Caribou lake, whats the skinny on this ride?

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dirtyrice
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Caribou lake, whats the skinny on this ride?

#1 Post by dirtyrice »

Some guys are talking about riding out to Caribou lake, south of Cantwell. I read through and it sounds like some of the club members have been there in the past. Whats the verdict on this ride? Any description of the area would be a good start since I havent been there before. Snow depth, trees, big hills for highmarking, rider skill required ect. ect.

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john
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Re: Caribou lake, whats the skinny on this ride?

#2 Post by john »

If you've never been, all I can say is Excellent... Lots of powder (as a rule) lots of hills, lots of open areas to ride and fly.

There are two waysin, main one is up the Jack River (watch for open leads) the other is through the hills, valley across from the Towers off of Parks.

If you get the chance to go, do it, you won't be sorry.

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cleary
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Re: Caribou lake, whats the skinny on this ride?

#3 Post by cleary »

Here's the loop that we've done. Up the Middle Fork of the Chulitna and down the East Fork. I drew that red line, it is not a GPS track so it is approximate. It's been several years ago so I don't know what it's like now. John, what's the land status in there? We haven't been to the Cantwell area since AHTNA started posting it and requiring permits.

Chuck

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Re: Caribou lake, whats the skinny on this ride?

#4 Post by john »

I don't know if we got a recognized access route through the East Fork area or not, Paul may know.

I do know that the Jack River Route is good to go and is what I've used the past two years.

Otherwise you may need a AHTNA Permit to traspasse over Native Lands to get to the East Fork.

dirtyrice
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Re: Caribou lake, whats the skinny on this ride?

#5 Post by dirtyrice »

Looks like a pretty cool ride, now I'm all excited for the weekend!!!!

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cleary
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Re: Caribou lake, whats the skinny on this ride?

#6 Post by cleary »

dirtyrice wrote:Looks like a pretty cool ride, now I'm all excited for the weekend!!!!
I wouldn't recommend riding down the East Fork if you haven't ridden from the highway up it. When we did the loop one of us, not me, had ridden it before and we still had trouble finding our way from the mouth of the canyon to the road. We darn near spent a night out there.

Chuck

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Re: Caribou lake, whats the skinny on this ride?

#7 Post by paulneva »

Land status: From the Parks Highway there is an easement that starts where the highway crosses the railroad tracks south of the airfield. I am betting no one plows a parking area there. From the airfield you cannot ride directly to Caribou Lakes without trespassing on Ahtna lands. From the Denali highway, about 50 yards back from where everyone parks, there is an easement over the ridge and into the Jack River valley. It is not marked but it shows on the Ahtna maps and is usually well used.

Paul
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Re: Caribou lake, whats the skinny on this ride?

#8 Post by john »

cleary wrote:I wouldn't recommend riding down the East Fork if you haven't ridden from the highway up it. When we did the loop one of us, not me, had ridden it before and we still had trouble finding our way from the mouth of the canyon to the road. We darn near spent a night out there.
Chuck
GPS Chuck :<)..

If you stay on the South side of the valley out and just keep going West you'll come out to the Intertie (Power Line) and there is a trail the follows under the Intertie all the way back to Cantwell (north) or south to Mile 196. But you should be able to see the FAA towers at the Airstrip Paul mentioned. Take extra gas...

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Re: Caribou lake, whats the skinny on this ride?

#9 Post by paulneva »

Much of the Intertie is on Ahtna land and it is posted.

Paul
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