Mount Susitna is often called “The Sleeping Lady” for its resemblance to a recumbent woman. The name is sometimes said to derive from a Dena’ina legend, in which a woman named Susitna belonging to a race of giants vows to sleep until her beloved comes back from battle.
Mount Susitna stands 4,396 feet and is located on the west bank of the Lower Su River. I can recall my favorite dog sledding run this past winter where it was about 3 am with the stars lighting up the sky and we were running down the river with our dog teams and this magnificent mountain was just to my right.
I remember looking up into the crystal clear sky on this New Years Eve night and seeing the big dipper as my team paced down the 45 miles of river and trails from Yentna Station back to the Willow Community Center.