Bird Ridge

 I tried this very steep trail last year with the Valley Wanderers but we turned back close to the high point due to 50 mph winds. One of my gloves is probably somewhere still out there in the wilds of Indian Valley. There was also substantial snow where we turned back last time. This time we waited until a bit later in the year and hiking conditions were perfect. As we neared the top of the ridge, I felt myself slowing down. The steep hikes the last 3 days had likely caught up with me and I was really tired. I let Bella off her leash and she followed close behind the rest of our group. Each time I started to feel frustrated, here would come Bella bouncing down the trail to check on me. It was very helpful because there are numerous trails winding through the rocks at this point, and she always showed me the way the others had gone. She was a natural guide. At the official top the weather was starting to get windy and there was a trace of rain starting to fall. Our 3 speediest members, Virginia, Chris and Erin elected to continue along the ridge, That idea intrigued me but I knew I would only slow them down. I descended with the other 3 in our group. I was happy with that decision because once again it started to rain hard and we were all kind of wet when we got back to our cars. The views are spectacular from up there. We could see mountains forever and the silvery mud flats of the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet below us. Next time, I'd like to continue along the ridge and see what else is out there to see. It's an amazing place. It was only 5 miles round trip but seemed so much longer because of the steepness.

Of course I had to get my picture taken from the top of this little point

Twin Peaks Trail

 I was still a bit tired from yesterday's Bear Mountain hike but I felt restless and just wanted to get out and try to see some fall colors. I decided to drive up to Eklutna Lake just to take sme pictures. I had no intention of actually hiking. When I got there, I found not a single parking place. In fact people were parked illegally all up and down the road. That's not unusual on a nice weekend day, plus I got a very late start. I ended up parking in the ATV lot by the ranger station and walking the extra distance along the extremely muddy ATV trail. I started hiking up the Twin Peaks Trail with no real destination. But the farther I walked the less I wanted to turn around. I remembered a particular spot just below the first bench at the overlook. There is a large stand of birch trees that often turn bright yellow gold in autumn. That spot is breathtaking in fall and it was definitely at peak today. From there I just kept going, just Bella and me, until we reached the second bench where the trail splits to go up to Pepper Peak or on to the Twin Peaks. Many people turn back at this spot. But it was so pretty there today that I took the steep trail towards Pepper Peak up to the high ridge with the most spectacular view of Eklutna Lake. The main trail had been wet but the high trail was mostly dry and easy hiking. Bella and I had some snacks and her doggie treats then we turned back. With the addition of the ATV trail we covered 7 miles. Gorgeous colors were everywhere. Today was a perfect day to hike up there. This is always one of my favorite hikes.

Eklutna Lake from just below the first bench

Twin Peaks

Bella on the upper ridge overlook

Bear Mountain

 The weather looked a little marginal today but  few of the Valley Wanderers decided to chance it and try to hike up Bear Mountain then traverse along the ridge and complete the loop, descending along the Mt Eklutna Trail. It was cloudy but no rain most of the way, until we reached the summit plateau of Bear Mountain. Then it started to rain lightly.  It also started to get windy. The trail we had climbed was very steep and slightly muddy and slippery, so we had been looking forward to the loop and avoiding that steep trek down. But we didn't discuss it for more than a couple of minutes before we all voted to scamper back the way we came. After a bit of slipping and sliding on the mud, we all decided to put on our spikes to keep from falling our way down. By the time we got back to the main Peter's Creek Trail, it was raining substantially and we knew we had made the right decision. Bella was totally soaked and went straight to the kitchen sink for a bath the minute I walked in the front door.

The fall colors were splendid, even though their true colors were somewhat subdued by the rain and fog.

Bodenburg Butte

 It's still raining in most places, but I decided to at least hike up the Butte. It was raining at home but by the time I got to the trailhead it had actually stopped. I just hiked up with Bella. She was acting a little strangely at first. About a few hundred feet into the trail she stopped and refused to walk. I know she couldn't use the excuse that she was tired, because we've hardly done anything the last few days. I managed to coax her into moving a few more feet with some treats, but then she stopped again. I tried just running and that seemed to get her moving. I often wonder what goes through a dog's mind sometimes. After that, she was happy to keep moving. This trail is mostly wooden stairs which are very steep. Without them, it would be extremely muddy in wet weather. As it was, it was still kind of slippery and muddy even on the stairs themselves. We didn't get any rain and it was totally calm and not very cold all the way up. We met a couple of other hikers who had come up from the trail on the other side, and we passed 2 others on our way back down. There wasn't much activity there today. The trees are starting to turn gold. There were still lots of low clouds obscuring the mountains and glacier views but it was still very beautiful up there. The Butte is always a nice almost 3 mile workout when I don't feel like driving very far. I'm glad Bella decided to continue walking. I think she enjoyed it. 

