Port Alsworth – the town has about 200 full time residents and in the summer the number of people swells to about 400 people! The two is basically two runways with some houses on the runways and near the runways. One of the runways is used by Lake Clark Air and the other by Lake and Peninsula Air, why they can’t share is a mystery. Points of interest by the NPS include things like the school, boat launch, church, Cranberry Cashe (not sure what that is when writing this), Post Office, food truck my campground and the two airlines. The map also includes the beginning of three trails Woodlot, Tanalian and Beaver Pond. Funny thing is the trail map has the beaver pond trail and a Falls and Lake Trail with these two meeting and going to Tanalian Mountain Trail but no Woodlot nor just Tanalian. Well I have found out the Cranberry Cashe is a part of the Lake Clark Farm. The farm is a lodge and water plane fueling area that sells drinks snacks and ice cream. There is also some swag sold but not any post cards. Well next time I will plan ahead and bring some to send from the Post Office.
Lake and Peninsula Air flew me into Port Alsworth and my flight was at 0800 and we made three stops along the way. I did find out that there is a thing called Alaska time and that is like almost being on time. The first stop along the way to Port Alsworth dropped off most of the passengers who were seeing family or fishing. We waited 15 minutes for three passengers who were on Alaska Time. Once this group of 15 guys arrived 12 of them went to a corporate jet to fly 5 hours home and the other three were on my flight. The airplane was small one seat on either side of an aisle and the front seat behind the co-pilot was a seat and 1/2 and as luck would have it that is the seat I got being the last on the plane. When trying to get into the seat I had to apologize to the guy next to me for “ass in face” syndrome but he understood. The luggage and boarding process was fast and efficient in Anchorage. When at Port Alsworth the bags were off loaded and I was able to get my bag, confirm my flight time back to Anchorage and depart the terminal within 15 minutes. Let’s hope the way home is just as easy.
Beaver Pond Trail – when you get passed the food truck you will come to a big curve in the road with an NPS sign board and a “Y” (both go to the left but one is higher) and choose the higher route not the lower route. I choose the lower route and have to say I walked a bit before I realized that I was not on the trail but just a road outside of town. I notice a sign saying Falls Trail and I chose to go back towards where the sign pointed. I then came to the Beaver Pond Trail head! The trail is 1.7 miles and is a heavily used /well worn trail with little in the way of elevation gain/loss over the course of the trail. There is a point along the path that you can see the pond from the trail and also a path towards the pond for a better viewing of the pond. The trail ends at the junction with Tanalian Mountain Trail to the left or the falls to the right. I chose to go right to the falls.
Falls and Lake Trail – when you get passed the food truck you will come to a big curve in the road with an NPS sign board and a “Y” (both go to the left but one is higher) and choose the higher route not the lower route. You will come to the Beaver Pond Trail head first and continue up the road and it will join another road and go right. You will then come to the trail head. The road is up and the start of the trail head is up but that is the hardest part of this trail. There are 3 benches to sit along this trail and one of the benches looks out over Beaver Pond, the last one. The trail will merge with Tanalian and stay to the right. Left goes towards the mountain and Beaver Pond Trail. The falls trail splits into two options the lower and the upper falls. I chose the lower falls and down I went until I came to the falls. It is a nice horseshoe shaped falls and it has two tiers and two horseshoes. The trail I took to the lower but it actually took me to the upper falls. I enjoyed the falls for a bit and then decided on going to the upper falls when on the trail I noticed a path down towards the water. I chose that and went down to the lower falls and water side. Because I chose the lower falls I went back to the top and went to the upper falls trail and ended at the same place I ended at the lower falls trail, no need for the upper falls trail.
Samaritan – The organization is helping vets and their families here at Port Alsworth/ Lake Clark. They have a Lodge with cabins for the vets to stay and all sorts of activities for them as well when here in town. They take the hiking, fishing, boating and also have some time of talking with others about their issues. I hear they are doing good things with this group. The group also runs the food truck in town that serves burgers, chips, cold drinks and milk shakes. The staff who work at the lodge or food truck live in housing here and eat at the General. It was a restaurant in town but could not stay afloat so the Samaritan team purchased it and is using it for their people’s dining.
Ilianna – little village on lake ilianna the largest lake in Alaska. If you want to fish here is your place as there are multiple lodges that specialize in fishing here
