Lazy Moose Tree Obsruction

 I've been really scratching my head trying to figure out what might have gone wrong yesterday on my hike down from Lazy Mountain on the Lazy Moose Trail. On my way down at distance post 3800 I had found a gigantic downed tree completely covering the trail. I tried going down around it and up around it, but found no possible method to get past it. Since I had seen a trail leading downhill a few hundred feet back, I had taken that, assuming the old trail was permanently blocked and it was the new trail. It even had a sign that said Lazy Moose. But as I said in yesterday's post, that trail intersected the Morgan Horse Trail which also leads back to the parking lot. So today, I went on a little exploratory excursion up the Lazy Moose Trail from the trailhead at the bottom. I figured I'd find where I had missed an alternate trail that bypassed the tree. What I did find was a rough worn path where other hikers had scrambled uphill around the fallen tree. I followed that and it brought me down to the trail where I had turned back. From that spot though, it was not obvious at all that anyone had attempted to climb up that steep hill to get around the tree. Of course anyone who had simply climbed Lazy Moose from both directions, would have known how to get around the obstruction.  But people like me, who had simply descended the route would have figured the trail to Morgan Horse Trail was actually the correct trail. But they'd be wrong just like I was.

So, now I know about the little access trail from Morgan Horse Trail to Lazy Moose.  I went down it on my way back to my car today. I told the Mat-Su Trails park ranger, who was at the trailhead when I got back, about my trail adventure yesterday. She said she would pass the information on to her boss. So maybe someone with a gigantic chainsaw will go cut a path through the gigantic fallen tree.

I enjoyed satisfying my curiosity with this nice little 1.6 mile hike.