Volunteers wanted to rebuild the Ermine Hill Trail to Kesugi Ridge

Ask a Denali State Park regular for the best way onto Kesugi Ridge — the long alpine spine that serves up, on a clear day, one of the finest views of Denali anywhere in Alaska — and Ermine Hill will be near the top of the list. The state's own trail guide rates it among the best-designed and best-maintained of the four routes up. Staying that way takes work, and later this month Alaska Trails is looking for people willing to do it.

Over the weekend of July 25 and 26, a volunteer crew will replace a footbridge and rebuild sections of trail tread so water drains off the path instead of running down it — the unglamorous but essential job that keeps a mountain trail from eroding into a muddy gully. Ermine Hill climbs from boreal forest up a series of switchbacks to open tundra, crossing creeks in the Byers Creek valley on the way; it's those crossings and that climb that take the beating, and the repair.

It is not a stroll. The terrain is steep, with three to four miles of hiking to and from the worksite each day, and shifts running 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The payoff is a weekend in one of the state park's prettiest corners and, if the mountain cooperates — Denali hides behind clouds most days, so no promises — a look at the peak that draws people up this ridge in the first place.

The crew gathers Friday evening, July 24, and volunteers can camp at Byers Lake Campground near Mile 147 of the Parks Highway. Alaska Trails, the statewide nonprofit organizing the weekend, builds and maintains trails across the state; to sign up or ask questions, contact Maya Kaup at [email protected].