Without support from the police, and perhaps suspecting an unfavorable outcome in civil court, Pugh resolved to defend the trail alone. On his LinkedIn profile, Pugh describes himself as a semi-retired drilling engineer with nearly three decades of experience in the petroleum industry. Make noise, carry bear spray, and follow other best practices for traveling in bear country. The classic Alaska Cruise, offered by such companies as Holland America, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. There is no way fire department equipment could have accessed, much less turned around in, the space. My interaction with him was really short, I walked up to him and said whats going on? and he said Im building a gate or something. beyond that, it is just ridiculous that ppl on the upper hillside are dodging the park taxes anyway. The classic Alaska Cruise, offered by such companies as Holland America, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. Some speakers were furious, while others expressed bewilderment at how the situation had dragged on for so long. Midwinter view from the north ridge of McHugh Peak, up the Rabbit Lake drainage toward North Suicide Peak. Toward the end of the meeting, a man rose to speak. Even waiting until 2100 hours on weeknights was sometimes insufficiently lateRead more , Most people I know avoid starting hikes at the Honey Bear parking lot these days. Parking is a huge problem. 16. Over the subsequent years, Pughs gate has withstood repeated demands from the Municipality to tear it down, the ire and defiance of his neighbors, and the early stages of a lawsuit. A less developed trail continues on for another 2 miles, then quickly gains elevation to the pass. At some point in 2016 the situation had reached the 8th Floor of City Hall, which houses the offices of the mayor and city executives. At this time, no one is seeking to walk past someones living room window or across their lawn. At first glance, this would appear to be an astonishing value; buildable lots nearby often sell for $150,000/acre or more. The lot appeared to have significant value to only one group: users of the Stewart Trail. Full-day adventures can be found at Wheeler Lake and Bull Run Lake. Unfortunately, the most difficult thing about this route is parking: due to questionable city planning the cul-de-sac trailhead only has spots for five cars, parked tightly between two signs. Still some snow patches on the mountain. This trailhead lacks the signage and trappings of most Chugach State Park trailheads (including the parking fee! The emails, the blog posts, the relentless confrontations. The hike is excellent and goes through to McHugh Peak, and can connect to other trailheads from there. It is steep; however, wherever you stop, you will have a gorgeous view of Anchorage and Chugach mountains, from Flattop far on the left to peak 2, 3, and Ptarmigan Peak. 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. 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. At roughly the 2.5 mile mark, the Rabbit Lake trail reaches a high point below Ptarmigan Peak and then begins to descend slightly into the upper valley. Map showing area made inaccessible by the Pugh gate. I havent listened to the Porcaro show (and wont), but saying that someone has committed a crime is, if untrue, slander per se. he spells it out pretty clearly: the city cant you with litter, parking, etc. 3 and 4: 55 Ways to the Wilderness (1972). The summit of McHugh Peak in mid-February, with North and South Suicide Peak in the background. Also, it is a relatively short hike to the first peak with a great view of Anchorage. Disputes about whether use of land is sufficiently continuous, open, and hostile to create a prescriptive easement can be contentious. We have several options. This meant that the use could not be considered hostile, and therefore conditions for an easement were not present. Oro passed away in 2002. However, in 2015 residents Frank and Oksana Pugh erected a large metal gate topped with barbed wire to block public use of the trail. Pugh uses the onX Hunting App (The #1 GPS Hunting App) to manage a large network of Stealthcam game cameras, some of which are clearly visible and some which are partially hidden behind trees and bushes. Because it is south-facing in a high-wind area next to the ocean, this route is often fully snow-free as soon as early May. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, The 9 Best Northern Lights Viewing Spots Near Anchorage, How to Travel to Alaska in January and February, The Best Large Family & Group Vacations in Alaska, How to Get from Anchorage to Your Cruise Port in Whittier or Seward (or the reverse! Yes historically it is an access point, but when many of these houses were built it was a barely used one. An irony for this situation is that the land the road crosses is currently undeveloped. At the front of the room, Friends of the Stewart Trail attorney Tom Meacham nodded. According to one attendee, Pease had become a prominent advocate for trails and park access in city planning efforts. Trail Map Bird Valley Trail Map PDF Getting There View on Map Coordinates Latitude: 60.9741 