What better way to kick off the new year than spending it outdoors? With snow falling (it was nearly rain, but we'll ignore that part) and moderate temperatures (almost too warm) it seemed like a great day to make my first winter trek up Solomon Gulch to the reservoir.
I've done this hike several times in the summer, but never in the winter. The "trail" follows a gravel road for the first long hill, and then turns onto the pipeline access corridor just east of the Valdez Marine Terminal. In this area, the pipeline which carries crude oil from the North Slope to Valdez is buried, but the land above it is kept clear enough to drive on. After following the pipeline for a ways, the trail crosses under the penstock carrying water from the reservoir to the hydroelectric plant, and turns right to follow an access road to the dam at Solomon Lake.
Essentially, the whole route is about two miles long and climbs a little over 600 feet. It seems to consist of alternating mild slopes and steep hills. In the summer, it takes me about 50 minutes to get to the reservoir. I wasn't sure how long it would take in the winter, or if I'd even be able to make it the whole way. Lucky for me, there were only three or four inches of fresh snow on top of a hard-packed base of about 35 inches. Just enough fresh snow to make me feel like I was in a trackless wilderness, but not so much that it really impeded my progress. It was definitely harder work than in the summer, but I still made it to the top in one hour and twenty minutes.
I'm not sure it was worth the effort, however. At least, it wouldn't have been if I were only out there for the views. Contrary to the promise of blue skies visible in the photo above, by the time I reached the lake the weather had socked in so much that I could barely see the dam. regardless, it was a satisfying effort, and my peanut-butter-on-cinnamon-raisin-bread sandwich tasted very good.
I thought it would be fun to compare photos from a hike last summer to ones from this snowshoe trip.
View from the bridge over the creek which crosses the pipeline:
The dam and lake (I included the interpretive sign in the winter photo so you could see that there was actually something there):
Sugarloaf Mountain is theoretically there behind my pack and poles:
View of Port Valdez from the lower end of the trail:
Unrelated to winter v. summer photos, I took the following one of some fabulous sulfur-yellow lichen growing on the rocks above the trail. I haven't take the time yet to figure out what it is, but I think it's beautiful in an other-worldly sort of way.
While this was my first winter hike up Solomon Gulch, it definitely won't be my last. At the very least, I'm going to have to go on a sunny day so I can have more representative photos to compare!
