North Face Hiking Trail at Alyeska

Over the Labor Day weekend, we decided to go hiking on the new North Face trail at the Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood. The Anchorage Daily News wrote a wonderful article about the North Face trail, which you can read here. Immediately upon finishing the article, I just knew I had to try this trail.

The 2.2 mile, steep & muddy trail up the face of Mount Alyeska was pretty strenuous, but the view was most definitely worth the effort. Besides the fantastic view, when you reach the top of the trail you’ll find the Glacier Express restaurant, where you can get a bite to eat before deciding if you want to hike or take the tram back down to the base of the mountain. Our lunch at the Glacier Express was absolutely wonderful, consisting of several pieces of delicious battered halibut and a cup of salmon chowder.

The tram seemed like a fun way to get back down the mountain, so we climbed aboard – along with several other hikers and tourists – and started our descent. As we glided down the mountain, a few of the passengers pointed out a bear that was walking close to the hiking trail below. I sure hope the bear wasn’t around while we were hiking up.

Here are a few photos from our hike.

~Enjoy~

Cute bench near the trailhead.

Up we go...

Stream near the trail

View of Alyeska Hotel from the trail

A tram goes overhead

Glaciers

Tram heading down the mountain

Ski lift and the inlet below

We made it!!

Alyeska Hotel from the tram terminal at the top of the trail

Tram terminal

What a view!

Alyeska tram

An hour to get to the top, and only minutes to get to the bottom