GIRDWOOD ?– Provided heights don't spook you – if they do, don't look down! – and you are unafraid of a little labor, one of the joys of the Winner Creek Trail in Girdwood is ferrying yourself across the gorge on the hand tram.
About 2.5 miles into the easily-negotiated, largely-flat, forest-canopied trail that begins behind the Hotel Alyeska, hikers reach the hand tram above roaring water that carries them to the continuation of the trail on the other side.
Be sure to read the posted instructions (note the 400-pound weight limit in the tram, for instance), put your back into pulling on the rope, and haul yourself across the chasm.
Or, if you're lucky, perhaps a strapping teenage hiker will offer to do the work for you, as a young man did for a certain aging scribbler. (Who says youth is wasted on the young?)
In any event, savor the beauty of the gorge and the thrill of finding yourself suspended above the thundering waters of Glacier Creek -- pretty solid photo op too.
Riding the hand tram is just one of many treats along an undulating, family-friendly trail that is well-groomed, well-marked, and furnishes a relaxing path for a walk.
An early afternoon hike on a bluebird day last week shouted the virtues of this hike through a canopied forest, which provided welcome, abundant shade from mid-70s temperatures.
Scores of hikers savored the trail that afternoon – we counted more than 80 people during a roughly 30-minute return jog from the hand tram to the trail head.
The trail begins behind the big tram station at the back of the Hotel Alyeska, just to your left as you face Mount Alyeska's North Face. Signage makes the Winner Creek trail head obvious.
The trail is mostly flat. The short uphill sections and occasional downhill sections are far from taxing or tricky. A fellow local hiker guiding a friend from Outside noted Winner Creek Trail is perfect territory for enjoying a conversation on the hike – no huffing and puffing.
Early on, ample and stable boardwalks make for solid footing as you enjoy the forest, ample plants, occasional small alpine meadows and berry patches. Should you require a break, or just want to take a load off, a handful of benches, fashioned out of logs, dot the first mile or so.
Also, there are few raised tree roots and imbedded rocks on the trail, so you are unlikely to take a header on the hike as you check out the surrounding forest.
After about 1.5 miles, you reach a T in the trail. Head left to get to the gorge and the hand tram. (The path to the right is the Upper Winner Creek Trail, which eventually leads to Berry Pass and Twentymile River – that's a longer, much more ambitious journey).
Along the way to the hand tram, there is a wide bridge to the right. Avoid it – it's a bit sketchy. Keep on the trail to the left of the bridge, and soon enough you'll reach the hand tram.
Once across on the hand tram, the trail continues about another .75 miles to Crow Creek Road. Once there, hikers can turn left, take the road back down to the Alyeska Highway and turn the trip into a 7.7-mile loop adventure back to the Hotel Alyeska.
But we suggest returning the way you came, if for no other reason than you get to ride the hand tram again and that's still a blast the second time around.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
IF YOU GO
• Length: 2.5 miles to hand tram, 5 miles round trip.
• Elevation gain: About 300 feet.
• Parking fee: None. Park in lower lot of Hotel Alyeska and take short path to trail, located behind hotel.
• Directions: Roughly 40 miles south of Anchorage. Left at Alyeska Highway and follow it to the T at base of mountain. Turn left and lower parking lot is a mile or so and located on left.