Lynx Lake Loop, Willow Ak. Daytrip

Lynx Lake loop Trail is a canoe route in the Nancy Lake Recreation Area about 70 miles north of Anchorage. It's an eight mile loop with about 9 lakes connected with short well maintained portages. There are a limited number of remote campsites but it is short enough to do as a day trip. I wanted to get some portaging in to improve my conditioning and to work out any bugs in my system.

My plan was to single carry my 55 lb Malicite with a daypack. It worked well and I didn't much notice the weight of the approx. 15 lb pack pack. There are a couple changes I need to make. One is if it's warm summer weather I need to wear shorts. Long pants with my rubber boots overheats my legs and they get weak. The other change is to my yoke. I use paddles for the carry and the holes I drilled years ago for the bungies are too wide apart for comfort. I recently changed out the bungies and they are preventing me from getting comfortable. The old bungies were worn out and loose allowing me to squeeze the paddle blades closer to my neck.

When I started out I didn't know I was going to attempt do the whole loop or just do some exploring and fishing. I was four portages in and almost half way and decided to to finish the loop. I also decided to do some fishing on this lake. On my first cast I saw what looked like a two foot northern pike hit my spinner then come off. This surprised me as these lakes used to be trout lakes with only one lake that had pike. I had never caught a pike before and was motivated to get one. I tried to get another one for a few minutes with no luck. Not having a lot of time to finish the loop I switched to a Rapala type jerk bait for trolling. I made it to the next portage in about 15 minutes with no action. Before getting out of the boat I took some casts and hooked up with a keeper. Now that I had a fish to bring back I decided to go out the way I come in. It was a pain in the butt carrying that fish out of there but I didn't have far to go. I plan to eat him today, so I hope it was worth it.

It was a good trip that checked a lot of boxes. I saw some wildlife, caught a nice fish and what I felt best about at the end of the day was the great exercise. Portaging does more for my cardio than anything else I've ever done. I also got some good photos.


This is my setup for carrying. With the bungie on my bow seat I don't need to tie any knots. I just slip the paddle grip through that loop. This also allows me to pull the paddle free from my seat when I get back in the boat after forgetting about it beforehand. I also leave the spare paddle where it is between portages and still am able to access it if needed. I can also put my PFD under the bungie on the bow seat, which is a bonus.


Some samples of the scenery.


Busted, I was a little close for comfort when this guy finally saw me. Practice those silent stroke guys.

I felt bad about disturbing him after seeing the open wound on his leg, from mosquitoes that were swarming him I assume.


A couple more shots that made this a great trip.


I also noticed these very small Lillies I had never seen before. The flower was smaller then the size of a quarter.

Alaska is under estimated by people that have not been there much.
This trip report is a great example. Only 70 miles from Los Anchorage.

What a great trip!! Great story and even better pictures. I really enjoyed it. I hope the moose recovers his wound.
Thanks for posting.

I have a portaging story from the Lynx Lake Loop also related to the portage harness. My canoe at the time was a Coleman "Scanoe" without a motor (94lbs, no portage yoke under the balance point). We were going to go to Eklutna for an overnight but the weather didn't look nice as we were approaching the turnoff and my wife agreed to the Lynx Lake Loop if I did all the portaging. I crossed two ratchet straps an X between the thwarts and made sure they were flat so they'd spread the load across several inches of shoulder. I was pleased with this idea and proud of myself.

(picture from the trip report)



Turns out the balance point was not at the center of the X so I had to stoop awkwardly while carrying the canoe. The ratchet straps folded as they rode on my shoulders so the weight was more concentrated than I'd anticipated. Despite being someone who had recently been doing training hikes with a 60+ lb pack, I was shaking and bruised by the end. Sold that canoe the first chance I got. It put all the stories of native Americans and European explorers casually handling 90+ lb canoes in a very different light.

Looks like an awesome day on the water & a beauty of a Pike for your first. Let us know what you think of them as an eating fish (at least that one's big enough to waste meat cutting around those y-bones).

ppine said:

Alaska is under estimated by people that have not been there much.
This trip report is a great example. Only 70 miles from Los Anchorage.

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I agree, for about 6 or 7 hundred bucks you can be at 62 degrees latitude in 12 hours from anywhere in the lower 48. You can be in the land of volcanoes and glaciers, grizzly bears and wolves and have some amazing fishing for trout and salmon. You won't need permits or reservations and won't run into crowds. You can access boreal forest and arctic tundra. A long days drive from Anchorage and you can be on the arctic coast and there is a good chance to see a musk ox.

Penns Woods said:

What a great trip!! Great story and even better pictures. I really enjoyed it. I hope the moose recovers his wound.
Thanks for posting.

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Thanks Penny Forest. I'm pretty sure that moose will be OK. It's common for them to have those open wounds, in that same spot too.

yixak said:

I have a portaging story from the Lynx Lake Loop also related to the portage harness. My canoe at the time was a Coleman "Scanoe" without a motor (94lbs, no portage yoke under the balance point). We were going to go to Eklutna for an overnight but the weather didn't look nice as we were approaching the turnoff and my wife agreed to the Lynx Lake Loop if I did all the portaging. I crossed two ratchet straps an X between the thwarts and made sure they were flat so they'd spread the load across several inches of shoulder. I was pleased with this idea and proud of myself.

(picture from the trip report)

Turns out the balance point was not at the center of the X so I had to stoop awkwardly while carrying the canoe. The ratchet straps folded as they rode on my shoulders so the weight was more concentrated than I'd anticipated. Despite being someone who had recently been doing training hikes with a 60+ lb pack, I was shaking and bruised by the end. Sold that canoe the first chance I got. It put all the stories of native Americans and European explorers casually handling 90+ lb canoes in a very different light.

Click to expand...

