was grateful the trail to the cabin was almost entirely flat.

For the first few miles, the trail meandered through mixed spruce and birch forest.  As we gradually climbed above the treeline, the views began to open up and we entered the rolling tundra.  For the rest of the day, the trail alternated through areas of brush to massive alpine meadows, some of which spread for several miles.

We were unbelievably lucky with the weather, which was perfectly clear and sunny throughout the day.  The snowy hogback ridges stood in stark contrast to the bright blue skies behind them.

The sun was beginning to set by the time we reached the cabin.  The men immediately got to work chopping wood using the axes we found in the small woodshed outback, while Michelle and I filtered from the nearby stream and began fixing dinner.

Before long, the fire was roaring in the wood stove and the cabin was filled with the sound of laughter and the smell of Michelle’s creamy vegan Mac & Cheese.  We ate and drank to our heart’s content, and although we were all tired from the long hike,  we spent the rest of the evening sharing stories and marveling at how lucky we were to be able to spend time with friends in such a beautiful place.

Nathan kept the fire going all night, and even though the temperatures dropped into the teens, we were ridiculously cozy inside the cabin.  In fact, it was so warm that we spent most of the night laying on top of our sleeping bags.

The next morning,  we spent several hours lounging lazily by the fire, drinking endless cups of coffee and hot chocolate.  It was more than just “glamping”—it was pure gluttony.  And I loved every minute of it.