Longitude: -149.4335 Driving Directions Photos However, the concept has been part of English common law since 1275 and has remained a central part of western property rights regimes since then. Measuring road widths on Honey Bear Lane, November 29, 2019. Sign-up for any of the following email series to help plan your Alaska trip. The Alaska Landmine is a owned and operated by Speedogate Media, a division of the Landfield Global Group. Anchorage outdoor writer and journalist Craig Medred told the Landmine that once, while battling his way down the Stewart Trail during a storm, he had been picked up by the wind and flung through the air into a ditch. Overwhelmed by choices? This is a shame, because the location provides access to a beautiful section of ridgeline upRead more . To access the Rabbit Creek route, park at the Rabbit Creek Trailhead at the end of Canyon (Upper Hiland) Road. There was an audible gasp in the room. Brett Woelber on the summit of Ptarmigan Peak, with the west ridge of McHugh Peak rising out of the clouds in the background. Shed stopped using the Stewart Trail after Pugh erected his gate because she found the situation depressing. From here, you can head up the steep and winding, Arctic Valley Road. We hike around UAA park or Chester Creek Trail. Ive got this now and all of a sudden nobody can use or appreciate it because its mine all mine. Its really sad. The position requires confirmation by the Anchorage Assembly, and Pugh was determined to stop it. Turn left onto the Glen Trail and begin climbing up the side of a ridge. 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. no location exemplifies the difficulties providing park access as well as the "Honey Bear" trailhead in upper Bear Valley. That is all on the opposite side of Rabbit Creek Valley, with no easy way across (i.e. It is best as an out and back hike, however you could use it to do a few loops: 1) go to the "peak" and head over ridge to connect to McHugh-Rabbit Lake trail and end up at McHugh Rec Area along Turnagain Arm, or 2) go down to Rabbit Lake from the end of the ridge, return on the Canyon Road-Rabbit Lake trail and eventually end up at Canyon Road, but neither are obvious and both require some wayfinding. His points are well taken and he is just the kind of neighbor one wants to have living adjacent to a park access point. Two trails reach the topamore direct steep route, and alonger. Eklutna. Anchorage, After quarter miles of going through low brushes, you will be out of tree zone. At the end of the article, Cavanaugh claims to have evidence of likely corruption within Anchorage up to perhaps the state level. Neither the alleged corruption nor the nature of the evidence are specified. Frank I dont know how long youve been in the area, or where you live, but my folks homesteaded the 1/4 section north of Earl Hutchins old homestead (Doc Schoffs place, to us kids as he bought it from Earl). 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. join the parks and rec service area! No, no, no, they never had a problem with people going up there! Moose Ridge trail, Spencer Loop, etc. Opponents tend to view them as hostile coups, while others simply see the messy process of local democracy in action. Big ship or small ship? Toward the crest of the ridgeline the trail gradually disperses and disappears into loose rock. The hike is excellent and goes through to McHugh Peak, and can connect to other trailheads from there. Within a few minutes, you will already be high enough to get a birds eye view of downtown Anchorage and across the Inlet to the Mat-Su Valley. It makes me really angry that this has gone on so long, upstanding people in our community such as Nancy Pease has been attacked and that Pugh and Cavanaugh have been allowed to bully the public. 99516, exit of I-8 and is one of the closest OHV opportunities in the Greater San Diego Area. After 0.6 miles (1 km), keep right to stay on the Glen Trail. In 1967, the Stewart Trail was featured in 30 Hikes in Alaska as the preferred route to climb McHugh Peak. If you do decide to bypass the gate and are confronted on the Stewart Trail, do not feel pressured to sign any documents or agree to any demands. Though McHugh peak is mostly an alpine walkup, negotiating the bundle of rocks on its summit can be tricky and feels more like rock climbing than hiking. The should try and buy an nearby lot and add parking or expand the parking area into the park boundaries. Scratch Alaska, this dude just sounds like an outstanding citizen of the world. 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. But, view is worth. 