Some time ago Jim and Sally Burkholder asked us to write up the early history of the Hillside Park trail system. Our initial reaction was, you must be kidding that was 25 years ago and our memories of that era have faded badly. However, by reminiscing with friends (whose memories proved better than ours), looking back into the Nordic Ski Club and Municipality of Anchorage archives, and most importantly by acquiring
Marion's weekly letters home from 1963 to 1975 and which were saved by her folks, we have been able to piece together the early history of the Hillside trails and credit some of the people who helped make it all happen.
1970
The first mention of a Hillside trail system may be in a letter Marion wrote home on June 11, 1970: "Another summer project I hope to spearhead is a cross-country trail for Pam's new school, now under construction. This should be at least 5k long and must be started from scratch . . . engineering etc. Once again it should be multiple use ? A walking, jogging, then skiing in the winter " Marion's thoughts and remarks were undoubtedly spurred on by discussions with Jim Burkholder, then teaching and coaching at Mears Jr. High, and Judy Moerlein and other parents in the Hillside area, whose children would be students at Service-Hanshew complex to be completed in 1971.
1971
The BIG year for the Hillside Trails. In 1971 two municipal governments existed in the greater Anchorage area-the City of Anchorage and the Greater Anchorage Area Borough (GAAB) The GAAB had limited governing authority over all borough lands that were not within the City of Anchorage. This included the Hillside area. Late in 1971 the GAAB was given park and recreation powers by the voters. Prior to that time limited park functions were handled by the Department of Environmental Quality or the Planning Department on June 1, 1971 Alex Sisson, Nordic Ski Club Land Committee Chairman, in a letter to Dorie Clark of the Department of Environmental Quality, GAAB, wrote that a group of school officials, Nordic Ski Club and U.S. Ski Association members and local Hillside residents had met on May 22 to look over the Borough's 320 acre "Abbott Road Site" and to make recommendations for its use. The group consisted of Rick Arndt, Dick Mize, Nat Goodhue, Don Richter, George and Gail Mark, Barry Donaldson, Chuck, Richard, Mary and Paul Evans, Doug Baily, Jim Tanaka, Judy, Tim and Doug Moerlein, and Alex Sisson.
The recommendation of this group, “that the Abbott Road Site Property be utilized as a non-mechanized recreational - natural science study area" were expressed in a second letter to Dorie Clark, also dated June 1, 1971, from Judy Moerlein, President of the .Alaska Division, U.S. Ski Association. On the weekend of May 26-27, 1971 Jim & Dee Mahafey, Dick & Arlene Mize, and Don & Marion Richter explored the Abbott Road Site in depth and flagged a 5 km trail system. During the course of that initial trail survey a huge glacial erratic was discovered on the site. For those who have never seen the glacial erratic, it is worth a visit. It is located a few hundred feet north of light pole #25 on the Hillside lighted loop. The erratic is approximately 55 feet long, 22 feet wide and as much as 15 feet high. lt may weigh as much as 1400 tons. When first found it was covered by a growth of moss, plants and a single spruce tree but unfortunately the wear and tear of 20+ years of school students, hikers, and rock climbers has taken its toll.
On September 4, 1971 the first trail clearing began, and by October 5, after many hundreds of volunteer hours by Nordic Ski Club members and Hillside residents, approximately 5 km of narrow but useable trail was completed in time for the 1971-72 ski season. About 25% of the new trail utilized many of the old tank trails and roads of the area. The rest of the 5 km trail was literally cut out of the forest by hand. The original trail included the infamous Ryan's Hill which provided spectators, with an opportunity, through the years, to observe a variety of Nordic downhill ski techniques!
We had the beginning of a trail system, but it was on land that had a questionable future. On November 8, 1971 Marion wrote home that, "Don testified [at the GAAB assembly meeting] in support of the Borough land . . . and the envisioned park we have planned for it. Further action was not forthcoming--it was tabled, so it will be brought up again next Monday. There was no reason to table it and we are afraid that some developers have their eye on it."
We have no information as to what happened "next Monday" but on December 6 Don was appointed to the new GAAB Park and Recreation Advisory Board thereby giving the Nordic Ski Club and the Hillside trails a friend in Borough matters concerning parks and recreation.
1972
In the early summer of 1972 Jim Burkholder and Don Richter laid out another 3 km of trail (the present Richter loop), but clearing probably did not get started until the fall. Clearing progressed slowly on the new trail as the Nordic Ski Club was also starting work on the trail system at Kincaid. In addition, in the fall, Jim and Don laid out another 2k m of trail, which when finished would provide the Hillside skiers with 10 km of trail. When this trail was laid out and cleared we did not realize that the extreme northern part was on BLM land not GAAB park land, an oversight that could have proven embarrassing if the Bureau of Land Management felt we were trespassing. Later when we learned what we had done, the loop was generally referred to as the BLM loop-maybe a subconscious way to show the BLM that we appreciated their cooperation? As all the trail is now on Municipality park land, the name "BLM loop" has been deemed inappropriate and has been replaced "Ridge loop". Tom Corbin, however, tells us that , "BLM" stood for "Big Long Momma" not the Bureau of Land Management!!
