Misadventures on our Dawn to Dusk Summer Trails Challenge

As we biked up yet another hill, we were growing frustrated. Where was the dang sign?

Then I saw one of the orange reflectors that are placed on either side of the sign to help people find them.

“There it is!”

Relieved, Eric and I biked to the top of the hill.

“Wait a minute,” Eric said. “What year does that say?”

He walked over and looked.

“It’s last year’s sign,” Eric said.

“What?! Are you sure?”

He pointed out the lettering on the sign: Summer 2019. Yep, last year’s sign. Somehow, we had passed this year’s sign and missed it. We had to backtrack and look even more carefully. We couldn’t miss it again. We were on a deadline!

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The Summer and Winter Trails challenges are a great idea started by the Borough’s Parks and Rec department.  They are a great way to get people out and discover new trails in our area.  You take your picture by the trail sign on each trail and post on social media over the course of the season and then celebrate with prizes and fun at the end.  It’s become wildly popular. Last summer, Eric and I did all of the Trails Challenge trails in a day. We did it again this past winter.  So of course, we had to do it again.  It’s a tradition!

Selfie at one of the Trail signs

But this year the parks department put up 20 trail signs instead of 12 or 13. With lots of driving in between – Chena River State Recreation Area, Chena Lake Recreation Area, Twelvemile Summit, and more.  But most of the trails were bike-able, so we could move fast. Could we rise to the Challenge? Maybe a dawn-to-dusk challenge?  Sunrise would be at 3:17 AM and sunset at 12:33 AM so that would give us just over 21 hours to finish.

We spent time poring over the Trails Challenge guide. We got intel from friends who had done some of the trails already. I mapped out a route and order of trails to minimize backtracking.  Looking at driving times and trails distances, it seemed just about doable. But there would be no time for leisurely lunches or stopping. And everything had to go right for us to make it.  No mistakes.  We would have to be a well-oiled machine. We chose July 3, as I had the day off and the weather looked to be perfect - sunny skies with highs around 70 and minimal chance of afternoon thunderstorms.

Even before that day, things started going wrong.  Three days before the ride, Eric went over his handlebars landing hard on his right shoulder.  He came home from the ride cradling his arm. Uh, oh. But I checked him out and he seemed to be okay with no major damage. He was quite a bit better the next day.  With some ibuprofen on board, he felt he could ride.

We got everything ready the night before and set our alarms for 2:30 AM.  We were up and out the door by 3 AM and would have started right at sunrise except we had to go back as Eric forgot his iPhone and he is the selfie taker.  Oops. Luckily, we lost only 5 minutes.

We knew the first sign – Skarland Trail - should be between Wolverine and Ballaine roads, but we biked from Pearl Creek Elementary School all the way to Ballaine and didn’t see it.  We headed back and there it was less than a mile from where we started.  How did we miss that?  Blame it on not being quite awake yet?  We lost a bit of time, but it was still early.

1st selfie of the day at 4 AM

We had no problem with the three trails in Skyline Ridge park and then headed to Birch Hill.  We were there before 6 AM so the gate was still locked.  That added a half-mile to our route.  Still, we made quick work of those trails and headed out to the Chena River State Recreation Area.

Seen on After Hours Trail - our 2nd trail

Secret Trail - our 4th trail of the morning at 5:00 AM

The three challenge trails out this way are some of my favorites.  Angel Creek Hillside and Mastodon Creek trails are well built and maintained, perfect for biking, with lots of climbing and amazing views on a good day.  The Mike Kelly Trail is more challenging, but we could access the sign using the Compeau Trail, another great biking trail.

Biking back down the Angel Creek Hillside trail after nabbing our trail sign selfie

Fairbanks Trail Coordinator Bryant Wright told us the Mastodon Creek Trail sign had not been placed because of a bear kill near the trail at about 2 miles. However, he told us the plan was to put the sign in the first 3 miles so we figured we would ride that far if the trail was open.

A sign at the trailhead warned about the bear kill, but the trail was not closed. We made noise on the ride and didn’t see or hear any bears. But as we descended to the creek at the 3-mile mark, I heard hissing from my tire.  Dang.  A flat.  I caught up to Eric at the creek and then had to stop to change my tire.  I’m never fast at doing this, but with mosquitoes swarming and Eric patiently watching (he knows I need to get better at doing this), and with the time clock ticking, it seemed to take forever. More time lost.  Was our chance of beating the sun slipping away? FINALLY, I got it done and we had no more mishaps on our way out.

