I was invited by friends to join them for a weekend at the Serenity Falls Hut at the back of Eklutna Lake. The invitation for this early december trip came months in advance when there was no snow on the ground. In fact, there was so little snow in November that it wasn't until a day before the trip that I decide the best mode of travel would be on a fat tire bike. It is about twelve miles to the hut so riding bikes saves a lot of time compared to walking or skiing. I don't own one of these fat bikes so I rented from a local bike shop in Palmer. I took friday off from work and we hit the trail at about noon. The temperatures were in the upper 20s and I had no trouble staying warm. After mile 6 or so we had to break through a few inches of snow so it took about three and a half hours to reach the hut.
This hut is amazing and much different than other mountaineering huts I like to visit in the spring. For one thing it is huge, with bunks to sleep 13. There is a wood stove and wall made mostly of windows we grand views toward the Eklutna Glacier. All this comes at a price though. This hut is notoriously difficult to heat. Luckily, someone had left a good supply of dry spruce and with the mild temperatures were were able to get the hut warmed up to the upper 50s in just a few hours.
More friends joined the group on Saturday and I headed out by myself to join Molly at party in Anchorage. With a little lighter load and better packed trail I was able to make it back to the parking lot in 2 hours and 20 minutes.
This is nice hut and I would like to visit it again in the fall when there are nice colors on the trees.
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| Inside the hut |
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| View of the hut from the river |
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| My rented fat bike equipped with panniers. |
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| Taking a break on the trail |
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| No ice on Eklutna Lake yet |
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