Lee Helzer will lead "Eagle River Jaunt" with a duration of 3 hours somewwhere in Eagle River - South.
Meet at the Eagle River Greenbelt Trail head by Briggs Bridge for a 6:30 departure. We’ll head out the river to the vicinity of the South Fork confluence. We’ll attempt to work our way to the South Fork Falls and return via the Greenbelt Trail.
Lee Helzer will lead "How Low Will it Go?" with a duration of 3 hours somewwhere in The Chugach Front Range.
Meet for a 6:30 departure at Prospect Heights Trailhead. We will see how low the temp will go by looping Cabin Fever to Rovers Run.
Hopefully we will see temps lower than -16.9 which is the coldest recorded Epic temperature that occurred on the Smooth on the Edges Epic on 1/9/2020.
Lee Helzer will lead "Jack Remembrance" with a duration of 3.5 hours somewwhere in The Chugach Front Range.
Meet at Glen Alps trailhead for a 6:30 departure. We will celebrate the life of Jack the dog by telling our favorite Jack stories along the trail.
To the best of my knowledge we will repeat Jack’s first Epic, Tire Iron. The first mile or so will be a walking mile. We will head up Nintendo Hill to Little O’Malley where in 2012 high winds forced us to escape (nearly blew Jack away) down the north west ridge to the Middle Fork Trail. We will follow hard packed (hopefully) trails and spectacular weather toward Prospect and return via a combination of South Rim Trail and Powerline Trail.
Please spread the word to those who may want to join.
Lee Helzer will lead "North Side Bunny Boots" with a duration of 3 hours somewwhere in The Chugach Front Range.
Meet for a 6:30 departure at the Glen Alps Trailhead. The route will ascend the original route up Flattop and will continue on the ridge to Peak 3. In the Peak 3 vicinity we will descend to the Powerline Trail and return to the trail head.
Lee Helzer will lead "More Snow Turtling" with a duration of 3 hours somewwhere in The Chugach Front Range.
Meet at Prospect Heights for a 6:30 departure. We will head up the Powerline trail and connect over to the Middle Fork trail via Campbell Creek Gorge trail and return. Snow shoes advised.
Lee Helzer will lead "Snow Turtling" with a duration of 2 hours somewwhere in West Anchorage.
Note change of location due to record snow fall.
Meet at the Kincaid chalet for a 6:30 departure. We will snow turtle around the bluff and dunes. Snowshoes suggested.
Lee Helzer will lead "Upper Highway Spring Loop" with a duration of 3.5 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.
Meet at the Rainbow trailhead for a 6:30 departure.
We will review The Upper Highway trail progress and make and make minor adjustments if required on the way to the highpoint near Tortilla Chip Rock. We will then follow the ridge north-east for a short distance and take the gully north-west down to the lower trail and return.
Lee Helzer will lead "Chasing Sunsets" with a duration of 4 hours somewwhere in The Chugach Front Range.
Meet at the South Side Flattop trailhead for a 6:30 departure. We will head up the southside direct trail to Flattop and then follow the ridge back as far as Ptarmigan Pass and return via Rabbit Lake trail.
Epic photo opportunities will hopefully present themselves.
Lee Helzer will lead "The Hidden Williwaw Ramp Cirque" with a duration of 4.5 hours somewwhere in The Chugach Front Range.
Note the earlier time to try for an optimal sunset.
Meet at the Glen Alps parking lot for a 6:00pm departure. We will head up Nintendo Hill and cross the Ballfield to access the Williwaw Lakes Trail. After a short time on the trail we will break off and explore a small body of water in the picturesque Hidden Williwaw Ramp Cirque. We will return via the same path or a slightly longer alternative with less elevation.
This will be a re-attempt of the 6/24/2021 Epic that was thwarted by a moose kill on the trail.
Lee Helzer will lead "Service Work" with a duration of 4 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.
Meet at the Rainbow Trailhead for a 6:30 departure. We will follow an intermittent trail (No Disco) up valley toward South Yuyanq’ Ch’ex to an undetermined point then return via the same route.
Lee Helzer will lead "The Abomination" with a duration of 3.5 hours somewwhere in Eagle River - South.
Meet at the South Fork Eagle River trailhead for a 6:30 departure. We will take the Abomination trail to Hunter Pass then follow the ridge to Rendezvous Peak. We will return by the new Muktuk Marston Trail taking the occasional detour to investigate spent rocket boosters.
Lee Helzer will lead "Unnamed Ridge" with a duration of 6 or more hours somewwhere in Eklutna.
Note Earlier Time
Meet at the Thunderbird Falls Trailhead for a 6:10pm departure. We will carpool to the Eklutna Lake trailhead for the start. We will make a brief detour to the Doly Varden public use cabin before we ascend the well established rouge trail on the south side of the dam up to the unnamed ridge. We will follow the ridge west, ticking off 3, 300′ prominent highpoints (Peak 855, Peak 820, and Peak 594) before descending to Thunderbird Falls.