TUTKA BACKDOOR TRAIL 2020

Julie, Dan, Mandy, Doug, Heather, Dylan, Wally, ready to board the floatplane for the flight to Taylor Bay.

THE CREW:
Dan Adair
Mandy Adair
Doug Armstrong
Dylan Hooper
Heather Hooper
Wally Hufford
Julie Stephens

LOGISTICS:
We drove to Homer, Alaska where we caught a floatplane via Northwind Air to Taylor Bay.  At the end of the hike we were picked up by water taxi at the head of Tutka Bay and returned to homer.

About to land at Taylor Bay.

Julie watches the floatplane depart Taylor Bay.

DAY 1:  (7/5/2020)
6.5 miles backpack

Once you step off the floatplane in Taylor Bay the Tutka Backdoor Trail goes straight up.  In fact, you spend the next several hours climbing straight up for nearly 1600 feet.  It will probably be the most demanding backpacking you have ever done.  Moving through forests and eventually breaking out above tree line into the alpine is the reward that awaits you.  In the alpine navigation is done by following strategically placed cairns.  But, fog and mist made them extremely difficult to find.  Our group depended on Dylan and his cell phone upon which he had downloaded a GPS track of the trail.  So, with the help of Dylan's phone we stayed within a few feet of the "trail" as we walked through the clouds.  And, it was cloudy.  On one occasion a pond appeared right next to us as the fog lifted.  It was just a few feet away from us, but we hadn't known it was there due to the fog.  By the time we reached to top we were ready for lunch which we ate in a small protected area out of the wind.  Full of food we happily stood up and set off for the Taylor River.  We crossed more alpine and eventually made our way back down into the forest.  Along the way we saw a black bear about 45 yards off the trail.  It hardly paid us any attention and we tried not to disrupt it as we walked along.  Arriving at the Taylor River we were relieved to see the water level was very low and knew crossing it would be easy.  We waded through the water and happily dropped our packs on the other side and set up camp for the night.  We were in a celebratory mood as we stood around a small campfire talking before going to bed at 8:00 PM.

Heather and Mandy in the alpine.

Backpackers in the fog.

Eating lunch in the alpine.

Mandy and Doug above the Taylor River.

Baackpackers in the fog.

Hiking cairn to cairn in the fog.

Backpackers passing through a ravine.

Backpackers conference.

Crossing a stream high on a mountainside.

Crossing the Taylor River.

DAY 2:  (7/6/2020)
unknown miles, backpack (miles are unknown due to batteries in GPS running out of power)

It started to rain in the middle of the night while we slept at the edge of the Taylor River.  We awoke to wet tents and a soaking drizzle.  However, after eating breakfast and moving around for an hour or so the rain subsided and we readied our backpacks for the coming day.  It was pretty much a repeat of day one--we started straight up another mountain right from the get go.  It was at least another 1600 feet of elevation gain.  Again the fog and mist created navigational difficulties but Dylan continued to keep us on course with his phone.  Then, just as we were about to cross the High Traverse we ran into another group of hikers.  It was none other than Hig, Erin, Lituya, Katmai, and Steve--the creators and maintainers of the trail.  They were out doing some trail maintenance.  We had a wonderful conversation about the trail and they gave us some helpful hints about what was to come.  Then we took off across the High Traverse which is high and on the steep side of a mountain.  Unfortunately, we couldn't see down very far due to the fog, but there was easily a thousand feet of nothing but air below our footsteps.  We eventually made it to a wide open plain where we set up camp.  We could tell there were tall mountains all around us when the fog would thin, but had no idea of their grandeur because the tops were encased in clouds.

Meeting Erin, Hig, Lituya, Katmai, and Steve near the High Traverse.

Camp 2 after the pinch and before Tutka Pass.

DAY 3:  (7/7/2020)
6.2 miles, backpack

We woke to much better weather and the views were spectacular!  Sharp jagged mountains reached up all around us.  We ate a leisurely breakfast while enjoying the view.  After breaking camp we made our way to the bottom of Tutka Pass which we knew would be another grind.  After a couple of hours we made it to the top and had lunch.  Looking down the other side of Tutka Pass we could tell we were in for some glorious hiking.  The valley we would be walking along stretched far into the distance and appeared to have a very gentle grade.  We took off walking from cairn to cairn and eventually found a tread which made for easy walking through the boulders.  We did have to leave the trail for a short distance in order to cross a sketchy segment of snow in an avalanche trough.  We could see numerous openings in the snow field where the trail appeared to go and decided it would be much safer to go down the ravine where the surface of the snow looked to be solid.  After crossing we hiked further down the valley. We made two stream crossings and arrived at a meadow area where we made camp.  This would make a wonderful place to stay for two nights as we planned to explore the nearby Infinity Pools area the next day.

Camp 3/4 near the Infinity Pools.

DAY 4:  (7/8/2020)
Day hike from camp to Infinity Pools

The big item on this day's agenda was a hike to the Infinity Pools.  They weren't far away so we took our time eating breakfast. Then we climbed a small ridge and hiked to the pools.  Everyone went their own speed taking in the surroundings along the way. A sow and cub black bear scrambled up the hillside as we walked along.  We lingered at the pools for a long time everyone going different directions and then gathering at a high point where we ate lunch and took in the views.  It was a beautiful place.  We returned to camp where we spent the remainder of the afternoon chatting and eating dinner.  Later in the evening we watched a black bear forage high on the ridges above us and spotted a mountain goat as well.

This place made me very happy.

DAY 5:  (7/9/2020)
5.3 miles, backpack

It rained for a good part of the night and it was still damp as we packed our gear and readied for the hike to the Tutka River.  Once again we followed cairns along the valley and ultimately came to a well established trail which we hiked along to Lunch Mountain.  The views from there were awesome.  We could see from Tutka Bay all the way across Cook Inlet to Mt. Illiamna.  We stopped to eat at Lunch Mountain and continued to enjoy the views.  Then it was down a steep descent to the Tutka River where we set up our tents for the evening.  We had lots of fun with a stone throwing contest at the edge of the river.  I used the inReach to contact our water taxi and arranged to be picked up at the head of Tutka Bay the next afternoon.


DAY 6:  (7/10/2020)
2.9 miles, backpack

We enjoyed a very leisurely morning and started hiking at noon.  It wouldn't take long to go the ~2.9 miles to the trailhead at Tutka Bay where the water taxi would pick us up and take us to Homer.  We made a quick stop at Fat Olive's for a celebratory pizza and we were on our way home.  Thoughts of a fantastic trip and plans for future adventures swirling in our heads.

Aboard the water taxi headed for Homer.

WILDLIFE:
Black bear-5
Mountain goat-2
Sea otter-1
Hummingbirds-many

KUDOS:
Erin, Hig, Lituya, Katmai and their maintenance teams deserve a huge thank you for all they have done to make this trail possible.  Their efforts have made this incredible landscape available to all of us.