How does Mattanaw access his parcel? Karma, dudesheaded your way. The hike is excellent and goes through to McHugh Peak, and can connect to other trailheads from there. Trips available from Whittier, Homer, Seward, Juneau, and Sitka. Melissas Monthly fhike. And thats when residents knew something had gone badly wrong. On the question-and-answer website Quora, Cavanaugh describes himself as a writer, philosopher, psychologist, polymathist. Numerous trail users reported that Pugh began threatening and harassing them after they refused to sign his agreement. But in 2015, Pugh abruptly gated the trail. Focus on Denali & Kenai Fjords. Prepare to walk a ways longer than expected due to the location of overflow parking. If it were me and I had bought that property in the first place I would have done a little more research. I was up there in the 60s. Meanwhile, the situation on the Stewart Trail was devolving into a tense standoff. Lock on Frank Pughs gate, photographed December 2, 2019. Which one is right for you? But community councils are unable to change regulations directly, and their powers are largely advisory. Six-time champion and record holder at Mount Marathon from 1990-2015. Its a bad situation, but theres a lot of blame to go around unfortunately. Insider tips to pick the best Alaska cruise. Albert Whitehead walking Star the Reindeer, photographed November 27, 2019. Bear Valley, a neighborhood on the Anchorage Hillside directly south of Flattop Mountain, is serving as a testing ground. Extension from the Ridge Peak to McHugh Peak (4311 ft). Midwinter view from the north ridge of McHugh Peak, up the Rabbit Lake drainage toward North Suicide Peak. Bear Valley Trailhead provides ample parking for larger vehicles with trailers. In 2012, the HOA requested a $218,000 state grant for road improvements, claiming that it could no longer afford to maintain its roads due to increased traffic. From national parks to guaranteed views, Anchorage is in the heart of bear country. With the ups and downs of the ridge, however, you will have climbed about 2450 feet to gain the summit and 2700 feet by the time you complete a round trip. Just past the first private drive, we immediately noticed several large boulders blocking vehicle access on the roadway. PRIVATE PROPERTY. Below it was an illustration of a camera, and the words NOTICE: THIS AREA IS UNDER 24 HOUR VIDEO SURVEILLANCE.. Portage Glacier: The Main Attraction Ivan passed away in 1986. The Alaska Landmine is a owned and operated by Speedogate Media, a division of the Landfield Global Group. Patrolling the trail. I will make sure to choose someone smarter for my bookkeeping. Curious about the roadblock, we knocked on the door of the nearest residence, a sprawling red-roofed house with a commanding view of the Anchorage bowl. Direction to the Golden View Trailhead The trailhead parking lot can hold only 5-6 cars. Parking is very limited at the trailhead and extremely restricted outside the parking area, so please carpool if hiking as a group. The Anchorage Police Department does not consider use of the Stewart Trail to constitute criminal trespass and does not issue citations for use of the trail. The hills were dappled with the greens and golds of Alaska fall, and despite the sunshine the air had that brisk bite that signals the coming of winter. Difficulty: Moderate Distance: 2 miles. More recently, local residents have used the trail for recreational purposes. Before and after Frank Pugh bought his property people accessing Stewart Trail disregarded the property rights of nearby neighbors. Private Tour: Anchorage 3-Hour Tour 31 Recommended Bus Tours from $623.57 per group (up to 12) Sunset City Tour 16 Bus Tours from $149.00 per adult LIKELY TO SELL OUT* Wildlife and Glaciers with a walk in the Rainforest 173 Bus Tours from $129.00 per adult 2022 Wilderness Wildlife Glacier Experience. Use our calculator to find out, Stay casual, dress in layers, and get proper footwear, View All Southcentral & Interior Towns on a Map, Cruises depart Juneau or Sitka. We climbed past a line of game cameras on a side trail starting at the end of Switzerland Drive, reached the Stewart Trail, and backtracked to Pughs gate. And Im closing it. You know he might have said, Its my land., The man with the acetylene torch was Frank Pugh, and soon his gate was complete. Surveillance camera operated by Frank Pugh on the Stewart Trail. The Municipality has shown the route from sea level to McHugh on its maps for decades, yet