Twin Peaks Trail

My friend Alice has been wanting to hike the Twin Peaks Trail again but something always happens to keep us from doing it. Rain and high winds were forecast for today, but since it didn't look too bad this morning, we decided to meet at the bottom of Eklutna Lake Road and she rode up to the trailhead with me. She lost her rain jacket when she gave it to a volunteer on the Hatcher Pass Marathon, so I loaned her my old one that has a broken zipper on one pocket. But it still works well as a rain jacket. It was very cloudy but not raining, so we started up the trail. Alice hasn't done much hiking lately and wondered if she could even make it to the first bench at the overlook just past the 1 mile mark. But of course she did fine. We took the usual pictures there and admired the amazing view of Eklutna Lake. After a little coaxing she agreed to try for the second bench another mile or so ahead. We still didn't have any rain or wind. Once at the second bench we had one short passing rain shower and were convinced it was time to head down. But the most amazing view is to continue up the rough trail for another half mile or so through the rocks and some steep climbs to the ridge at the base of Pepper Peak. We couldn't resist the temptation to go on, so we did. We had a couple more short passing showers but continued on to the ridge following Bella who was forging ahead as usual. Once on the ridge we found both the high winds and the rain. We only stayed there long enough for a couple of pictures then quickly got out of there. It was quite the inhospitable place at that point. The trail down to the second bench was a little slippery and the rain was making it worse. But we both got down without any falls. I gave Alice one of my trekking poles, which really helps with balance on tricky trails like that. From then on, it was mostly steady light rain, and we were well protected with my Gortex rain jackets. So often I have started up that trail with others who only plan to go to the first bench, and ended up going all the way to that amazing overlook below Pepper Peak. I'm so glad that earlier this summer I finally got the chance to hike all the way to the top of Pepper Peak. But today was certainly not the day for that. A young couple descending from there confirmed that. They had made the wise decision to turn back before the summit. The view down at the first bench was really interesting on our way down because fog was rolling in giving fascinating views of the lake as it rolled by. We got back to my car before it really started to pour rain. We were so happy we made it the whole way to the ridge. Bella of course, was soaking sopping wet and needed another bath when we got home.