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. Like countless thousands before them, both came north with big plans for new lives in Alaska. The Honey Bear parking lot was platted in the early 2000s as a condition for continued private development of upper Bear Valley. All trails are flat. But Pugh and Cavanaugh werent homesteaders or pioneers. And I said Wow, cause Ive been walking up here since the late 70s or early 80s. Still some snow patches on the mountain. Many nearby residents, some of whom had moved to the neighborhood specifically because of the Stewart Trail, were aghast. Climbing the Valley. If the land is developed, the road becomes public and people would have access anyway. Had the snow been pushed up against the No Parking signs, I would not have had a problem. Find how many days you need based on what you want to see and do in Alaska. The Alaskan spirit is to allow all to enjoy the outdoors and do things for the greater good of the community, not just ones own self (that is a very American quality- the self serving, individualistic culture). Moose Ridge trail, Spencer Loop, etc. Several Anchorage real estate experts told the Landmine that subdividing the mountainous tract to muni standards and providing code-compliant roads, fire access, septic, water, and other services would be extraordinarily expensive and likely uneconomical well into the foreseeable future. In the April 2017 election the measure was overwhelmingly approved by voters in the current park service area, but was rejected by residents of the upper Hillside. ADN and KTVA ran articles announcing that parking on both sides of the roads was now illegal. US. . We have an active and vibrant trailhead in our neighborhood. Throughout our walk, Pughs cameras silently recorded us. ", "This is BS! According to his resume Pugh spent two decades working in Louisiana, primarily for Schlumberger, until arriving in Alaska in 2006 to work for BP at Prudhoe Bay. On April 18, 2019, Pugh called in to the Mike Porcaro show and, in his distinctive drawl, accused us by name of trespass. bushwacking thru alders and devils club). And any sighted individual who either visited the Pugh property in person or viewed it via satellite imagery would have plainly seen a well-developed and heavily-used trail crossing it. The Hutchings Homestead tract languished on the market for months before the purchase by the Pughs, going through several rounds of sharp price reductions. Though the area was beloved by many it remained something of a hidden gem, a place where those in the know could slip away from city life into the peaceful wildness of the Chugach foothills. Its a bad situation, but theres a lot of blame to go around unfortunately. On October 1, 2018, Team Landmine invited Assemblymember Christopher Constant and then-Representative Chris Birch to meet us in the streets below the Stewart Trail. Distance: 0.9 miles, Elevation gain 1000 ft. It is unclear what answer Kelly received, but documents suggest that Traffic had their own internal answer: directions from above had come down after all. I have photos. Looking down the east ridge of McHugh Peak toward Rabbit Lake and the Suicide Peaks. Take your time, and follow the trail all the way to the ridge. The reason that the MOA claims to lack authority over the Stewart Trail area is that much of the trail lies outside of the MOAs parks service area. When the boundaries for the parks service area were drawn, a diagonal line across the Chugach foothills excluded portions of Bear Valley, Stuckagain Heights, Potter Valley, and other portions of the upper Hillsideincluding much of the Stewart Trail. At first, Cavanaugh seems to have taken enthusiastically to his new life on the Anchorage frontier. Ivan and Oro married in Alaska in 1942, at the height of WWII. Though tens of thousands of Anchorage residents live on the foothills below this belt of parkland, the Honey Bear trailhead can accommodate only five vehicles. Over time, public access to parks becomes heavily concentrated at a few locations, such as Glen Alps, and overcrowding at those sites is then cited as a cautionary tale by those seeking to stifle access elsewhere. At the end of Honey Bear Ln., take right to the trailhead. The piece also neglects to acknowledge that there are multiple access points to Chugach State Park other than Stewart Trail. Boutique, small ship adventure cruises in Alaska's Inside Passage, Cruises depart from Whittier, a 1 hr drive from Anchorage. Focus on Denali & Kenai Fjords. Cruises and land tours are great ways to see Alaska. His will have the burden of proving that his statement is true that you are trespassers. A less developed trail continues on for another 2 miles, then quickly gains elevation to the pass. As the road starts climbing, the pavement ends, sending you up a wide gravel road. The most intimate multi-day cruise option. Starting in the late 1950s McHugh was typically accessed from the Stewart Homestead Road (also called the Stewart Trail), which leads to the peaks northwest ridge. Focus on Denali & Kenai Fjords. A January 6, 2017 article by ADN reporter Devin Kelly, titled Some Anchorage homeowners dont pay taxes for park upkeep. McKinley). Some doubted that Pughs RCCC had the political capital to affect public policy at all. Bear Valley Trailhead is located off of the Pine Valley Rd. Find the best bear viewing spots by season. Moreover, Pughs gate now blocked access to the original Stewart Homestead land now owned by the Alaska Zoo and Alaska Botanical Garden, as well as large tracts owned by the MOA Heritage Land Bank and the State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Which one is right for you? 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