Hutlinana Hot Springs

Back in early April Ellen and I headed out to Hutlinana Hot Springs which is about a 5 hour drive from Delta out past Fairbanks and up the Elliott Highway.  We almost made it but a few miles from the trailhead we got a flat tire :(  But of course being the strong AK women that we are we got the tire changed and we back on our way in no time.

The trail is about 6 or 7 miles in to get the the hot springs. We opted to walk and pull our gear in sleds because we didn't know what the trail conditions would be and sometimes it is easier to walk instead of ski when you are pulling a bunch of gear.  Turned out the snow was perfect for hiking, nice and firm and the weather was great too.

The area along the trail had burned last summer and the woodpeckers had moved in and were going to town on all the burned spruce trees.

We did come across a little bit of overflow but it was solid so with some careful footing it didn't cause too much trouble.

Once we made it back to the hot springs were ready to hit the water!

 We set up camp opposite the creek from the Hot springs. We stayed two nights and mostly had the place to ourselves.  Two other campers showed up late on the second night and we passed a couple day trippers on the trail but it was beautiful, quiet and very relaxing.

 The second day we went for a hike to gather firewood and go explore a bit, we saw tons of wolf tracks.

 The trail out behind the springs is a long gradual uphill the whole way so we took our sleds up and sledded the whole way back down. It made for some pretty exciting sledding but nobody got hurt and we sure made it back a lot quicker!

 Finally got some much needed quiet time to read the book that my friend Mike wrote, South From Alaska- a great read you should check it out!

This was our second trip out here but definitely not the last!!