1973
There may have been some skiing on the 5 km of expansion trails during the winter of 1972-73, but the trails were very rough and we were not looking forward to another summer of hard work, especially when the Nordic Ski Club was also working desperately to get Kincaid ready for the 1974 FIS tryouts. However, on April 30 Marion writes home, "We had the addition to the ski trail at Pam's school done in a hurry. A labor union has been instructing a group of men in chain saw use and wanted useful work to do....and we had just the place for them! Then one man obtained a 'cat', and went to work on the side hills and roots. I'm a little afraid to go look at the job because of damage done to additional trees by the cats blade" It is interesting to note our concern, at the time, of damaging or removing too many trees. We had no concept then of 20-foot wide trails, skate skiing, or the tremendous use these trails would eventually have. On September 3, 1973 the Abbott Road Site was finally dedicated as Hillside Park.
1974
The Hillside Park fire, on July 2 1974 burned over most of the west half of the trail system. Following this devastation much of the original 5 km trail was modified and widened. In retrospect, the fire that had caused an unsightly blight on the landscape, has not only provided us with a fascinating look at a forest's revival but it has been indirectly responsible for thousands of moose/skier encounter stories that will be told for years to come. This record of the Hillside trail design and construction may be incomplete or inaccurate. If anyone has additional information or has questions about some of our statements we would appreciate hearing from you.
LATER HILLSIDE HISTORY
Summer of 1991 and Later
A storage building for trail maintenance equipment was built at Hillside Park. Wally Smith designed the building with Auto-CAD. John Mahaffey and Eric Quam did the grading and welded the foundation frame. Construction of the building was done by Mike Leo, Ray Brudie, Randy Bergt, Tim Metzger, and Wally Smith through the Nordic Ski Club Trails Committee. Approximate value: $12,000
SUMMER OF 1992
3 bridges and approaches to the bridges over Campbell Creek were constructed and 2 1/2km of trail brushed on the Tour of Anchorage Trail . The Nordic Ski Club Trails committee volunteers PJ Hill and Jim Burkholder led this project. Approximate value: $75,000
Summer of 1994
Signs at Service/Hillside Trails - 30 signs - A project by Nordic Ski Club Trails Committee volunteers Don Richter, Dan Dougherty, John Rogers Approximate value: $4000
Signs at Service/Hillside Trails - 15 signs - A project by High School racer Rob Whitney - Boy Scouts of America Approximate value: $2000
Junior Nordic League -2 km Lighted Trail
Service High school/Hillside Trail System Construction and Lighting with additional lighting of Service High School play field.
Contributors: 1300 man hours, 36 poles with high ballast sodium luminaires. Tab Electric - personnel, backhoe, dozer truck and trailer. Redi Electric - equipment, in-kind donations, favorable materials cost. Alcan Electric - In-kind donations and favorable materials cost. Alcan electric - in-kind donations and favorable materials cost. Frank Gwartney - truck, trailer, dozer, and sweat. Dalton Electric, Chugach Electric, and IBEW - linemen and wiremen volunteers.
Funding: Anchorage Junior Nordic League with $40,000 in privately raised donations. Estimated value in comparison with Chester Creek bike path the same year: $300,000-$400,000
Summer of 96
A second bridge across the North Fork of Campbell Creek was constructed to alleviate the danger of dog teams using the same narrow bridge as hikers and skiers at the East end of the Campbell Airstrip in Bicentennial Park. The construct of the bridge on Municipal Park Land was funded by the BLM and Nordic Ski Association ($20,000 from the Tour of Anchorage funds of the Nordic Ski Club) Key volunteers in this project were MB Construction/Mike Miller and Ben Powell. Approximate value:
500 spruce trees along the Hillside ski trails were sprayed to try to prevent infestation by spruce bark beetles. Approximate value: $5000
Summer of 1998
1km trail addition at Service High School/Hillside Park to correct problems with race starting and Junior Nordic practice areas created by the ASD fencing of the track and football practice area. This project was completed in cooperation with the ASD and Parks department with work planned and completed by the Nordic Ski Club. Volunteers instrumental in this project were Jim Burkholder and Randy Bergt for course layout. Dick Mize , Randy Bergt, and Jim Burkholder coordinated the project. Tom Conoway did the bulldozer work. Many parents and skiers from Service High School running and ski teams did the bulk of the hand work cleanup. Some of the folks involved were Tasha Bergt, Steve Hamilton, Emily and Bill Lamoreaux, Gordon Goodell, Tom Miller, Gordon Wetzel, Kevin Wright, Jason Lamoreaux, Jenny Wetzel, Steve Beardsley, Wally Smith, Tim Stone, Sandy Mapes. Approximate value: $12,000.
