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Williwaw to Long Lakes
by Shawn Lyons, ADN, 6/28/92 "Gems of the Chugach"
The first part of this hike will be familiar to almost everyone who hikes in the Chugach. It starts at the Williwaw Lakes trailhead at Prospect Heights on the Anchorage Hillside. The rest of this trail goes beyond the lakes. Instead of turning around and coming back at the end of the park-maintained trail, turn left (north) into the pass between the edge of the Wolverine Peak ridge and the menacing east face of Mount Williwaw. There is some choice off-trail hiking here. The climb to the top of the pass is easy and dotted with a number of rosary-bead glacial lakes that, depending on the sky reflected from above, look like large, sky-blue- or slate-colored stepping stones. Once you reach the top of this pass, descend the long, grass slopes to the edge of Long Lake, which is truly long, in the valley of the North Fork of Campbell Creek. Few people visit here, at least compared to Wolverine Peak and what has been left behind on the other side of the pass. This high valley has no trails, but there is no nee; the open hiking is fast and easy. At the end of the valley, there is a steep climb up the north side of Near Point to the park trail that drops from there back down to the Prospect Heights parking lot. The entire trip is about 16 miles It can be hiked or snowshoed in seven hours or so if you are persistent. But it is also long enough for an overnight trip, and there's plenty of water along the way.
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