I ran along the Palmer Rail Trail today. I'm starting to see little touch of fall color already. I discovered that the trail actually goes across Eagle Street and is a narrow foot trail all the way to the old Glenn Highway. It lets out beside the Napa parking lot. I feel like I found a little secret trail. I'd like to put a car at Moose Creek and walk the whole route one of these days.
Today I went with the Walkabout's hiking group to Williwaw Lakes in the Chugach Mountains by Anchorage. It was a cold and windy day but luckily we didn't get any rain. We had about 10 hikers and a bunch of dogs. Baby tried to pick a fight with most of them but after a while she started to get along with them. The wind got pretty brutal though. I finally decided to tuck her into my coat to keep her warm. It was nice to get out with the other hikers for a change instead of doing so much hiking alone.
I walked to Red Shirt Lake years ago and decided it might be a nice change of scene from the same old trails that I do all the time. The trail is so nice that I ran most of the way and so did my dog. You can even rent a canoe there if you reserve it before the hike. But I just wanted to hike to the lake again.
It's a lovely place and there was no one else there.
Another nice hike to my favorite place, Eklutna Lake. I walked alone with my dog to about 3 1/2 miles out and stopped for a bite to eat on a tiny beach along the lake. There are some nice big fallen logs there that make for a great place to sit for a few minutes. Baby did great and she walked the whole way. I'm finding her to be a very good hiking buddy.
This was a fascinating little hike from the Richardson highway to the Gulkana River. My friend Mark, and I wanted to get to the old suspension bridge that my neighbors told me about. Mark had been there before but I had not. What a neat old bridge it was! It was very shaky and it was comforting to be able to grab onto the cable as we crossed. My dog, Baby was so small that I knew she could fall through the openings between the wooden panels, so I carried her across. I had the disadvantage of only having one cable to grab onto for security. But it was fine. It was a nice little hike with an interesting bridge at the end.
This was a fabulous trek. I've wanted to do this for quite some time. Plus it was also the suggested route for the August Valley Trail Race. So I got to count it for the race and fulfill my wish for doing that route. It turned out to be much easier that I had expected. Even though we both hiked April Bowl to Hatch Peak last week, somehow Pam and I managed to totally miss Hatch Peak and ended up on the ridge between the two peaks without even realizing we were there. We tried too hard to avoid an exposed section through the rocks. But once up on the ridge it was easy sailing all the way over to Government peak. Technically there is no trail, but there was a pretty obvious beaten trail from so many people wanting to find the route. Once on top of Government Peak it was a long trek down via the Blueberry Knoll route to the Parking lot where I had left my car, so we didn't have to backtrack to April Bowl. Pam's dog Abby and my tiny dog Baby did great. Baby was getting stuck in the low brush down from Blueberry Knoll so I ended up tossing her in my pack for the last part down.
 Pam and I on the top of Government Peak |
I mostly ran, but since Baby came along, we did a lot of stopping to sniff at various spots along the way. I did have to carry her part of the time because it was kind of warm. She's not quite up to running a full 5 miles yet. I ended up carrying her inside of my windbreaker, which was less than ideal. She attracted lots of attention when we arrived at the Palmer Ale house where the Happy Runs finish.
A beautiful day for a hike from Matanuska Lake around Long Lake and back, with my friend Pam and our dogs, Baby and Abby. Abby enjoyed a dip in Long Lake, but Baby was happy just to watch!
I hiked with the Walkabouts hiking group today. First we hiked April Bowl to the top at Hatch Peak. It was pretty cold at the start and very windy, but at least we didn't overheat climbing up there. Everyone enjoyed the hike. We had a large group, about 10 hikers and almost as many dogs. It was quite an experience for Baby, my tiny chihuahua because she was so tiny compared to all those other dogs. She did her share of growling, but actually got along pretty well with everyone. That trail up the ridge is very rocky but Baby had no trouble hopping from rock to rock all the way to the top. I never did have to carry her. The route climbs about 1000 feet but it's pretty short. We were back to the cars by 12:30 pm. A few of us decided we needed more hiking, so we also hiked up to Gold Cord Lake, adding another climb and a couple more miles to the day. It was a perfect day for both hikes.
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| Baby on Hatch Peak |
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| April Bowl |
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| Gold Cord Lake |
This was a really spectacular hike. I went with my friend Alice who was a little unsure how far she wanted to hike. Initially we figured we would only go about a mile and a half to the first bench. But it was so pleasant that she decided she was up for going another mile to the second bench. By then I was sure we would turn back. But several people had come down telling us how gorgeous it is if you go on up the the high ridge where you get the most amazing view of Eklutna Lake. I really wanted to go but didn't want to force my friend who is recovering from a couple of recent injuries. But after hearing those stories and my description, she decided she was game for giving it a try. So up we went to the top of the ridge. It was spectacular and we were both so glad we had decided to do it. My iPhone 11 has such a wide angle lens that I was finally able to get the entire lake in one photo. My chihuahua, Baby was with us and trotted along as if she was on flat land the whole time.
A beautiful day to hike Gold Mint Trail. I started very late in the day so only went in 2 miles. I was hiking with Baby, the chihuahua. As usual she did great. She loves to hike. She stopped a million times to sniff at things. The trail is heavily vegetated so apparently there were lots of interesting smells along the way. It looked like it was going to rain any minute, but it waited until just a couple minutes before we got back to the car before it actually started. But we did hear thunder most of the time.
This was the toughest Happy Run yet. I ran the 5 mile long Outer Springer run and brought Baby, my little dog along with me. She did great for the first mile, even with the necessary potty stops. But she started slowing down and it started raining. I ended up carrying her inside my raincoat for at least half of the route. It was hard carrying 7 pounds inside of my jacket. But it was a great workout. She just couldn't keep up with me the whole way when I was running. But at times she was running a lot faster than I could. I wanted to try bringing her along to see how she would do. But since she's so tiny, it was a little too hard for her. She has no trouble with that distance, but isn't fast enough to keep up, even with my slow running speed. She was a real trooper though!
Just a short hike today with Baby, the little chihuahua. She did great. I did carry her for about half a mile in my doggie backpack, mostly to see how well she would ride in there if I needed to carry her. She seemed quite comfortable. It was a really nice day. We were both a little tired and decided to turn back at the 3 mile point on the Yuditna Creek Bridge. It was a good idea because a couple of bikers told me they had just seen a black bear up ahead. That's definitely time to turn back.
I hiked up to Gold Cord Lake in Hatcher Pass with friend, Mark and my new dog, Baby. It was kind of chilly and quite overcast, threatening to rain. But we managed to reach the lake and return before the rain hit. Baby seemed to enjoy herself exploring all the interesting plants and chasing the ground squirrels. She let the other dogs on the trail know that she was boss, at least in her own mind, anyway. That's a lovely little lake and not a difficult climb. The view of Independence Mine is wonderful. It's only a little over one mile to the lake but it's still a nice climb and a good workout.
This was originally a marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K event in March to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. But due to the COVID 19 pandemic it was canceled. AKtive Soles decided to put on a modified version of the race this evening, but with only the 5 and 10 K options. I had originally registered for the marathon but was able to downgrade to the 10K since the marathon was no longer offered. The race started at 5:30pm. It was extremely windy but not terribly cold. I managed to complete the 6.2 mile in about one and a half hours. I ran alone since there were few other runners. The course was similar to the Palmer Happy runners just repeated it for the 10K.
They did give us a very cute hoodie and a nice little medal. I got a good workout and was glad that I had decided to do it. Many people didn't bother because it wasn't officially timed.
