Resurrection Pass, Alaska

I’ll concur that this is a lovely trip – one we’ve often done as a family or directed friends to take.  Planning 183 days in advance and booking USFS cabins make a pretty cushy trip – no need to carry a tent and you can go lighter on the clothing since you can get it dried out, maybe even washed, every night.  I’ve also done it as a rather grueling day hike – 38 miles end to end, after setting up a car shuttle or having a friend drop me at the far end.

We’ve also partially bounced it from each end.  That can be even easier with a 2-night stay at a cabin, say, 7 or 11 miles in.  Get in to the cabin, set up for two nights, day hike on from there with a lunch and shell.

It’s rare for me to do the whole thing and not see at least one bear – black or brown, when I’m solo*.  The bears are pretty well trained along there and aren’t particularly surprised to encounter a human.  And, I’ve trained our older dog to return to me and alert me to people or critters ahead, so we can stand aside  for a minute and not surprise anyone/thing else.

*solo hikers are FAR quieter than a family and therefore see more wildlife.  It’s impossible for a family of 5 to hike without making a racket, so they never know how much wildlife moved off the trail a minute before they got there (unless the poop is stilling steaming).

PM if you’re looking for some trail angel magic here – it doesn’t take much to entice me to take a day hike in conjugation with setting up a car shuttle at each end.

You guys are doing a lot of convincing…

Thanks for posting, I love to see the photos! Sorry to hear about the COVID. I just returned yesterday from my first work-related trip since early 2020. I woke up with symptoms, and sure enough I tested positive.

I believe I had Covid at the beginning of the pandemic, March 2020, but I’ll never know for sure. Weirdest illness ever. This time it’s just like a head cold – sinus congestion, nose blowing. Not even all that tired. The worst is sitting in my bedroom instead of tending to everything that needs tending. Isolating from the family and plotting my next escape.

Bonzo – we didn’t need passes or permits, didn’t pay fees, didn’t schedule anything at all in advance. We just went! That is pretty darned sweet. And didn’t even see that many people – three sets of mountain bikers, three other parties of backpackers, all small groups and quiet campsites. Don’t tell anyone.

One of my personal-bests: miles hiked without seeing anyone else on a developed trail – was set on that northern part of the Resurrection Trail.  I went 25 miles south from the Hope trailhead before I saw anyone else on the trail.  It was summer, June or July, lovely weather, maybe even a weekend.  I did get an early start at 5 am, and I suspect there were a  few people in tents or cabins I walked past who weren’t on the trail yet.

Still, almost a marathon distance, with no other humans until noon on a substantial, nicely graded trail past lovely terrain is something I’ve only ever approached in California or Arizona in the middle of the night – and even then, sometimes there’s someone else out there at 2 a.m.

Bonzo:  The coolest version is to book two cabins for two nights each and then go the reverse direction as a friend / other party.  One time my fishing buddy and I went south while my son and his girlfriend went north.  We each carried kitchen, food, and sleeping gear in only 7 or 11 miles, day-hiked with a lunch and rain shell the middle 20 miles to the second cabin, used and packed out the gear left there.

And the car shuttle is zero effort and zero extra miles.  Drive your car straight to your trailhead and there’s another car waiting for you at the other end.

David- what a brilliant strategy. You would really have to be on the same page as the party you are swapping gear with though.