resurrection pass

I was on business in Anchorage the week of May 5. As this was my first trip to Alaska in almost 60 years of living, I wasn't going to go home without experiencing some of the Last Frontier's spactacular outdoors, so a colleague and I decided on the Ressurrection Pass Trail. The Resurrection Pass trail runs north to south from Hope to the Seward River on the Kenai Peninsula, only about an hour-and-a-half from Anchorage. Because the elevations are low, it is a safe trail to hike earlier in the season than most other Alaska trails. We only had the weekend of May 9-11 to trek, so we chose to do an out-and-back starting and finishing at the northern trailhead near Hope. We spent one night in a campsite in our own tents and our second night at the Fox Creek Cabin about 12 miles in, then hiked the full 12 miles back out on Sunday. The cabins are just delightful. You must reserve them beforehand on line for $35 per night. There are no locks on the doors, but if you are caught occupying a cabin without a reservation you will be fined. Very clean, very comfortable, screens in the windows, a wood stove if it gets cold, and a nice cooking area and table and chairs. The sleeping area is a double-deck wooden platform for sleeping pads and bags. The maintained campsite we stayed in the first night had a secure metal bear box about 100 yards away and a composting toilet--definitely better than digging a cathole. We were successful in avoiding any close encounters with black or brown bears, but we did see a cow moose. The snow-capped mountains to our east were beautiful, and the trail was very well maintained. We encountered no snow to Fox Creek Cabin. There might still have been some snow on Resurrection Pass itself. The trail parallels Resurrection Creek, which is a beautiful, clear mountain stream. We crossed the creek once on a footbridge.

This is a must do trail in AK, if you are lucky enough to get a reservation at one of the cabins along the way even better. I have stayed at Caribou creek cabin several times and it is just gorgeous!

Good trail. beware though at all times of bear activity. Make noise and have some noise alrm or pepper spray. And you can even trail ride this one on a mountain bike is awesome. Take it as far as you want to go, and come back.

I did this hike years ago with my family and would recommend it highly to anyone wanting an extended backpacking trip in Alaska with a family. The trail is obvious, you can't get lost, but you do have to be careful of bears - grizzly and black.