Such a beautiful day to hike the Gold Mint Trail. It was still very cloudy but the clouds and sun made for beautiful lighting for photography. I hiked with my friend Pam and our two dogs, Bella and Dahla. We had the dogs off leash most of the way and they mostly stayed with us. Bella does like to forge ahead, but did come back when I called her. The Little Susitna River is very high right now due to earlier warm temperatures. The green vegetation is huge right now from the long Alaska summer days. This trail is fairly flat and relatively easy, at least for the first 5 miles. We had only planned to go to mile 3 but continued past that marker and finally turned back at the huge beaver pond and stream at mile 5. We were encountering some very muddy areas and they only get worse past mile 5. The clouds were getting darker and the wind was getting stronger. So after a few relaxing minutes by the pond, while sitting on the grass, we had a snack then turned back. We encountered large groups of Boy Scouts who were heading up to the Mountaineering Club's Mint Hut. I'm still hoping to get up there to see it one day, next to the glacier at mile 9. But we didn't have time today. Apparently the scouts will be training at the 3 closest huts for the rest of the month. So if I want to go there and either camp or stay in the hut, that plan will need to wait until August. Our dogs got some nice drinks as we crossed a few little streams that cross the trail on their way to the river. I had hoped to do a tougher climb today, but the 10 miles we hiked felt like a great workout on a beautiful day. We got back to the trailhead before the approaching storm reached us.
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