Saturday, July 18th 

 

Flora of the Chugach Mountains

Cost:  $60.00

7:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Trip Leader(s):  Dennis Ronsee, President of Alaska Native Plant Society

A guided hike of the alpine flora of the Chugach State Park. This is a moderate to difficult hike with a 4,000 ft. elevation gain. The hike will start at Eklutna Lake, a large beautiful glacial fed turquoise lake, and quickly gain elevation to an alpine meadow then meander to alpine scree. View first hand plants surviving at the extreme! Various late flowers might be seen such as Potentilla, Dryas, Erigeron, Micranthes, and Papaver species. The summit and upper elevations provide spectacular views Ekultna Lake and surrounding glacially carved valleys while being surrounded by jagged peaks. Mountain goats and dall sheep are often spotted above tree line.

Wear sturdy hiking shoes and be prepared for a day hike. Be prepared for quickly changing weather.

Limited Collecting

Includes continental breakfast and box lunch and waterbottle

Maximum Participants: 15

Bike and Kayak on Glacial Waters

Cost:  $55.00

7:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Trip Leader(s):  Dan McDonough, Lifetime Adventure

An old road bed that follows the shore of Eklutna Lake, then continues along the river to moraines of Eklutna Glacier.

Ekultna Lake, with its turquoise waters, is a great place to experience kayaking, biking, and hiking in the Alaskan wilderness. The Eklutna glacier carved out the Eklutna valley, leaving behind craggy mountains, lateral moraines, and the lake. This trip offers a guided kayaking and/ biking experience you will not forget.

Guides will escort a 2.5 hour tour paddling and exploring the lake. Members will return to the cabin for lunch and beverages at the fire pit. Afterwards, do a guided bike ride on an old road bed that follows the shore of Eklutna Lake, then continues along the river to moraines of Eklutna Glacier. This can be up to a 13 mile route with a 100 ft elevation gain. There are many beautiful stopping points along the trail to stop and enjoy the glacially carved valley. The trip is flexible and members can opt out of either guided trip depending on their comfort level or shorten their adventure. Alternative adventures of the area include walking and hiking trails relaxing at the Eklutna lake beach, scavenger hunts and outdoor games at the cabin, or enjoying the picnic area with rain shelters or fire pit with beverages.

No experience necessary, participants may show up with any attire, but dress for weather conditions.

Includes continental breakfast and box lunch and waterbottle

Maximum Participants: 30

Alpine Flowers in Hatcher’s Pass

Cost:  $70.00

8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Trip Leaders:  Marilyn Barker, Al Batten, Justin Fulkerson, Carolyn Parker – University of Alaska

Located in the Talkeetna Mountain Range, Hatcher’s Pass is a local favorite for summer hiking, paragliding, and winter skiing. The area has beautiful views above treeline with glaciers, turquoise lakes, and craggy peaks reaching 6,000 ft. Hatcher Pass has a rich history of gold prospecting and includes Independence Mine State Historical Park. The trip starts with a short self-guided tour of the historic mine nestled in low scrub-herbaceous tundra surrounded by alpine scree and cirque lakes. The remainder of the trip will be immersed in subalpine and alpine herbaceous meadows of mixed flowers, fields of Platanthera orchids and Kamchatka fritillary, and wetland species at lake edges. Depending on trail conditions and weather, hiking to rocky lichen alpine tundra will be an option. Paragliders launching off of steep hillsides, marmots, pikas, falcons, and golden eagles can be seen in the area.

Sturdy footwear recommended. Hiking difficulty will be low to moderate on uneven terrain over several miles.

Possibility of Collecting

 Includes continental breakfast and box lunch and waterbottle

Maximum Participants: 30

Alaska Botanic Garden - Tour

Cost:  $35.00

8:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Trip Leaders:  Alaska Botanic Garden Staff

The Alaska Botanical Garden consists of 110 acres of boreal forest with approximately 8 acres of cultivated gardens and interconnecting nature trails. The Garden hosts over 1,100 varieties of annual and perennial plants hardy in Southcentral Alaska. There are about 150 species of Alaska native plants in the Garden. Each of the gardens has a particular emphasis or theme, such as the Herb Garden, Alpine Rock Garden, and Anchorage Heritage Garden. Guided tours are 1 hour in length and are led by one of the Garden’s Docents and or Staff. All tours meet in the retail nursery area near the Gift Shop.  A docent will guide you through the Lower Perennial Garden, Anchorage Heritage Garden, Rock Garden, Herb Garden, Lile’s Garden, Wildflower Trail, Trailside Gardens and Greenhouse. The tour follows the paved ½ mile loop through Boreal Forest.

Includes continental breakfast and waterbottle

Maximum Participants: 45

Sedges of the Peatland and Marsh

Cost:  $80.00

9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Trip Leaders:  Leo P. Bruederle and Tony Reznicek

 Baxter Bog is a ten acre natural parkland that holds one of the few natural lakes in Anchorage full of flowering water lilies and nesting migratory water fowl. The lake is surrounded by open black spruce forest and poorly drained soils with low shrubs, mossy hummocks, and tussocks that are reminiscent of northern latitude tundra.  In the bog, we will see a diversity of Carex, including especially Carex rotundata, local in North America, C. limosa and C. chordorrhiza with their characteristic stolons, as well as some Eleocharis, Eriophorum, Trichophorum, and perhaps Rhynchospora alba.

Part of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, Potter Marsh is a 560 acre fresh water marsh with excellent habitat for over 130 migratory bird species, spawning salmon, and a variety of mammals.  Numerous habitats occupy the marsh with sloughs feeding pockets of sedges, grasses, and hummocks all surrounded by spectacular views of the mountains and ocean.  A wooden boardwalk provides 0.5 mile trail.  Here we can see in the salt marsh large stands of Carex lyngbyei, along with the southernmost occurrences of Carex subspathacea, as well as C. ramenskii, and hybrids, other salt marsh species, like C. mackenziei, Bolboschoenus maritimus, the rare (in North America) Eleocharis kamtschatica, and Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani.

*Note: Sturdy thigh high water proof boots are recommended. Terrain is flat but uneven off the trails. There are no public restrooms at Baxter Bog, but there are restrooms at Potter Marsh.

Possibility of Collecting at Baxter Bog

Includes continental breakfast and box lunch and waterbottle

Maximum Participants: 18