Come join us on a stunning 4-mile (6.4 km) roundtrip hike with from 1 to 6 people! Hike an improved gravel trail alongside a forested lake below a mountain. Plenty of spots for picture taking. The second mile’s more natural tread is mixed with gravel, large rocks, and roots as you ascend through an old-growth rainforest displaying large specimens of Sitka spruce.. At 1100 feet of elevation, you arrive at the bottom of an avalanche chute.
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Meeting Point
Berth 3 Shelter or Arranged Pick-Up
Berth 3 Glass Shelter for Cruise-Ship Passengers or Arranged Pick-Up (Including Ward Cove Berths)
Transportation by private vehicle included. Meeting times are somewhat flexible upon request. Usually a morning or an afternoon tour is offered each day. 10 to 15 minutes are allotted for finding me, using restrooms, and signing digital waivers.
Drive to the Trail Parking Lot
A quick 15-minute drive to the trail head in town.
Parking Lot
Hike 0.5 miles (0.8 km) up an Alaska DNR service dirt road to a dam where a beautiful lake lies below mountains. Great spot for pictures.
Trail Head
Hike 0.5 miles (0.8 km) along the lake on the improved section of the trail where there are a few offshoots to docks on the lake for more pictures.
End of Improved Trail
Hike 1 mile (1.6 km) up a natural tread trail--roots, rocks, and gravel trail, through an old-growth Sitka Spruce forest, to the avalanche chute.
Avalanche Chute
At 1100 feet elevation, a 750-foot elevation gain, arrive at the Avalanche Chute. Take pictures, relax, talk, rest.
Trail
Hike 2 miles(3.2 km) back down the trail to vehicle.
Parking Lot
Drive back to downtown berths
15-Minute Buffer/Flex Time
A 15-minute buffer is allotted for any unforeseen circumstances to allow that we get back to the meeting place on time or early.
Berth 3 Glass Shelter for Cruise-Ship Passengers or Arranged Drop-Off (Including Ward Cove Berths)
I can drop you off where I picked you up or at another location at your request.
Ending Point
I will drop you off where I picked you up or at another location at your request.
This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
Private transportation included. Bottle of water. Trekking poles. Backpacks.
Food not included.
- MUST BE VACCINATED FOR COVID-19
- MUST WEAR FACE MASKS IN THE VEHICLE DURING TRANSPORTATION
- MASKS ARE OPTIONAL HIKING ON THE TRAIL
- WILL BE ASKED TO SIGN A DIGITAL LIABILITY WAIVER DAY OF TOUR
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What to Bring
- Jacket, sweater or sweatshirt.
- Hiking boots or trail shoes that have some traction and support.
- Rain Jacket and rain pants
- If possible, a backpack (we suggest lining the inside of your backpack with a garbage bag)
- We will have backpacks and rain ponchos available if needed.
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What's Included
- Dock-side pick-up and drop-off from Berth 3 or as arranged if arriving via plane or ferry, transportation to and from the trailhead.
- Bottled water.
- Masks for vehicle transportation (if needed)
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*The trailhead is a forty-minute drive from Berth 3 and is a rural hike. No facilities are available at the trailhead or along the trail. If needed, public restrooms are available at the Settler’s Cove campground nearby the trailhead before or after the tour. However, if there is a #2 bathroom emergency, we have toilet paper and military waste kits--Wag Bags--one can use and cart out. This is a leave-no-trace excursion, including no littering or food left behind. This is also a tobacco-free, drug-free, and alcohol-free excursion.*
My seasonal availability for tours is between the end of April and mid-October.
Hello, I’m Teague, a local Ketchikan, Alaska resident who is here to guide you on a hikes through the our world-renown rain forest. As a grad-school graduate with a newly minted M.F.A. in creative writing, I moved from Marquette, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula to Ketchikan, Alaska in the summer of 2009 in order to teach English and communication at the University of Alaska Southeast’s Ketchikan campus as a tenure-track assistant professor.
I first experienced Ketchikan in the late 90s when I visited my younger sister who had moved out here, and I immediately jumped on the opportunity to hike the trails. There’s nothing more exciting than discovering a new trail, a new place. I grew up with two younger sisters and parents who were both teachers, so this meant we had the summers off to travel. We caravanned all over the United States with other families and bicycled toured, canoe camped, and backpacked into the wilderness. I’ve hiked the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee multiple times and many of the trails around the Great Lakes in Michigan and Canada—Pictured Rocks, Porcupine Mountains, the Bruce Trail, the North Country Pathway, Lake Superior Coastal Trail, and Agawa Canyon to name a few. I’ve also guided Northern Michigan University students on hikes as an English instructor in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as well as University of Michigan students in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and upstate Maine as part of the New England Literature Program. And now I’ve started a summer-season hiking tour business here. Feel free to ask me about mindfulness practices or how to protect our old-growth forests! Let's connect and enjoy our time together walking through Alaska's splendor!
$642.85/ per group