Lee Helzer will lead "Ladders and Chutes" with a duration of 3.5 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.
Meet at the lower McHugh Creek Day Use parking lot for a 6:30 departure. We will head up the McHugh Lake trail to a hopefully mostly snow free ridge and return via a snow Chute. Ice axe recommended for optimal glissading.
Lee Helzer will lead "Rays on Rainbow" with a duration of 3.5 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.
Meet at 6:30 in the Telephone Pole Rock parking area wearing bright colors (on the left after Beluga Point) on the Seward Highway. We will head up to the Turnagain Arm Trail and then diverge onto a ridge heading towards the Black Mesa. From there we will asses snow conditions and either continue up the North Face or the south west ridge of Rainbow Peak (hopefully) enjoying a beautiful sunset along the way. Ice axe, snowshoes, and micro spikes recommended.
From the summit we will take the standard route back to the Turnagain Arm Trail and return to the cars.
Lee Helzer will lead "Jodhpur Jaunt Reversal" with a duration of 2.5 hours somewwhere in West Anchorage.
Meet that the Jodhpur Trailhead for a 6:30 departure. We will drop down to the high tides of the tidal flats then proceed north west. We will return via the high grounds of the bluff.
Lee Helzer will lead "Sheep Thrills" with a duration of 3.5 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.
Correction. Meet for a 6:30 departure from the Falls creek trailhead. We will jog along the highway to the Falls Creek trailhead where we will attempt to follow the proposed new standard route up Sheep Thrills Ridge. We will return via locals trail.
Lee Helzer will lead "Jodhpur Jaunt" with a duration of 2.5 hours somewwhere in West Anchorage.
Meet that the Jodhpur Trailhead for a 6:30 departure. We will head along the bluff then inspect the tidal flats on the return.
Lee Helzer will lead "Lighthouse" with a duration of 3 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.
Meet at the Rainbow trailhead for a 6:30 departure. We will reverse Juzgado de la Nieve navigating via a series of lighthouses.
Lee Helzer will lead "Bunny Boots" with a duration of 3 hours somewwhere in The Chugach Front Range.
Meet for a 6:30 departure at the Rabbit Lake Trailhead. The route will ascend the backside of Flattop and will continue on the ridge to Peak 3. In the Peak 3 vicinity we will descend to the Rabbit Lake Trail and return to the trail head.
Lee Helzer will lead "Snow Turtling" with a duration of 4.5 hours somewwhere in The Chugach Front Range.
Meet at the Prospect Heights Trail head for a 6:30pm departure. We will attempt a loop that may visit, but not disturb the Hillside Snotel site. If we find the site we might snow turtle our way back via a river crossing and the Middle Fork trail. It would probably be wise to pack snow shoes.
https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/nwcc/site?sitenum=1070
Lee Helzer will lead "You Are Not Forgotten" with a duration of 3 hours somewwhere in Eklutna.
Meet at 6:15pm in the parking area at the start of Eklutna Lake road. Due to limited space we will carpool to a 4ish car gravel pullout at about mile 4.5 on Eklutna Lake Road by electric pole 74. We will then hike up the road to electric pole 85 where we will depart the road and head up to Gold Star Peak then head over to Mount POW/MIA, pay homage, and return. Micro-spikes recommended. Please allow extra time for traffic delays.
Previous Years:
Lee Helzer will lead "Bird Creek Jaunt" with a duration of 3.5 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.
Meet for a 6:30 departure from the Bird Valley Trailhead at the end of Konikson Rd. We will head out the Bird Valley trail to a possible river ford then return via nearly the same route.
Lee Helzer will lead "O'Malley's White Shoulder" with a duration of 3.5 hours somewwhere in The Chugach Front Range.
Meet at 6:30 in the Glen Alps parking lot. We will depart the fall colors as we know them and embark on a winter journey up the brand new trail up Nintendo Hill to the Ball Field. From the head of the Ball Field we’ll venture over O’Malley’s white shoulder and return via the Powerline trail.
Lee Helzer will lead "Sheep Thrills" with a duration of 3.5 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.
Meet for a 6:30 departure from the Windy Corner trailhead. We will jog along the highway to the Falls Creek trailhead where we will attempt to follow the proposed new standard route up Sheep Thrills Ridge. We will return via locals trail.