Matanuska Peak Hike and Bike

Matanuska Peak viewed from the McRoberts Creek Junction

These pictures only show the hiking and that in itself ought to say something about the biking portion of our Labor Day adventure.  I can't gripe about biking the first 1,000 feet on a steep dirt road.  It was the next 1,000 feet that left me saying, "Never again,with a bike." 

McRoberts Creek trail will never again 
see bike tracks from me!

At one point we talked about taking a picture, but we really didn't have the mental energy to whip out a camera as we foolhardily pushed bikes through a muddy, rocky, root strewn trail.  And when we reached the steep slimy sections on the trail where we had to carry the bikes while ducking under alder trees, the picture taking option never even entered my mind. Optimism worked for the first 200 yards, but it didn't take long for me to realize the trail wasn't getting better anytime soon, nor were we going to be above treeline around the next bend.  Perseverance seemed to be the only character trait worth exhibiting.

Views from 3000 ft.

At around 2000 feet, we hooked into the Matanuska Peak trail.  We left too late in the day to reach the summit at 6,000 feet, but we had hoped to reach some bikeable terrain and take in some good scenery. Because of recent rains, the trail was coated with a thin layer of slime and we had little hope of catching much traction for an uphill climb, so we ditched the bikes and used leg power.  

The peak is still 2,000 feet away!

Although it was tempting to "push to the top," we stopped at 4,000 feet, ate some lunch, enjoyed scenery and headed back down.  We picked up our bikes along the way and chose the Matanuska Trail, which hooks into the dirt road we started from. Surprisingly, we were able to ride both the bike and the brake, much of the way down other than a deep exposed ravine that required the bikes to be pushed and carried for a bit.  But that seemed easy in comparison to our uphill battle with the bikes.

All in all, it was better spending the day laboring outdoors with bikes, mud and branches than being cooped up inside all day at work.