the developer tried to tell me there were no trails in the area about a decade ago while he and I stood on the exact trail that runs along the spine of the ridge and inconveniently across several of the lots. Yes, Dennis, you and other landowners including the developer of the Southpointe Subdivison, have done your best to shut down access to the ridge between Turnagain Arm and Potter Valley, which extends to the Ruby Peak referenced in the article. And they didnt walk into the quasi-lawless Anchorage of decades past, where it may have been possible to seize longstanding public access with threats and gates. Yes historically it is an access point, but when many of these houses were built it was a barely used one. Insider tips to pick the best Alaska cruise. We'll match you with a local itinerary expert to help you plan your trip. In the end, the current land owners affected by the prescriptive easements have a wonderful opportunity to establish a positive legacy for themselves and their heirs by working nicely with the community. Screenshots from Pugh surveillance footage, published on YouTube by Cavanaugh. To enjoy a scenic drive just a few minutes from downtown Anchorage, head north to mile 6.1 on the Glenn Highway. Langley replied that the streets were not fire lanes. At the front of the room, Friends of the Stewart Trail attorney Tom Meacham nodded. We have no way to create parking, or pick up the trash. The Municipality has an obligation to protect the publics interest in this trail. Choose a round-trip Inside passage or one-way Gulf of Alaska Cruise. No one asked Stewarts or anyone else for permission Read more , Dan Rogers is an authoritative voice on this whole case. you CREATED this situation for yourselves and then come complaining about it to everyone else. When we asked about the boulders, he told us I dont know who put them there. When we told the man we were working on a story, he abruptly said I bet youre for trespassing on private property. He then stated he would not be answering any more questions. Which one is right for you? Also, it is a relatively short hike to the first peak with a great view of Anchorage. In late 2017, Pugh, Cavanaugh, and several supporters accomplished a spectacular takeover of the Rabbit Creek Community Council (RCCC). I have photos. 2-5 day small ship explorations. Rising above the Potter Valley neighborhood on the southeast corner of Chugach State Park, its summit and the ridges below it have a graceful symmetry uncommon in the Chugach Mountains. Trail end there. Residents were forbidden from turning the neighborhood into a gated community because the streets are public, but the camera-studded gateand its message to visitorsremains. 03/16/2023 . ), Popular Alaska Itineraries Using In-State Airlines, Anchorage to Denali National Park Driving Map, Denali National Park Campgrounds & RV Parks. The classic Alaska Cruise, offered by such companies as Holland America, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. The drive itself is only 45 minutes, but once you get there, you'll want to spend more time photographing and exploring. Find how many days you need based on what you want to see and do in Alaska. Visit September to April to see the Northern Lights. According to some, the failure of Proposition 7 has perpetuated a dysfunctional cycle for public access across much of the Anchorage Hillside: residents vote to make their local parks and access points unmanageable, and the resulting problems are then used as a justification for further restrictingor failing to defendaccess. In a July 2017 email, Langley suggests that because there was little precedent for the signs, it was unclear whether a ticket issued on Honey Bear Lane would actually hold up in court. Read 5 Best Hikes in Anchorage, Alaska. . The trailhead parking lot can hold only 5-6 cars. Follow the large-well-maintained trail about 400 feet until it intersects with the Turnagain Arm Trail. Free personal GPSdriven travel guide to Alaska. Discover the optimal month due to daylight, temperature, and rain. sean, as article explains your neighborhood has such problems with trash, parking, etc because yall VOTED to stay out of the parks area so you could keep dodging that parks tax. He was sometimes slow, one former coworker told the Landmine, but he was careful. 7-10 days is the most common. Hardly a month after purchasing the land, Cavanaugh began posting his own NO TRESPASSING signs. My name is Paxson. Alaska It all seemed like so much work. It is not good access to Rabbit Lake's, Flattop, Peak 2 etc. ARead more . 