When the Trail Disappears: An Alaskan Adventure We Didn’t Plan

I didn’t plan to take our Kansas guests on the adventure we ended up having, but some things can’t be planned!

They wanted an adventure and I like to take people up high so they can get a good view of the mountains. I decided that a hike up Packsaddle Ridge would accomplish all the goals in one trip.

Along with the family visiting from Kansas, I also took two of my sons that were 10 and 6 years old.We took a four-wheeler and trailer with ten of us riding wherever we could fit. So, it was an adventure just getting to the trailhead.

We took a four-wheeler and trailer with ten of us riding wherever we could fit. So, it was an adventure just getting to the trailhead.

Thankfully, the trail that we drove on was wide and mostly dry. We only had to unload everyone a few times so we could get the four-wheeler through the mud holes.

We started hiking by early afternoon; plenty of time to get up the ridge and back down in time for a late supper. The day was good weather-wise and we had no fear of it getting dark on us since it was summer in Alaska.

One of our friend’s son’s had eaten all the food he had packed for himself before we had gotten to the top. The rest of us ate our lunch as we enjoyed the view from the top of the ridge. Packsaddle Ridge is steep on both sides so it was unique for the people from Kansas to see. The drop-off went down approximately one thousand feet on each side. The trail was about one foot wide where we were hiking, so the view was tremendous. We continued hiking for about two more hours and then we stopped to eat a snack at a wide spot in the trail.

I talked with the Dad of the family and explained the options we had for our descent - we only had two. We could go back the way we had come with an easy trail and familiar country to travel through, or we could go the way that had no trail and was shorter mileage-wise, but not necessarily time-wise, as we soon found out.

He wanted to see some new country so we took off to hike in the country that had no trail. My 6 year old son, up to this point, had gone twice as far as the rest of us because he would find something interesting on the trail ahead of us and run back to tell us about it and then continue on ahead of us.

We had to cross a steep shale slide that went down several hundred feet below us. I was glad that we all made it across the slide okay. From the slide, we came out at the saddle of the mountain, which was good since some clouds were moving in and we were afraid we might get rained on. The clouds enveloped us but we were soon out of them. We could see them above us and they were thick. I was glad that we were headed down out of the clouds: they make it hard to see and you get damp.

The Dad said his knee was hurting and one of his daughters had twisted her ankle. We had a small first aid kit with us, so I wrapped her ankle with the ace wrap that was in the kit and we hiked on. We followed some moose trails through brush that was 8-10 feet high. I made sure that my .44 Magnum pistol was ready in case we met a bear that didn’t want to share the trail. We saw signs that bears were using the trail that we were on, but we never met one. I was glad when we got out of the brush and into some trees. Unfortunately, the stand of trees led to the top of a cliff, so I just followed the cliff to Hidden Lake.

Hidden Lake is a beautiful, clear, cold lake that has a rock cliff about fifty feet high. I knew the lake was deep because older campers would jump off the cliff and swim in the lake. The young Kansas kids were all excited to jump off the cliff until they felt the water, then the excuses were many for not jumping off!

The young Kansas kids were all excited to jump off the cliff until they felt the water, then the excuses were many for not jumping off!

By this time, all our food and drink had been gone for hours, so everyone was hungry, thirsty, and tired. The battery was getting low on my phone and radio, and I wanted to save it in case I really needed it. We had a trail to follow from Hidden Lake to Hicks Creek. When we arrived at Hicks Creek, the homemade bridge was not there. The water was only knee-deep, but flowing fast with only a single log for a bridge. I could hear rocks being tumbled down the creek so I knew that I didn’t want the Kansas guests to get hurt or wet. Since I was wearing hiking boots, I waded into the creek. I carried the injured girl across because of her twisted ankle and helped the others cross the log. I thought that maybe there would be leftover water at the Hicks Creek campsite, but I was wrong.

All we found was a big can of peaches. As I opened the can with my Leatherman tool that I always carried with me, we realized that we had nothing but our hands to eat the peaches with. My boys thought it was great fun to eat with their hands, and the rest of us were just glad for the moisture.

All we found was a big can of peaches. As I opened the can with my Leatherman tool that I always carried with me, we realized that we had nothing but our hands to eat the peaches with. My boys thought it was great fun to eat with their hands, and the rest of us were just glad for the moisture.

From there we hiked up the familiar trail from Hicks Creek, arriving at the trailhead at the end of the airstrip. It was almost 12:00 a.m., and we were four hours later than I thought we would be, but thankfully it was still bright daylight so it didn’t seem so late. It made for a good memory for us, but I wouldn’t want to do it again.

This story won the 2025 Alaska.org Story Contest prize for the category of "Under the Midnight Sun"