| Trip type: |  |
Backpacking |
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| Duration: | 9 days | |
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| Length: | approx 35 miles | |
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| Difficulty: | More challenging | |
| Group Trips: |
Aug. 31 - Sept. 8 (Call about scheduling other dates) |
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| Rate: | $2,695/person - 9 day trek $450/person - R/T Anchorage/Lake Clark |
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| 26952 | ||
Included!
Not included: Lodging, meals and local transport in Anchorage |
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A High Country Trek in this Undiscovered
Gem of a Park In 2010 we took a small group off on an exploratory trip to Lake Clark National Park. It was such a success that we are adding it to our roster as a late season trek. Like Wrangell-St. Elias, Lake Clark National Park is a bit more remote and therefore little known outside Alaska. The only way to get to Lake Clark is to fly - there are no roads! That means you won't have to rent a car and the cost for this trek includes just about everything except airfare to Anchorage.  We meet up in Anchorage to review and distribute gear and then head to the Moose's Tooth for the best pizza in the north country. The next morning we begin our adventure with the flight from Anchorage, over stunning and forbidding terrain on the way to the town of Port Allsworth in Lake Clark National Park. We land at Port Alsworth where we board a smaller plane on floats for the flight into Lake Telaquana. The shores of Lake Telaquana do not offer good camping so we hike about a mile or so up the ridge and set up our first camp. We will be situated above Lake Telaquana with an amazing view all around. We start off by heading up Trail Creek where we might spend an extra day to do some exploring. Then it's up into the high country as we cross the knees of Mt. Telaquana which towers above us at 8000'. Then we drop down to Turquoise Lake which is one of the prettiest lakes you'll ever see with peaks looming all around. We'll probably want to spend a day here to do a bit of exploring up side valleys and soak up this amazing spot.  Then it's back to the highlands as we head up a dramatic valley next to a thundering stream. It's up and over the pass and we drop into the prettiest valley of the trek and a great area for spotting wildlife including bear, sheep and fox. We bid farewell to the high country and spend a day hiking down the valley towards Twin Lakes. There is a bit of bushwhacking on this day but eventually we hit what was Dick Proenneke's old trail that he used for gaining access to the high country for hunting trips. The spot where the trail meets the stream below offers an amazing campsite with broad gravel bars. From here it's an easy walk to Twin Lakes. Our journey around Twin Lakes includes a stream crossing and some bushwhacking but the camping along the way is terrific. The final campsite of the trek is just a few hundred yards away from the historic Dick Proenneke cabin. Proenneke built the cabin using only hand tools and lived on the shores of Twin Lakes from 1968 to 1999. If we're lucky we'll get a guided tour from the voulunteer who spends his summers there. He was a friend of Dick's and can share lots of inside informaiton.  The next morning we are picked up on the shore of Upper Twin Lake for the flight back to Port Alsworth and our connecting flight back to Anchorage. This will be a great trip featuring some of the most dramatic terrain you will find anywhere in Alaska. Group size will be kept to just four participants and a guide so reserve early! Oh, I almost forgot. This trip features something we don't usually get to do - fish! There are opportunities to fish for trout and grayling in Truquise and Twin Lakes. So if you have a small, backpacking rod bring it along! Last year we had fresh fish three times on the trip. Overall Itinerary Sep 10:
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