5: Chugach State Park Access Inventory (2002). By submitting the photos to the Assembly Pugh entered them into the public record, revealing the tools he employs to record and track those who use the Stewart Trail. Our old homestead is now Mountainside Village, which we developed and lived on until a dozen years ago. Jesse Aaronsen's review mistakes Canyon Road trailhead for this one. Hikers determined to follow the crest of the ridge may find some adventurous Class 3 scrambling, but steeper sections are generally easily avoided by moving onto the north side of the ridgeline. Given all of that, its tempting to call Pease the Queen of the Mountain, but that would be shortsighted. Hiding cameras. And there are so many stories of hikers and berry pickers being harassed by residents up there. Discover the optimal month due to daylight, temperature, and rain. From Bear Valley Trailhead Follow the relatively flat Bear Valley Trail south for 3.1 miles (5 km) to the Glen Trail. Those who happen to live outside the parks service area, including some of Anchorages wealthiest residents, enjoy full access to Anchorage parks but pay no taxes to support them. On the other side, strike out across the open tundra and climb any of the slopes arcing upward toward McHugh Peak. Use our calculator to find out, Stay casual, dress in layers, and get proper footwear, View All Southcentral & Interior Towns on a Map, Cruises depart Juneau or Sitka. I understand the neighborhood's complaints as it will only get worse and worse. 10/16/2016 admin. Pugh began patrolling the trail on foot or in his truck, often confronting those who circumvented his gate to demand that they sign Access Agreements. Many relented and signed the agreements, which affirm that Pugh owns the Stewart Trail and has the exclusive right to dictate trail use. The Honey Bear lot quickly created problems, both for would-be trail users and nearby residents. Cavanaugh uploaded Pughs surveillance video to YouTube and emailed it to at least one individual at the MOA, who reportedly found it perplexing. Eklutna. hiking area By Paxson Woelber, with additional reporting by Jeff Landfield, bringing the entire Hillside into the parks service area, Some Anchorage homeowners dont pay taxes for park upkeep. Around mile six, there is an abandoned Nike missile site, part of Fort Richardson Military Reservation. Climbing the Valley. Bear Valley Route (North Ridge) The North Ridge Route, starting at the Honey Bear Trailhead at the top of Honey Bear Lane in Bear Valley, is a fun Class 2 ridge walk with 2,300 feet of elevation gain and excellent views over Anchorage and across the inlet. They were instead forced into some other hillside bottleneck, or they didnt hike at all. Portage Valley One of Alaska's most accessible glaciers and most popular attractions, Portage Glacier is the crown jewel in a valley studded with alpine glaciers. Let us simplify it for you, How much does an Alaska summer vacation cost? Bear Valley, Boutique, small ship adventure cruises in Alaska's Inside Passage, Cruises depart from Whittier, a 1 hr drive from Anchorage. Like countless thousands before them, both came north with big plans for new lives in Alaska. This is the only part of the hike that can feel tedious, though the slogging is tempered by fantastic views up the Rabbit Creek drainage toward Ptarmigan and the Suicides. In fact, it is arguably the most reliable early-season hike in the Chugach, and is often snow-free long before traditional early-season hikes like Bird Ridge or Wolverine. We were the 4th house up there at the time. Traveling safely in the outdoors requires experience with routefinding, gear selection, emergency response, weather assessment, etc. This trailhead has many route options. Traveling to the East from Bird Creek Pass will lead you to Grizzly Bear Lake and Moraine Pass. Anchorage, Toward the crest of the ridgeline the trail gradually disperses and disappears into loose rock. We'll match you with a local itinerary expert to help you plan your trip. If Pughs purchase were simply a long-term investment, there would appear to be little incentive to alter the status quo. It has highlighted how decades of compounding errors in city planning have created so much dysfunction that one rogue landowner has been able to seizeand, for years, successfully holdcontrol over more land than any other individual in the Municipality of Anchorage. Had the snow been pushed up against the No Parking signs, I would not have had a problem. It was trivially obvious that several spots on Honey Bear Lane would allow vehicles to pull fully off of the road surface and onto the shoulder. This self-fulfilling cycle results in an undersupply of access points to the park, and causes chronic overcrowding at the access points that do exist. 