Party: Eric Troyer
Trip Location: Mile 243.5 Parks Highway, just north of the Nenana River Canyon.
Access: The trip starts and ends at the Bison Gulch parking pullout. To access the trail, cross the highway (carefully!) and follow the obvious trail up the steep, gravel bank.
Trip Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Trail or route conditions, wildlife sightings and any highlights from the trip: The trail hasn’t changed much for many years. It is still steep, sometimes eroded and disappears or braids in places, but it is fairly obvious for most of the way. Still lots of places to stop, take in the views, and have lunch or a snack.
I was near the top when I heard thunder in the gathering clouds directly overhead. I immediately headed down as fast as I safely could. I saw only one jag of lightning (and it was fairly close), but heard occasional rumbles of thunder until I got back to my car an hour later.
While I didn’t make it to the top this time, I did so on a previous trip. The last pitch is fairly technical and should only be attempted by people confident of their scrambling skills.
Information on the trail is sparse on the Internet. Otherwise, the best information is in the book Outside in the Interior.