Hatcher Pass, southcentral Alaska's DS playground

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Gnomad

Pack Dog
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I wanted to combine a couple of rides into one report, as they show different aspects of the riding available in hatcher Pass. The pass itself is a path through the Talkeetna mountains connecting the towns of Willow and Palmer. Twisty pavement marks the first 20 miles or so, with gravel roads going through the main cut to Willow, and mining roads branching off from the main road.

We made a ride on a Thursday evening to show a rider from the lower 48 (or "America" as we playfully call it up here) the pass. One of the riders, "AKPhotog" on advrider, is a gifted photographer. There is a video of the ride up, yes, I'm the dork with his turn signal going :wink: .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UlHijP0UY8

This picture is his work, not mine, all I did was ride the bike. As I said, he's good!

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And the artist himself at work. He rides a VStrom likes a house on fire.

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The guy trying to chew his glove off is Tim, the IronButt guy who rode his KLR up from Florida and all over the country. He has marmite cans and a Corbin seat, a few farkles, but mostly the KLR is pretty stock. I took this shot while the white haired gentlemen approached us, basically to tell us to go away...we were trespassing, AKPhotog though it was OK but it was not! We apologized and left in an orderly fashion, heckuva view from up there though. A great weekend place!

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We met again at the high point of the pass, about a 3900 foot (1300 meters?) elevation. This photo was taken at a quarter to 10 in the evening, we're still getting a lot of daylight even in August but in 6 weeks or so that will change. Best to enjoy it while we can.

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Some folks use the pass for purposes other than dual sport riding...I know, hard to believe, sad but true! This guy was paragliding with his dog, I can only imagine the view from up there in the canopy. If I ever need another dangerous and expensive hobby, paragliding sounds like a good one.

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I don't worry about avalanches this time of year, although they do occur in the winter. The pass gets a lot of snow, like 3 or 4 meters on the ground, and I sometimes get off my arse and go cross country skiing here.

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From here you can see the Matanuska and Knik river valleys, and on a clear day, Pioneer Peak, Twins Peaks and mt. POW-MIA. Just an artistic touch of cloudyness today.

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The cross country skiing I was talking about mostly happens down in that valley, the Gold Mint trail system. The glacier that feeds the Little Susitna river is in there, as well as the Gold Mint mine.

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I apaologize for the weather-you should see the place on a sunny day!
 
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