Seward weekly gateway., 1906-01-20
MAKES TRAILS
 10 INFERIOR
Railroad Company Has Roads Which Render Travel Around
 Cook Inlet Easier

NOUh NtlNA AAsieA
 Far in advance ot actual railroad building trails have been made by the construction officials 10 facilitate the traD,pouatiou of meu and supplies for the work og locating and grading the line. To a certain extent old trails have been used, some have been made more easily passlble and new ones or short cuts have been made. These trails are of advantage to the ordinary traveller as we'll as to railroad men and make trips to the interior easier and safer than ever before.
 During the winter prospectorS going into the Yentua district will find that these trails are more available than old routes of travel. Next summer they can 20 nearly all the way by water but until the ice is out of the rivers the railroad trails around the head of Turnagaiu Arm and knik Arm Co Shushetna station constitute the only feasible route. This route with distances Is described in detail by General Manager Poland as follows;
 From Seward Co the end of the track, which after a few weeks will be near the end of mile +G, the traveller can go by rail. From the present terminus on mile +5 Co mile G6 at the head of Turn agaln Arm i, good bob-s.ed road. From U5 to75 is 80 snow trail which can ba covered with the sled known as o doub.g-euGgr. From 75to Indian creek, on mil. gD. i, trail which a iOo,mau can u,u but its very bad for s.edo, even uugS.ed,. ltrm, along the beach and through thewood- and tne beaches are bare in many places. This makes sled travelling very slow and Jo,,ome, as i, is hard task Co drag 30 loaded sled over the rocky beaches, and the hills occasionally encountered are very rough.
 Two Trails to NElk
 From Indian crock to the head oi KuGk Arm, sixty miles. there are two trails. One of these runs along the north shore of Turuagatu Arm Co Campbell Point, on mile IJ5, which i, the end of the land barrier between Turuagaiu and Kutk Arms; from there it follows the railroad survey east ern shore of Euik Arm Co the head of that estuary. At places it Is con- siderable distance from the beach. From Indian creek to Campbell Point the trail Is ayauable only for foot travellers, being impossible even for dogsIeds. From Campbell Point to the head of Kuik Arm, l5O miles from Sew ard, a good trail for dogsIeds is open, and double-enders can traverse it with little clearing in places.
 The other trail from Indian creek to Knik Arm runs up Indian creek valley and over the divide tO Eagle river val ley; thence down that valley until it merges in the beach trail. This trail is estimated to be between ten and fi- teen miles shorter than the railroad survey trail, and is much easier for sled travel except very steep cline of about 5000 feet through drifting snow at the summit.
 From the head of Knik Arm to Cot tonwood camp the distance is about twelve miles; from Cottonwood to Knik station is six miles; from Knik to Shushetna station on the ShuShetna river, two miles below the mouth of the Yentna, tLe distance is estimated by the railroad surveyors at thirty-two miles. This places Shushetna station exactly 200 miles from Seward by the railroad route to Knik, and ten or fifteen miles less by the Indian creek Eagle river cutoff trail.
 Can Co by Grow Creek
 The old Crow creek trail is still available. It turns of at the mouth of Glacier creek on mile 75, and runs up that creek and it's tributary, Crow creek, to the divide; thence over to Eagle valley. The trouble with this trail is that it is very steep near the summit, and the Snowslides are danger ous. It is unsafe for one man to travel if alone. On this trail it is ten miles from timber to timber.
 From Shushetna station to the first cold diggings on the Kahiltna it is' forty miles by the river, and forty-fve to the first diggings on Lake creek. In summer small steamers and launch es can go from Tyoonok on the western shore of the Inlet up the Shushetna and Yentua to the mouths of the gold