Changing a tire on the bridge on Mastodon Creek Trail

Mastodon Creek Trail

Next up was the Mike Kelly Trail.  We knew it was about 18 miles round trip to the sign. We had talked to Karen J. who had hiked the trail the week before. She thought it might be quicker for us to come in on the Compeau Trail. She said the sign was about a mile past the intersection.  More trail miles that way, but we wouldn’t have to drive the badly eroded woodcutting road to get to the Mike Kelly Trail trailhead. The Compeau is also much better for biking, so we could move faster on it.

Compeau Trail

We were positive the sign was to the west of where the Compeau meets the Mike Kelly Trail. I had even checked my Strava from times I had ridden the route in the past and thought I knew about where it was. When we got to the intersection we turned left.

The Mike Kelly Trail is tough to bike. It has a LOT of ups and down with rutted, rocky trails and even some hike-a-bike.  But the views were amazing from atop the ridge.  At the top of each hill, we thought we would see the sign, but didn’t.  We started grumbling a bit about Karen, coming up with reasons why she didn’t know what she was talking about.

Eric on the hilly Mike Kelly Trail 

Finally, 4 miles down the trail we saw the sign. Last year’s sign: Summer 2019. Ugh.

Eric had been told by Parks and Rec which tools to bring to take down the old sign. We didn’t think we would see it because the sign was too far down the Mike Kelly Trail, but Eric brought the tools, just in case.  He took the sign down and we turned back.

Eric removes last year's Mike Kelly Trail sign 

We rode up and down and up and down back the way we came, looking for but never seeing the sign.   As we approached the intersection with the Compeau, it finally dawned on us that maybe we were supposed to have turned right, not left.  Ahead was the steepest, rockiest climb we had seen on the trail to the high spot where we guessed the marker would be.  We ditched our bikes and trudged up the almost mile long hill.  And right at the top was the sign!  We were very happy and a little chagrined. (Sincere apologies, Karen. You were right! Oh, and the directions in the Trails Challenge guide are pretty clear, too. The mistake was all ours.)

Eric trudges up the steep hill sans bike to get to the aMike Kelly trail sign

We lost about two hours with that mishap.  Dawn-to-dusk looked out of reach. But we weren’t too upset. The day was gorgeous, the trails were fun. Just being out there was the main goal. We readjusted with a new goal: under 24 hours.

Still, we were not quite half done, so no time to waste.  We had done most of the longer, harder trails, so we bagged the next nine trail signs in just three hours, including driving out to Chena Lake Recreation Area and back.  (We had one mishap out there getting to the Island Trail sign.  The kayak we rented had water on the seat and Eric got his biking shorts wet.  He forgot that he had another pair of bike shorts in the car, so ended up riding in wet shorts. Unfortunately, he got saddle sores (ouch), which were uncomfortable, but thankfully didn’t slow him down.)

Chena Lake bike path

Kayaking to the Island Trail sign where Eric got a soggy butt

Eagle Trail at Tanana Lakes

Pedaling through puddles on the 100 Mile trail

We were extremely happy that the Out-and-back Trail sign atop Ester Dome wasn’t all the way down at the Equinox Marathon Turnaround. Our legs were extremely tired by this point and the less climbing, the better.  Plus, it was getting late.  The last two trails were way out the Steese Highway.  We gassed up and headed out of town at 9:30 PM.  

I was dreading the Quartz Creek Trail.  The first mile is steep and rocky. We did a lot of hike-a-bike. Once again, we were very pleasantly surprised that the trail marker was closer than we expected.  We took our picture at around midnight with the sun low in the sky.  It was beautiful there, but one more sign was calling our names.

Hike-a-bike on the Quartz Creek Trail

Biking back to the car at midnight after nabbing our selfie

Midnight coming off the Quartz Creek Trail

We drove further out to Twelvemile Summit.  A shortish 2-mile hike in and there was the last sign.  We finished at 1:35 AM, missing sunset by just an hour. The Mike Kelly Trail mishap had made the difference. Ah well. We made our 24-hour goal and while the sun had set, the colors on the horizon were outstanding. What a beautiful and amazing way to end a long day on the incredible trails in our community.  We are so lucky to have so much access to the wild lands right in our back yard. I can’t think of a better way to spend 24 hours in Fairbanks around solstice.  And to have a spouse who loves to do it as much as I do, is just amazing.  I am truly a lucky person.

Hiking to the last trail sign

1:30 AM on the Pinnell Mountain Trail

Fairbanks Summer Trails Challenge-in-a-Day Stats
Biking/hiking mileage – around 66 miles- Eric and I both each forgot to start our Garmin a couple of times, but there were pretty short segments.
Driving mileage – 385 miles
Elevation gain – around 13,000 feet
Time spent being active – 12 hours
Total time – 23 hours

As you can see, more driving than actual mileage biking.  Makes for a weird Strava!