2015  HIKING, CYCLING,

& RV TRAVEL ADVENTURES

Denali AKA Mt. McKinley

 

   
 
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   VALDEZ HIKES & BIKE RIDES, p. 3

  SATURDAY, JUNE 20

 
 

Continued from the previous page.

TRAIL TO SOLOMON LAKE

This trail is commonly known as the Solomon Gulch or Solomon Lake Trail but was more recently named the John Hunter Memorial Trail.

It is about 1.6 miles one way to the near end of Solomon Lake, more if you walk some along the lake and/or take a spur trail to a great viewing area above Valdez Bay AKA Port of Valdez. The day Jim and I hiked up and back we did a total of four miles and it took us two hours.

Total elev. gain + loss was 1,953 feet. We went from sea level to about 700 feet, with several steep ups and downs along the way.

The wide dirt and gravel "trail" -- it's really a road the whole way -- begins at a small parking area just past the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery on Dayville Road.

It ascends through coastal spruce forest before joining the Trans Alaska (Alyeska) Pipeline maintenance road:

 

Hikers are required to sign a sheet at the maintenance road gate:

The actual pipeline is buried under the road in this hilly section, terminating at Port Valdez less than a mile from here.

The "trail" follows this road up another rather steep hill and down to a bridge across Solomon Gulch (and creek):


One of two streams where the dogs could get water


The pipeline maintenance road is a rollercoaster; the bay is in the distance.


Bridge over Solomon Gulch and creek


Solomon Gulch, looking downstream

A short but steep trail to the left just before the overhead pipes is a worthwhile deviation because it leads to expansive views of Valdez, the bay, and the surrounding mountains:

 


The tide is mostly out. The corner of the fish hatchery is to the lower right of this photo.


Partially zoomed in on the town of Valdez across the bay


Heading back to the main road; arrow marks dam on hillside to the south.

Unfortunately, when we went up to Solomon Lake the clouds obscured most of the mountain tops. This would be a better hike on a sunny day.

After we went back to the main trail we walked under some large pipes called "penstocks" that carry water to the power station at the bottom of the gulch. I showed pictures of that facility in the previous entry. The penstocks are made of surplus Trans Alaska Pipeline pipe, a good way to use extra pipe.

Jim had fun pretending to find a leak in the pipes:

After passing under the penstocks the hiking trail veers off the road to the right and goes up another hill or two. It winds through a pipe storage yard, over a bridge, and past an overflow pond to Solomon Lake and its two dams.

We were hoping the dogs could swim in the water but concrete walls made that impossible. The views of the lake were very nice, though, and we could walk half way along part of one dam:

 

The lake was a pretty turquoise color, which looked nice against the deep green of the surrounding mountainsides. We could see some snow and glaciers on mountains in the distance.

Again, everything would have been much prettier on a sunny day.


Pulling the plug

At least seven of the ten people we saw on the trail to Solomon Lake were foreign visitors -- two from Switzerland, three from Italy, and two from Alberta, Canada. We also talked with a couple from Ontario in our campground that afternoon. Most military travel camps are open only to retired or active duty U.S. military folks but Valdez Glacier CG is open to the public.

Here's a little history about Solomon Gulch.

From 1915 to 1919 more than a million pounds of copper were produced by the Midas Mine farther up this valley. An aerial tramway that transported the copper ran from the mine and down through Solomon Gulch to the Port of Valdez, where it was loaded onto ships.

A different hydroelectric plant powered that tram; the current power plant and dams were built in 1982 to supply power to the Copper Valley area.


View down the pipeline maintenance road to the Alyeska Pipeline terminal in the bay


The tide was pretty low when we got back down to the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery after hiking.

You can read about more trails in the Valdez area at the Parks & Recreation web page.

I enjoyed hiking some different trails this time. There are other interesting trails between Valdez and Thompson Pass, like the historic Pack Trail,  Goat Trail, and Wagon Road, but I didn't have time to do those in the short time we were here. We stayed busy all four + days.

Next entryscenic day trip through Keystone Canyon up to Thompson Pass and Worthington Glacier

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, Cody the ultra Lab, and Casey-pup

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© 2015 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil

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