Backpacking the Lost Lakes and Primrose Trails

We stayed busy throughout the summer volunteering at the refuge, fishing for salmon, and making new friends. We didn’t spend as much time hiking in Alaska as I expected and had to be selective about the hikes we chose. Our friend Kennie missed a hike on Primrose trail with some of the others, and it was high on her to do list. So, on her last weekend in Alaska we took it on with her.

We spread the 15 miles (and 2,000+ feet elevation) over two days and camped overnight in the middle. We booked a shuttle to take us from the Primrose trailhead to the Lost Lakes Trailhead, so we could do both trails as a one way through-hike instead of picking one for an out-and-back.

We started at the Lost Lakes Trailhead. We noticed the parking lot was pretty packed, and I remembered that there is a trail race on this trail. I had checked that it wasn’t the same weekend we were planning to hike. It turned out there was a volunteer service day to clear the trail a few weeks before the race. It was a bit crowded, but we hiked on a nice freshly-cleared trail.

The Lost Lakes and Primrose Trails are in Chugach National Forest near Seward, on the eastern mountainous side of the Kenai peninsula. The forest there is coastal rainforest (rather than the boreal forests on the western lowlands side of the peninsula). We instantly noticed the differences, from the mosses hanging from the trees, to the giant, prehistoric-looking ferns.

The hike stayed interesting by changing biomes every couple miles. After a few miles through coastal rainforest, it changed to a narrow trail with a drop-off on one side. When we looked back, we could see Resurrection Bay and the city of Seward. We had read that the trail was a gradual incline for 2,000 feet, and it was actually true. The climb wasn’t as challenging as having to share the narrow trail with mountain bikes.

Next, the trail went through meadows full of wildflowers. We had to stop to check them out and take photos and frolic. There were so many different varieties, including monkshood which is super poisonous.

We broke though the tree line at about 1,500 feet which is much lower in Alaska than in the lower 48. After this there were occasional hemlock trees, but mostly just ground cover.

Near the middle of the trail is Lost Lake. It’s a gorgeous teal blue lake with an irregular shape, and it’s also surrounded by many other smaller lakes. The whole area is so beautiful, it doesn’t look real.

We found a campsite near a creek, a bit off the trail. There was one other campsite with campers in sight. We had packed our food in a bear can, but there was a bear box at the site too.

There was also an open-air toilet, up a steep little trail. I’ve never used a toilet with a better view.

We were very lucky that the rain held out the entire first day of hiking, and until after we had camp set up and had eaten dinner. After that though, it rained pretty much non-stop until we finished the trail!

When we woke up, we packed up our soggy camp gear, had breakfast, put on all our rain gear, and hit the trail again. The first part of the trail went around the side of Lost Lake and was gorgeous.

The Primrose Trail was steeper and required more challenging footwork from all the roots and rocks. It did have a lot more blueberries, and they were even riper than the ones on the other side of the trail. We kept stopping for quick trail snacks of handfuls of berries.

There were so many types of mushrooms that we had to stop to inspect.

Brian recognized one that we saw near the trail as a bolete. We kept looking near the base of trees nearby and found a bunch of boletes. The biggest ones were eaten by bugs, but the smaller ones looked fresh. We collected some in the hopes that it would be our first real mushroom forage!

After we got them home, we confirmed with Matt (the refuge entomologist and all-around expert) that they were from the genus Leccinum, the “scaber stalks”. Brian cooked them and they smelled like chocolate! They tasted great, and Brian was very proud of himself. Foraging food does make it taste better.

For most of the hike, our spirits were good and the rain was relatively light. Towards the end though, maybe the last 2-3 miles, our rain gear was failing, the rain came down harder, and we really just wanted to be done.

We took a short diversion to see a waterfall, and I was thinking “this had better be worth it” expecting a small waterfall. It was much taller than I expected, and definitely worth the extra hiking!

When we got off the trail, it stopped raining. We could’ve used that a bit earlier! We were soaked through. Once we got dry, we stopped for food, and then a celebratory beer on the way home. I’m so glad we did this hike. Even with the rain, it was one of the most beautiful hikes we’ve ever done!