Fun facts – news you can actually use – about the hike up the North Face Trail at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood:
-- Hike the full trail and there's no need to hike down because you can catch a free return ride on the aerial tram.
-- Adults should consider carrying their I.D. and cash or credit card because, upon finishing the climb, adult beverages are available at the Bore Tide Deli. Food and other refreshments also are available.
-- While traversing high on the trail and crossing beneath the aerial tram, it is possible in wet conditions -- provided your timing is precise -- to have moisture drip from the tram or its cables and give you a refreshing, pace-quickening splash on the back of the neck.
-- If you want to bring your dog on the hike and also want to take the tram down, you and Fido are good to go. Two large kennels are available for transporting dogs -- down only -- on the aerial.
Opened in 2009, the North Face Trail is a 2.2-mile hike that gains 2,000 feet in elevation, features solid footing through an alpine forest, a mix of grades both moderate and steep, and on a clear day delivers stunning views of the Girdwood Valley, Turnagain Arm and the seven "hanging glaciers.''
The climb can be knocked off in an hour or less if hiked at a steady pace without stops. Even a casual pace, with occasional stops, should easily get a hiker to the top in less than two hours.
The trail begins on a service road behind the tram and the hotel, with signage clearly pointing the way. The incline at hike's start is very tame and makes for a good warm-up. You'll need the get your legs loose on that warm-up because the first steep pitch of the climb, perhaps 10 minutes or less into a steadily-paced hike, is guaranteed to seize the attention of your legs and lungs.
After about 15 minutes at that pace, the trail narrows to a true single track, and steep though short pitches alternate with less taxing grades that afford the body a break.
The terrain, even in wet conditions, makes getting good purchase easy. Imbedded rocks and, higher up, shale, can serve as platforms that help lever a hiker up the mountain.
On the upper one-third of the climb are two points where the trail splits -- head left at both cutoffs to remain on the North Face Trail. The upper mountain includes a series of welcome switchbacks, where the steepness turns moderate. Those are the equivalent of the mountain hitting a hiker with some soft jabs that are easily defended after the more forceful punches delivered by steep sections early in the climb.
Hikers are advised to remain on the obvious main trail. Myriad signs read: "Do Not Cut Switchbacks.''
Once you reach the top, you can get in a little more hiking by bearing left, heading past the Roundhouse and tram station and finishing your uphill journey with the relatively short climb on the Mighty Mite trail.
Then again, there are no beverages and treats at the top of that pitch, and that furnishes a strong argument for stopping at the Bore Tide Deli, grabbing refreshments and enjoying the view -- and, of course, taking the easy way back down.
Hello, tram.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
IF YOU GO
Length: 2.2 miles one-way.
Elevation gain: 2,000 feet.
Parking fee: None. But park in the lower lot near the hotel and take short path from there to trailhead located behind the hotel and tram.
Directions: Roughly 40 miles south of Anchorage. Left at Alyeska Highway and follow it to the T at base of mountain. Turn left; the lower parking lot is a mile or so and located on left.