Alaska Wilderness Vacation: Cabin in the Woods at Lake Tazlina

In 1994 a group of friends went on a 2-week camping vacation to Tazlina Lake. We flew from San Diego to Anchorage, packing small tents and sleeping bags, etc.

Tazlina Lake is a glacial lake about 21 miles long, 3.5 miles wide and over 200 feet deep and is the largest lake in the Upper Copper River drainage. It is tucked into the Chugach Mountain range about five miles south of the Glenn Highway.

The lake is off the beaten path. There is no road access and it’s a three to four day trip to float the Little Nelchina River to the Nelchina River to Tazlina Lake to Tazlina River, which is how most floaters access Tazlina Lake. There are no campgrounds anywhere on the route.

From Anchorage we traveled North by car on Glenn Hwy 1, passing through Palmer, where we bought food and provisions. Then on to Glennallen where we chartered a floatplane. Flying over the area was very exciting. Our destination was a small log cabin in the woods near the lakeshore that our friend Joe had built in the 1950s.

These are the photos that survived the past 30 years. I still have the basket that I made from willow branches and bark, and it's still filled with the little spruce cones I collected around the cabin. I also did the drawing of the cabin.

The sound track is street music performed by Josué Gascot in Balboa Park on March 19, 2023. You can find Josué on Instagram @gascotviolins

Video by Gisela Sommer