Devil's Pass Trail on the Kenai

There are a lot of trails i've driven by for years without ever investigating. Two of them are near Summit Lake on the Seward Highway. Summit Creek trail looks to lead up to some old mines in a side valley and three miles down the road I really had no idea what was up with the Devils Pass trail.

Someone told me last summer that bikes were allowed on both trails, and since i've been doing more of that this summer than hiking i decided i might try and do a loop ride. Both trails connect to the well known Resurrection Pass Trail. So one day that started off in bright sunlight in Anchorage i made the drive down to summit pass for a ride.

The first half of the trail is through forest that is sometimes more lush and dark than this.

The trail happened to be much steeper than the description i read on someones hiking blog. I was under the impression that it rises very gradually except for a few stretches during the first two miles, and that the pass was 10 miles from the road. In reality i found myself using my lowest gear many times during the first four miles. After that it did get more steady and gradual but i had used up too much of my energy going up steep switchbacks that i kept thinking must be the last ones. The pass is actually only 8 miles and so the trail ascends that same altitude in a distance that is two miles shorter. Those other two miles are if you want to cross the pass and descend the other side to connect to the Resurrection trail. The description on the forest service site more closely matches what i experienced but since their website is so slow you can look at a map and more truthful description at Alaska.org.

Along the way you will cross several streams and waterfalls. They are not a problem and the larger ones have bridges.

I don't really enjoy riding or hiking through the forest unless the trail is especially interesting. I prefer to spend all my time above tree line. The trail does get above the forest after 5 miles but at the time i went it was still in alders much of the time after that. Still the view does get bet better. My problem that day was that the farther i went along the trail the more it got overgrown with alders. Eventually i was endlessly smacking my hands against branches and in some places the alders were growing so far out onto the trail that it nearly forced me off my bike to navigate across narrow large bluffs.

The flowers are out now so that added a nice touch.

As i got higher the trees were replaced with alder bushes that choked the trail more and more as i made progress. I hate alders, and i forgot my gloves. It seems like i always forget something when my bike is involved.

I was about two and a half miles from the beginning of pass area when i decided to turn around. I could see all the way up the valley and the ride didn't look any different than what i had already seen. I may have come just a couple of weeks early because farther back i had passed some trail crew machinery. Before that the alders and bushes had been cut back but the the hydraulics had busted on their little bobcat. It was still great for hiking but i had not forgotten my gloves and was really tired of slicing up my hands. I was growing tired of the icy cold wind that was blowing that day as well.

Eventually you start to come out of the trees and the views improve.

I just thought the clouds complemented the melting snow patterns.

An interesting looking side valley. I think this offers a short cut for hikers to make it into Summit Creek Valley.

From what i saw, and i saw most of it, i wasn't that impressed with the Devils Pass Trail, considering the time and money it takes to drive down there. Powerline Pass in Anchorage is much more scenic though more crowded. I have to admit though, most of the miles coming back down were fast and fun, sometimes even scary.

I went another mile or so past this point, or to the side of that next mountain. The pass is on the right side of that most distant mountain. The view was pretty much like this until you got there.