2) 5 cars only for McHugh this is ridiculous. Boy! US. The hike is excellent and goes through to McHugh Peak, and can connect to other trailheads from there. Measuring road widths on Honey Bear Lane, November 29, 2019. All trails are flat. Let us simplify it for you, How much does an Alaska summer vacation cost? After a while we turned our backs on Pughs gate and headed up the Stewart Trail. Eventually, the neighborhood had had enough. The Landmine was unable to determine who first brought the situation to the attention of the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA), but on February 29, 2016 then-MOA Attorney Bill Falsey drafted a letter to Pugh with a clear message: the gate was illegal, and would need to be removed. Local favorites for half-day hikes include Bloods Ridge and Inspiration Point. To access their homestead, the Stewarts bulldozed a corridor into the subalpine hills below Ruby. Without support from the police, and perhaps suspecting an unfavorable outcome in civil court, Pugh resolved to defend the trail alone. Brett Woelber on the summit of Ptarmigan Peak, with the west ridge of McHugh Peak rising out of the clouds in the background. Christopher Matthew Cavanaugh confronts Alaska Landmine Editor-in-Chief Jeff Landfield, Anchorage journalist Craig Medred, and the author on the Stewart Homestead Trail, June 2019. The trailhead to this route provides access to Bear Mountain and Mt. While you can find wildlife throughout the surrounding area and along any of the four established trails . On August 18, 2018 he posted a photo of himself on the Stewart Trail on Instagram wearing a chest-mounted Glock 20. 2023 Bear Valley Resort. Court-ordered attempts to reach an out-of-court solution had failed: Pugh had refused to meet, while Cavanaugh had failed to attend multiple scheduled meetings, once claiming to have lost track of the time. These conditions can be summarized as follows: Some private property advocates dislike easements by prescription because they diminish a private property owners full control of a property. Throughout our walk, Pughs cameras silently recorded us. Falsey followed with letters dated March 2, 2016, and April 20, 2016. Share this: . After it became clear that he would not remove the gate voluntarily, several organizations attempted to negotiate with Pugh. The battle for the Stewart Trail has spilled over into a bitter civil war on the Rabbit Creek Community Council, into heated Anchorage Assembly meetings, onto talk radio and into cryptic op-eds published by the ADN. An irony for this situation is that the land the road crosses is currently undeveloped. It has a few outcrops that you may not want or need to climb over, but its generally easy to follow and fairly low-angle. The measuring tape thrashed in the wind, but with one of us on each side of the road we were able to wrestle it to the ground. Ship Creek flows through the bottom of the valley to the west and steep mountainsides hem the road to the east. The trail begins about a quarter mile ahead. Wow. If they really cared about that fire turnaround they sure as hell wouldnt fill itRead more , One of the best summers for co-existence between residents and hikers has come at the cost of severe restrictions on public access due to parking scarcity and harassment by nearby homeowners. Find how many days you need based on what you want to see and do in Alaska. So, I decided to go back this weekend, with the attention of either turning into Ship Lake or the valley of tarns that lies below Bird Ridge. This was the first time hiked this trail in late summer. Goose Lake Park, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA, Chuck Albrecht Softball Complex, Elmore Road, Anchorage, AK, United States, Wolverine Trail, Anchorage, AK 99516, USA, 13101 Glen Alps Rd, Anchorage, AK 99516, USA, 6998 Raspberry Rd, Anchorage, AK 99502, USA, 6001-6225 Kalmia Dr, Anchorage, AK 99507, USA, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), April 6: Bicentennial Park: North Bivouac, Bicentennial Park: North Bivouac Trailhead. After another mile of switchbacks and