This trail does get easier the farther up it you go. I give it a fairly high technical rating due mainly to some rough/rocky sections, sections with lots of roots, some sections with both, that and 1800 ft of climbing in 6 miles is not really a beginner type ride.
Immediately upon starting up the trail take a right and follow this route for the first mile, the two join back up at that point. Shortly after that you come to another Y dividing the summer & winter routes, stay left. The trail climbs steadily through densely forested canyons hugging hillsides and crossing a couple small streams. At 2 miles and about 1000 ft you will have just about reached treeline and the forest gives way to thick alder, tall grass and raspberry bushes. The first 3 miles are definitely the roughest and the trail flattens out and gets considerably smoother at 3.5 miles, here there is a Y and the upper end of the 'winter route', stay left. The thick alder have given way to classic tundra and a few scattered stands of spruce trees here & there. Although still a healthy climb the smoother trail conditions make the next 2.5 miles to the summit go much easier, make sure to look over your shoulder now & then at the views of the Kenai Range to the W, Resurrection Bay and Seward to the S and the many glaciers of the Harding Icefield to the E. The sound of a hundred waterfalls in the distance has been your soundtrack for the last few miles. At 6 miles you reach the summit of the trail and can see Lost Lake sitting in a mountain bowl another mile down the trail and a couple hundred ft lower.
The trip back down the mountain can of course be a blast, although the roughness on the lower half can really work out any suspension.
*** This is bear country! Please ride with a group and make noise or use a 'bear bell', most bears will avoid human confrontation as long as they hear you coming.***
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