Alpine Hiking on Kodiak

[Rangerpants]

Planning a hunt in 2023 on Kodiak Island and am running into a question that effects camp planning:

How long would you expect a strong, but not herculean, hiker to go from a camp around 500 feet in elevation to the tree line around 1800 feet or so on Kodiak island?

How about from sea level to 1800 feet?

I know the terrain is nastier than what most of us are used to, but not sure to what degree.

On a related note, I typically hike in the dark to get where I want to be in the morning. Is that as suicidal as it sounds on Kodiak?

I've tried some searches and can't find anything specific to my question, so sorry if this is a repeat. Thanks everybody!

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

The hiking will be completely terrain dependent. Some places on the island are too rugged to hike. Others are relatively smooth and not very steep. The grass can be deceptively deep where there are no existing trails. You look at it from a distance and it looks like a pasture. When you get into it, it can be waist to chest deep, and always wet. Do you know where on the island you will be base camping? Get a good topo map.

I never let darkness deter my movement through the wilds of Kodiak. I don't get called bright very often either, so there's that.

 

[Rangerpants]

Thanks for the info! not sure on location yet, and the answer to this question might affect that. The south side of the island for sure, but still haven't made a decision on landing on a lake or in the salt. If you've got ideas on general areas, feel free to PM, but I don't want to steal anybody's secret spot or anything,

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Thanks for the info! not sure on location yet, and the answer to this question might affect that. The south side of the island for sure, but still haven't made a decision on landing on a lake or in the salt. If you've got ideas on general areas, feel free to PM, but I don't want to steal anybody's secret spot or anything,

May want a Plan B. You can plan on landing on a lake only to have to it freeze over 1-2 days before your arrival.

 

[Rangerpants]

Ah, planning on late August/early September, so freeze up is pretty unlikely that time of year. If that's still a major risk that early, that definitely affects the plans!

 

[kwackkillncrew]

After mid october our pilot stops landing on the smaller lakes. If I was you I would pick out 2 spots you are interested in and talk to your pilot about it. It's not worth coming up with any plans after plan b because they day you fly and what has happened the week before is going to dictate where you go. I spent hours finding plans a b c d e and we ended up going somewhere completely different based on what our pilot was seeing and where he could drop us off and pick us up with the terrible weather. When looking for spots we had 2 areas picked out that had all possible environments withing a couple miles of where we wanted to land. This way wether they were up high, on the beaches, on small hills or in the wetter areas we would have decent access to the terrain.

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[Movi]

I wouldn’t think twice about walking in the dark on kodiak.

The terrain in most areas is mild to very mild. If you’re coming from a mountain state in the west kodiak isn’t chit.

Agree with having a plan b c d e. Kodiak is very popular these days and likely someone will be in your plan A spot.

Good luck and wear a rubber!

 

[Rangerpants]

Thanks everybody, this is really helping things come together in the early planning stages.

Movi, interesting to hear you think the terrain is easier on Kodiak than elsewhere. I've hunting Utah, Arizona, Montana, and some of the roughest stuff in California and was expecting Kodiak to be tougher!

 

[kwackkillncrew]

There is plenty of tough stuff to climb if you need to. It all depends on where you go. Some areas you might gain 100 feet to find deer other areas maybe 1200 or more.

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[Antares]

The terrain in most areas is mild to very mild. If you’re coming from a mountain state in the west kodiak isn’t chit.

This is laughable.

 

[PillarofKodiak]

If flying In Aug/Sept I would look into higher Alpine lakes to fly into and cut out the climb. Land high, Hunt high that time of year.

 

[wildwilderness]

If going in August there is no need to travel in darkness, since it's light for many many hours! I haven't seen a need to be anywhere at first light either, southern Kodiak in summer its possible to glass deer all day. really neat to see the reddish summer coats on deep green grass

 

[Rangerpants]

It looked to me like the high alpine lakes were likely too small to land a plane on, but perhaps I'm mistaken. If that's an option, it makes the choice much easier. Sounds like my next task is call the flight services and ask them about all the options.

 

[OXN939]

It looked to me like the high alpine lakes were likely too small to land a plane on

Most are towards the smaller end of the spectrum, but of those a lot are doable. Remember that the smaller the lake, the better conditions will be required to get into it on both the way in and the way out- I know one group that was delayed a week coming out this year and had a big event rescheduling their commercial flights and work.

Many parts of Kodiak are such rough terrain that it's virtually impenetrable. Your mobility will largely be influenced by how well you can read the land to determine what is actually easy versus what just looks easy. Follow game trails religiously. Highly recommend bringing bear spray and a sidearm... bears are very much present all over that island, including the alpine.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

Buddy had to DLP a bear out there this year......goat hunting. Follow the bear trails for the best walking. We had our tent set up right off a bear interstate. Only saw 1 bear this year, if they walked by our tent at night we would have never known due to the 60mph winds and the tent bouncing all over hell. Easy to forget about the bears when you are worried about the tent.

 

[LoganWolfe]

The tree line is not quite at 1800’ hell most of the mountains on the south end are between 1500-1800. Alpine typically starts at 1000’ depending on the area give or take a few hundred. I’d expect an hour for every 1000’. Some may laugh at it or some may say it’s fast. It all truly depends on your physical fitness, the area you are hiking and what the terrain looks like. I went up a mountain this September that took my 3 hours to go 1.5 miles before I threw in the towel and turned around from the alder hell. I can also get to the top of Barometer (the mountain outside of the airport) in an hour. It really varies but a solid average would be an hour for every 1000’. So from sea level to the top probably about two hours most likely longer.

Don’t over-concern yourself on hiking at night. It’s a bit worrisome and not the safest but just getting to the back country could be considered the same. Make a bit of noise and stay out of the thick stuff and you should be fine. Bears don’t like you anymore than you like them. I typically head in about an hour before first light too as I like to get a good start on the hills. More importantly keep a clean camp.

Good luck

 

[Larry Bartlett]

90 mins from sealevel to curse-level veg is expected, but as mentioned it depends on the whereabouts.

Figure 1/2-mile of the thickest tangles and slippery grass you've ever encountered anywhere...then double that suck factor. You'll get there just take it slow and keep your eyes peeled for shading brownies.;

 

[2KHEARTSHOT]

It took us about 4 hours to go from sea level to 1800’. If we could’ve just done a straight up hike it might’ve taken an hour. The problem was there are so many deep ravines carved into the mountain that we hand to hike below them where we could cross and then come back up. Impassible alders also constantly altered our course. Lots of zig zagging.

 

[AKDoc]

Lots of good feedback thus far from others. I've hunted Kodiak several times in the past (blacktail, goats and brown bear).

Regarding this thread, one early Sept goat hunt with my son stands out in my mind. We hiked from salt to alpine, and our draw-hunt/drop-off location required us to periodically bust brush during the zig-zag climb. Alders are part of Alaska, but the salmon-berry vines (with thorns) on Kodiak were thick and memorable at that location...as were the multiple hornet stings I got doing it!

That said, it was all worth it...Kodiak is special!

 

[Oregon]

It's the alder patches that make a 1500' climb 4000' due to zigzagging.
Everyday before we'd climb we'd just sit there and study the route. I even started taking pictures at the bottom to help me remember the route I needed to take to get around the alders. My last trip there made me realize going up was the easy part. My knees are in so much pain on the way down I'm not sure I could do it again. Steep and slippery!