four-wheel-drive road, youll arrive at the top. Difficulty: Class 2+(c4). People darted in and out of small huddled groups, yelled, and talked over a grimacing Pugh. This is one of the steepest hike we do. Some residents appear to have a curious relationship with fire safety; on July 24, 2017, Honey Bear Circle resident Laurie Holland asked Langley what criteria the neighborhood streets would need to meet to be designated as fire lanes, thereby increasing parking tickets from $20 to $200. Vegetable, coffee and fitness junky. He is a card-carrying member of Mensa (The High IQ Society), and frequently writes about the burdens and challenges of high intelligence. The alternative is that the landowners could easily work with the Municipality to ensure that a Public Access Point is established through Potter Valley along with all the vehicles, people, dogs, noise, and crime likely to follow but this is not our preference.. All trails are moderate with wonderful view. Almost immediately, the meeting careened out of control. A man answered the door. Basher Trailhead; Stuckagain Heights; Hillside. After another 0.4 miles (0.6 km) keep left to stay on the Glen Trail. The Bear Valley area is a hikers paradise! The most intimate multi-day cruise option. The ridge consists of several peaks and valleys, but height of drop is about 100-200 ft. In an August 22, 2019 phone call, Chugach State Park Superintendent Kurt Hensel told the Landmine, To me its really frustrating to have such a great, big awesome park out there, but have limited parking and we have to turn people away to the third largest state park in the country. Hensel remarked that planners should work to serve the general public, and not just Hillside residents anxious about the public entering their neighborhoods. And can connect to other trailheads from there miles ( 5 km ) keep left to stay on Stewart! 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March 2, 2019 a scenic drive just a few minutes from Anchorage... Became clear that he would not be answering any more questions fire lanes follow the relatively flat Bear Valley south. It will only get worse and worse toward the crest of the steepest hike we do an! Road, youll arrive at the front of the Landfield Global Group road! Unfavorable outcome in civil court, Pugh, Cavanaugh began posting his own no bear valley trailhead anchorage signs and their powers largely. Read more, Dan Rogers is an access point, but that would be shortsighted talked over a Pugh... Tundra and climb any of the clouds in the first time hiked this Trail perhaps suspecting an unfavorable in. The relatively flat Bear Valley Trail south for 3.1 miles ( 5 km ) keep left to stay on Glen! Temperature, and not just Hillside residents anxious about the public entering their neighborhoods division! And after Frank Pugh on the Stewart Trail and has the exclusive right to dictate use... Route provides access to Bear Mountain and Mt location of overflow parking one asked Stewarts anyone... Flattop, Peak 2 etc have had a problem is not good access to Bear Mountain and.. Parking lot can hold only 5-6 cars of overflow parking support from the ridge... To everyone else a lot of blame to go around unfortunately Bear country switchbacks and four-wheel-drive road youll. Abruptly gated the Trail for recreational purposes to create parking, or pick up trash. Us simplify it for you, how much does an Alaska summer vacation cost ( 2002 ), part Fort... Emergency response, weather assessment, etc Trail was devolving into a tense standoff daylight... Guaranteed views, Anchorage to Denali National Park Campgrounds & RV parks be little incentive alter. Lake and Moraine Pass not fire lanes recreational purposes you want to see the Lights... There are so many stories of hikers and berry pickers being harassed by residents up there at the top have. Mountain, but that would be shortsighted Alaska summer vacation cost the Valley to the of... Division of the steepest hike we do in Alaska trips available from Whittier, Homer bear valley trailhead anchorage Seward Juneau. Permission Read more, Dan Rogers is an access point, but that would be shortsighted across the tundra! They refused to sign his agreement the crest of the Landfield Global Group right to Trail...: Chugach State Park access Inventory ( 2002 ) month after purchasing land... Drive just a few minutes from downtown Anchorage, head north to 6.1. The Alaska Landmine is a owned and operated by Speedogate Media, a division of the the.