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.
Lee Helzer will lead "Upper Highway Route" with a duration of 3 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.
Meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Rainbow trailhead. We will be taking the Upper Highway route to the summit ridge directly above the trailhead. Bring a favorite item of pruning equipment, trail repairs will be made along the way.
Lee Helzer will lead "Goose Lake Trot" with a duration of 1.5 hours somewwhere in East Anchorage.
Meet in the Goose Lake Park parking lot for a 6:30 departure. This kid friendly epic will attempt to circumnavigate Goose Lake with an option to swim or standup paddle board upon successful completion of the route.
Lee Helzer will lead "Eklutna River Exploration" with a duration of 3 hours somewwhere in Eklutna.
Meet in the medium pullout on the left (north) side of Eklutna Lake Road at around mile 2.4 (just past the Ernie Turner Center) at 6:15 for a car shuttle to the Eklutna Lake Trailhead. We will tour the Eklutna River and exit to our car.
Lee Helzer will lead "Rainbow Circumnavigation" with a duration of 4 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.
Meet in the lower lot of McHugh for a 6:30 departure. We will head up McHugh Lake trail keeping an eye out for lakes to swim in when the heat waves return. At a low saddle we will hop over into the Rainbow Valley and return via sheep trails and eventually the Turnagain Arm trail.
Lee Helzer will lead "McHugh Treadmill" with a duration of 3.5 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.
Meet for a 6:30 departure in the lower lot of McHugh Trailhead. We will head up McHugh Lake trail and take the McHugh Peak treadmill. After summitting we’ll search for a gully with epic glissade potential then return via the McHugh Lake trail.
Ice axe, micro spike, and gloves recommended.
Lee Helzer will lead "Caballo Blanco" with a duration of 3.5 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.
Meet in the lower parking lot of the McHugh trailhead for a 6:30 departure. We will head toward the standard trail up McHugh and assess snow conditions on the final route up Caballo Blanco. We’ll ideally return via some fun glissades. Ice axe and micro spikes recommended.