Kesgui Ridge August 2013

Denali! Excellent views of the Alaskan Range  the whole time!

Kesgui Ridge is a classic Alaskan backpack trip. It is located in Denali State Park about three and a half hours north of Anchorage. It is the long spine of the Talkeetna’s that parallels the Parks Highway.  I have yet to do the entire 36 miles of it in one go, BUT I have done a couple day trips, a couple overnight trips with friends, and now I have lead two groups of kids up there. So between all that I have seen the whole thing. That counts for something right!?

Backpacking with children (or Scott Fritz! Baaaznig!!)is a frustrating, hilarious, and rewarding endeavor: all at the same time.  I was very excited but nervous for the opportunity to lead Kesgui Ridge again. The first time I lead it was MISERABLE. I hate to describe anything as miserable, but it was. Fog and rain with an allergic reaction scare, a dangerous mud shoot, and to top it off I got a gnarly systematic infection the last day (huge baseball size lump in my thigh, welts spreading from my legs to my stomach, high fever, it was not pretty!) . I am going to count it as a  learning experience.

With the thoughts of my last Kesgui trip looming in my brain as my new group of campers showed up I prepped them best I could knowing full well all the potential dangers that lurked. I told them that we needed to be prepared, to take the weather seriously, rain gear and setting up tents properly was incredibly important, life saving in fact! I told them life is real up on the ridge, we are remote even if we can see the highway. These are not exaggerations. Hypothermia happens. Luckily I had an all-star group. Many kids I’ve had a least a bizzilon times so they were super game. I had a “worry list” a mile long, but Tuesday morning came and trip-adrenaline kicked in, I was ready to rock. Kids and van were packed in record time and we were out the door!

We just got on the highway, when one of the boys called up the front “Uhhh so Andrea, uhhhh Im pretty sure I left my rain jacket back at camp.” Bahhhhh. PALM TO FACE.  Now, this kid is one of my regulars he is now fourteen, he has been on many of my trips, and knows better. Oh geez, so we had to turn around and GO BACK, thankfully I found his jacket.  45 minutes later we were back on the highway headed north. I was less then pleased, and I busted out ‘Serious Andrea’ I laid down the law! Put a little dose of healthy fear in the kids and told them that if anybody else left a layer beyond that could save their life like a rain jacket, they got a free ticket back to Anchorage with the van. No one else forgot anything…

Between the rain jacket ordeal and the construction we did not get to the trailhead until 3:30 pm. Not ideal. For this trip we started at the Little Coal Creek and were going to do a 17 mile section to Ermine.We started hiking around 4:00 pm. The first day you have the most elevation gain, and it is a steady four to five miles up to the ridge. The trail is well marked, traveled, and maintained. There are even switch backs! We got to the ridge around 7:00 pm, not bad for a big group of teenagers. Luckily the weather was perfect, sunny, temps in the 70’s. We camped near a creek right at the top of the ridge; there was plenty of places for tents. Weather changes fast in the mountains, knowing that I am always watching clouds and on high alert for any noticeable changes in pressure, and wind. I could tell that night during dinner that there was a chance some rain could move in. Making sure the tents were “bomb proof.” I went to bed a little uneasy; I swear I heard thunder in the distance...

First campsite

 


Eventually I got some sleep and apprehensively woke up in the morning to fog. Going slow but steady the fog lifted around 1 pm and blue sky prevailed!! We hiked for about 4 miles and camped in an awesome meadow part of a creek drainage. Great campsite, easy access to water and lots of tent sites.

Thursday, day 3 was my favorite day of hiking. I should mention that once you gain the ridge the going is easy. Rolling hills, no major elevation gains or losses, and I would say that you could do this section in one overnight or even as a long day hike if you choose. Four days is a little much, but perfect for kids.

We had fantastic views of Denali and the Alaskan Range AND the Talkeetnas on the other side. Super great. I never get bored of gawking at Denali. We got to our campsite at Ermine Hill early in the afternoon it was about 4 miles of hiking total, the weather was fantastic so we lounged like a bunch of marmots in the sun, ate bunch of food, and laughed a bunch. The next day we hiked out threeish miles down hill to the Ermine Hill Trailhead and were waiting for our pick up by 9 am.

So all my worries were probably good, LIFE IS REAL ON KESGUI! But luckily this trip was a 1000 times better then my first time with kids. The weather was awesome the whole time, and the views are hard to beat. I finally figured out why it is such a great hike ;-) I should also mention this will go down in history as probably my favorite trip Ive ever lead for Trailside, and probably the most I have ever laughed on Trailside trip. I cant even start to tell all the stories from the kids they were just TOO funny. Hey that’s great though, who would ever think that teenagers could be so entertaining.

These guys are pesky but cute! They chewed on a water filter and enjoy pepperoni...

Trip Stats

Total Miles: 16.7 (round up to 17 for bathroom detours!) This is just for Little Coal Creek to Ermine. The total from Little Coal Creek to Byers Lake is 36.

Elevation: high point is around 5000 ft,  Little Coal Creek to ridge is around 4000 ft

Access: Little Coal Creek Trailhead-Mile 163

                Ermine Hill Trailhead-Mile 156

                Byers Lake- Mile 147

Trail Conditions: Well marked, look for cairns every couple 100 yards! Heavily traveled.  They have recently done some work, on it. The trail down to Byers Lake was a mud shoot, terrible, BUT they have put in switch backs and it is quite pleasant now!

Time: Anywhere from a day hike to four or five days.

Route: As far as difficulty it doesn’t really matter if you start from the south and go north or vice versa. The reason I choose north to south for this particular trip was because of logistics, farther to drive for pick up on Friday, and because if it is clear you get to gaze at The Majesty: Denali in all her glory instead of having her at your back.

Alright so I cant talk about Kesgui without mentioning Troublesome Creek. So FYI Kesgui does continue south after Byer’s Lake that portion is called Troublesome Creek. Now since I have been in AK for the past four summers it has been closed due to flooding and what not, fun fact it also has the densest population of black bears as far as square mileage in Alaska. I understand it is now open but besides that I don’t know much about it. Worth checking out I suppose so if you are inclined the Trailhead for Upper Troublesome Creek is mile 137.6 and Lower is Mile 137.2. Happy Trails, carry bear spray!