The finale of the Quintessential Alaska Adventure Running Series was this overnight exploration into the seldom visited headwaters of the East Fork Matanuska River.  

With 15 pound rucksacks, JP, Jeff, and I set out through the dwarf birch and willow thickets that dominated the lowlands below 3,000 feet.  After hours of roller coaster travel across shrub covered terraces dissected by small canyons, we arrived in the arroyo like setting of Middle Creek.  In the rain shadow of the Chugach Mountains, the route is semi-arid.  Much of the terrain adjacent to Middle Creek and the East Fork is sparsely vegetated and gravel covered.  

Unlike the other forks of the Matanuska River, which feature major glaciers, only small remnant glaciers feed the East Fork and Middle Creek.  As such, the water runs clear and clean.  Little Lake, near the pass between the East Fork and Middle Creek, is blue from the silt of the small glaciers above, but that water is filtered to crystal clarity by the moraine below the lake.

Our camp was just above Little Lake in a magical setting of high tundra and wild peaks.  Light rain through the night tested the performance of our bivouac gear.  We awoke to a beautiful day, inspired and enthused for the final push to close out Quintessential 2004.

One of the Trail lakes.