Hiking Barbara Falls
Jun. 16th, 2024 08:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerAlaska Travelog #4
Eagle River - Sat, 15 Jun 2024, 11:45am
After getting an earlier-than-expected start this morning (I'm running on 5 hours sleep) we drove northeast from Anchorage to hike a pair of waterfalls in Chugach State Park. The first of these is South Fork Falls, aka Barbara Falls, near Eagle River.
To get to the trailhead we drove through a residential neighborhood to find a small gate surrounded by "PRIVATE PROPERTY" signs. If the crowded street parking was any guide, the trail was pretty popular. But then a knot of people came out of the trail, climbed into their various cars, and left the place almost empty. Woohoo— we'd have the trail nearly to ourselves!
The trail forks after a short distance to approach the falls from both above and below. We walked the "below" fork first, tracing along the creek to the bottom of the falls. Footing was just a touch dicey in a few spots, but my new hiking boots had no problem offering ample grip.
After seeing the lower view we doubled back to the main trail and continued on it to the upper viewpoint.
This upper viewpoint was definitely the main, probably even official part of the trail. The path to the lower viewpoint was just a foot path along the creek. It was nice, but not really maintained. Meanwhile the trail to the upper viewpoint was a graded fire road. There were even railings at the overlook to stop people from falling over. Of course, we went around them for better pictures.
Eagle River - Sat, 15 Jun 2024, 11:45am
After getting an earlier-than-expected start this morning (I'm running on 5 hours sleep) we drove northeast from Anchorage to hike a pair of waterfalls in Chugach State Park. The first of these is South Fork Falls, aka Barbara Falls, near Eagle River.
To get to the trailhead we drove through a residential neighborhood to find a small gate surrounded by "PRIVATE PROPERTY" signs. If the crowded street parking was any guide, the trail was pretty popular. But then a knot of people came out of the trail, climbed into their various cars, and left the place almost empty. Woohoo— we'd have the trail nearly to ourselves!
The trail forks after a short distance to approach the falls from both above and below. We walked the "below" fork first, tracing along the creek to the bottom of the falls. Footing was just a touch dicey in a few spots, but my new hiking boots had no problem offering ample grip.
After seeing the lower view we doubled back to the main trail and continued on it to the upper viewpoint.
This upper viewpoint was definitely the main, probably even official part of the trail. The path to the lower viewpoint was just a foot path along the creek. It was nice, but not really maintained. Meanwhile the trail to the upper viewpoint was a graded fire road. There were even railings at the overlook to stop people from falling over. Of course, we went around them for better pictures.
