Temptation Peak
by Margaret Stock, Scree 9/91

On Saturday, August 10, six hardy MCAers set out for Temptation Peak under gray skies.  We started our hike shortly after 9:00 a.m. from the Snowhawk Trail off Fort Richardson's Arctic Valley Road.  The first few miles of the trail were well-marked, but pretty wet; the tall grass on either side of the trail had not yet dried from the early morning rain.

It took us about an hour to reach the first Snowhawk cabin, where we stopped briefly to dry off and enjoy a good view of the Arctic Valley ski slope.  This cabin is an A-frame with a large wood stove and spacious sleeping loft.  Someone had recently repaired the porcupine damage.  We left the cabin and headed up the west side of Snowhawk Valley.  For a few miles, the trail was easy to follow, but once we got above timberline we lost it several times.

Fortunately, the second Snowhawk cabin was in sight up the valley for most of our hike.  This cabin is a small hexagonal structure with four bunkbeds, no stove, and a working doorbell.  The Army brought it into the valley by helicopter about five years ago, and the logbook shows that it has hosted many weary hikers.  We gathered inside and ate lunch, thankful for some shelter from the occasional drizzle outside.

After lunch, five of us began to head up the ridge to Temptation (5350').  The summit was visible from the cabin, and the drizzle soon stopped.  The climb was steep but very rewarding, not only did we have spectacular views of Arctic and Snowhawk Valleys, but we also saw lots of Dall sheep.  The summit register showed that many other MCA members have been to this peak, although most come across the ridges from Tanaina Peak.

We came down from the summit in record time via some convenient scree slopes.  Heading back down Snowhawk, we had less trouble finding the trail, and the lower part was much drier than it had been earlier in the day.  We were back at our cars around 7:30 pm.

Trip participants included Bob Ashton, Don Hansen, Eric Larson, Vivian Mendenhall, Susan Peck and Margaret Stock.  If you are interested in reserving either Snowhawk cabin, contact the folks at Building 636 on Fort Richardson (note: you need some sort of DOD connection to reserve either hut). We're hoping more folks will use this little-known trail so it won't fade into the brush.