The day is bright and warm, clouds streaming across blue heavens, as Wayne Hall and I leave the Glen Alps parking lot, bound for a small patch of Chugach paradise. It's only 10:30 in the morning ...

On any sunny summer day, the park's Glen Alps trail head below Flattop swarms with people. Cars overflow the parking lot onto the shoulders of Toilsome Hill Road. Gangs of hikers mob the trail to ...