I'm glad you upgraded your boat. I had a Coleman at one time. Best thing that happened was it got stolen and I got to get a "real" canoe. A real canoe has to be portable in my book, and the Colemans are not. It's not the 90 lbs. that's the problem, it's the lack of a yoke system. What did you end up getting?

Gamma1214 said:

Looks like an awesome day on the water & a beauty of a Pike for your first. Let us know what you think of them as an eating fish (at least that one's big enough to waste meat cutting around those y-bones).

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Yes it was an awesome day. I'm itching to get back, not for the fishing or the wildlife, but for the type II fun. The workout really made me feel good and a few more times out and I might be ready for an ambitious trip.

I thought the pike was very good. I used the five fillet method and got about 2.5 lbs of fillets that I breaded with panko and deep fried. I also made a small amount of broth from the carcass. It was OK, but not as good as when I used to make it from perch, bluegill or crappie.

A couple other thoughts from the trip: I really missed my pack basket, it's so much more user friendly than a knapsack. Next time I go I think I'll take a heavier pack and double carry to simulate how I will be doing an overnighter. I will also be prepared to bring home some fish so I don't have to hand carry them.

I worked in SE on the Mainland but traveled around the State. My uncle lived on the Kenai outside Soldotna. I liked the Interior, but have never run any Alaskan rivers.

lowangle al said:

A real canoe has to be portable in my book, and the Colemans are not. It's not the 90 lbs. that's the problem, it's the lack of a yoke system. What did you end up getting?

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We may have over-compensated on that portability by buying a PakCanoe 165. It's definitely nice not to have a sail on the top of the car on windy road-trip days. It fit on the train to Spencer glacier too. Portages are a breeze, though there's a funny bounce with each step as the frame poles flex. I can jam the paddles between the frame and the skin and they stay there when carrying which convenient. The setup/teardown time is annoying but is getting better as we climb the learning curve. We had thought that the price premium would be offset by being able to fit it on smaller bush planes for a Wood-Tickchiks trip but we've found ourselves to be pretty timid canoeists so we'll see if that happens.


What do you find yourself paddling most frequently on systems of small lakes like the Lynx Lake Loop?

My wife and I keep talking about tripping in the Kenai Wildlife Refuge as a more realistic next step for us. I'm sure the PakCanoe will do fine but the Lynx Lake Loop seems representative of where we're most likely to spend our canoe time and it's always fun dream about what the next canoe should be.

yixak said:

We may have over-compensated on that portability by buying a PakCanoe 165. It's definitely nice not to have a sail on the top of the car on windy road-trip days. It fit on the train to Spencer glacier too. Portages are a breeze, though there's a funny bounce with each step as the frame poles flex. I can jam the paddles between the frame and the skin and they stay there when carrying which convenient. The setup/teardown time is annoying but is getting better as we climb the learning curve. We had thought that the price premium would be offset by being able to fit it on smaller bush planes for a Wood-Tickchiks trip but we've found ourselves to be pretty timid canoeists so we'll see if that happens.


What do you find yourself paddling most frequently on systems of small lakes like the Lynx Lake Loop?

My wife and I keep talking about tripping in the Kenai Wildlife Refuge as a more realistic next step for us. I'm sure the PakCanoe will do fine but the Lynx Lake Loop seems representative of where we're most likely to spend our canoe time and it's always fun dream about what the next canoe should be.

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I didn't expect a pack boat, but those Pakcanoes are capable tripping boats. You should have a lot of fun with it. It sounds perfect for a Spencer Glacier trip. Did you float the Placer River to the highway?

I've been using a kevlar Mad River Malecite on the trails in the Wildlife Refuge. It's a great boat for that, but I get nervous in it on big lakes when the waves are up. There are models that are lighter and better in big waves then the Malecite, like my Bell or Northstar Seliga for example.

You should head down to the Kenaii canoe trails to expand your horizons. It's very similar to the Lynx Lake area, but the ports are generally longer and less traveled. The campsites are undeveloped without privys, bear boxes or fire grates. It feels more remote down there too, that may be due to the 40 mile dirt road to get there, plus there is no cell phone service. It's also more extensive, with more lakes and route options and there are two rivers you can float. I can't say if you'll see more wildlife down there as it seemed abundant when I was at the Lynx Lake system. So far there are no northern pike in the refuge so the trout fishing is probably better.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info or just want to talk canoeing.

lowangle al said:

Did you float the Placer River to the highway?

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We just toodled around in the lake. Not close enough to the glacier to worry about calving. Introduced the nieces to canoeing which they enjoyed (picture attached). Floating out the Placer is a future goal though. Some in-laws recently rafted it and said it was gentle.

lowangle al said:

Feel free to PM me if you want more info or just want to talk canoeing.

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Sounds good!

I've been wanting to do the Placer River from Spencer Glacier and was disappointed to find they won't take a hard sided boat on the train. I have recently seen a canoe at the landing on the Placer at the highway so I figure it must be navigable upstream, especially if you can catch the rising tide. I need to get myself a new pole and check it out.

It looks like you camped at the glacier. If so, was there a campground or did you just find a spot?

There is a campground (reserveable on reservations.gov) with a water pump and toilet. There's a 1 - 1.5mi ADA accessible trail to the campground from the whistle stop and the glacial lake is just after that. Trail continues on the north side of the lake and up to a cabin. Lots a hikers stop by for a day trip off the train so the experience is not particularly private. The rafting companies have their own shortcut trail and motor support.

Catching the rising tide to boost an upstream Placer River trip is a nice idea. My wife and I'd talked about maybe trying to paddle upstream as far as we could for an an introductory river trip since it's flatter water at the outlet. Even if we didn't make it to the lake, the view from the train had made valley look like a beautiful place to do backcountry camping - and there's no road through it, just the train.