Gold Cord Lake

It's been raining for the last few days, too much to even bother to try hiking. In fact it is also raining today but not quite as hard. So I drove up to Hatcher Pass and hiked up to Gold Cord Lake, in the light rain. It was muddy on the trail as usual but it wasn't raining too hard. The fall colors are starting to show up on the drive up. I'm also seeing some snow on the mountaintops. It won't be long before the road over the pass is closed and we settle into winter. The trail wasn't very crowded today since it was raining, but we did pass a couple of people with dogs and I had to scoop Bella up to avoid a barking confrontation. She always has to try to start something when we meet other dogs on the trails. It was just a short 2 mile hike but felt good to get out of the house.

Reed Lakes Hike

I hiked the Reed Lakes Trail with the Valley Wanderers today. Our group was small, only 5 of us. The weather looked marginal and had been raining at my house when I left home. Erin, Chris and Rosemary were in a big hurry because they were cold, so they took off down the trail before Michele and I even had our packs fully on. They move pretty quickly so we didn't see much of them after the first mile. Michele was leading the hike and I was glad she stayed with me because I'm not very familiar with this trail. The first part is just a gentle slope with some small streams crossing it. It was a little muddy in places.  The fall colors were really starting to show, with golds and reds scattered across the hillsides. Once we started climbing, Michele and I, and Bella my dog were on our own. She is very familiar with the trails so was a great leader. The trail tends to disappear then reappear again on the other side of the creek. Crossing the creek is always challenging because it involves stepping onto huge boulders that often require the use of both hands and feet. Bella was pretty good at bouncing from boulder to boulder, although she did slip on some mud and started to slide into a mud hole. I caught her by her harness and pulled her back on the trail. Michele was just recovering from being ill earlier this week so had only planned to go to the first lake. She rode up with Rosemary who said she would turn back when Michele was ready. We assumed we would find Rosemary waiting for us at the first lake. But she wasn't there. We ended up continuing on towards the second lake figuring the others had gone there. We were almost to the second lake, and well above the waterfalls when we encountered the other 3 working their way down from the upper lake. Now it was starting to rain fairly hard so we turned back with them. Chris and Erin took off up towards the upper ridge to see if they could find a couple of lakes up there. The 3 of us continued on working our way back down. We crossed the creek in a different place, which was much more complicated than the place we crossed on our way up. I had to put Bella on her leash and air lift her a few times because the rocks were too high for her to jump. She was soaking wet but didn't seem to be bothered by that. We encountered several other dogs and I was happy that she didn't try to pick fights with them as she usually does if she is on her leash. For the most part I did leave her off her leash. She was definitely better at negotiating the boulders than we were. Once the other side we came across another huge boulder field that seemed to go on forever. It became apparent that we would need to cross the creek again because now the other side looked better. This second crossing was even worse. I was getting tired and was struggling while shuffling my trekking poles and my dog as I moved from rock to rock. Another hiker came along and helped me out by taking Bella and carrying over to Michele. I was getting tired and appreciated that nice bit of help. After that, there were still lots of boulders and slick mud but Bella could be off her leash and we moved easily. Once again, Rosemary disappeared and Michele and I were left to our own to find the best path. It was nice to get out of the high trail and descend into the valley. From there on it was easy sailing over the relatively flat trail back to our cars. The trail is a beautiful place but the clouds did diminish a lot of the spectacular mountain views.The fall colors were gorgeous though. It's a lovely time of year to be up there. Our whole trip was 8.57 miles.

Bella got a bath as soon as we got home!

 

Wolverine Creek Run

 I've been hiking so much lately but rarely actually running. Since I have Equinox Marathon coming up in a couple of weeks, I'm going to start running in addition to climbing in the mountains. My favorite run from my house is just to run up the road and down in the canyon to Wolverine Creek and back. I put Bella on her leash and she ran with me. We did have a number of short stops because she needs to sniff at every blade of grass along the way. But for the most part, she did stay out ahead of me and ran the whole way. We only did 4.6 miles, but if felt good to simply run, not wearing a backpack or watching out for tree roots, steep mud and rocks that are everywhere on the hiking trails. It was really windy and I was glad I went back and grabbed my windbreaker. 

Matanuska Peak Climb

I've been wanting to climb Matanuska Peak all summer, but never could find anyone willing to join me on this awesome hike. It's a tough one for sure, but I have done it at least 4 times. The last time I did it, I was running the Matanuska Peak Challenge, a few years ago. I made it to the top fine but managed to sprain my ankle running the long straight trail across the upper valley. Had to call the race director and confess I didn't think I could make it on the climb back up Lazy Mountain, so had to scratch, call a friend, hike out to Smith Road and have him pick me up. 

I had planned to climb it on Monday, Labor Day with my friend Alice, but the weather was ridiculous that day so we climbed Lazy Mountain from the Southside Trail instead. Weather forecast for today was great, so I decided I didn't need anyone to go with me. I have climbed it solo before so I went for it by myself. Bella, my dog refused to walk when I got to the trailhead. Apparently after hiking up Lazy yesterday and Friday, she'd had enough of that trail. I took her home and came back. She's a great rock scrambler, but it was probably wise to leave her home for this one. 

The trail was pectacular with bright reds and golds of fall color sprinkled all over the mountains. Only one hiker passed me on the way up at about the first mile. I definitely felt all alone out there. I love the quiet of hiking alone, but I realize I do sacrifice a little bit of safety. If there were any bears out there, I hoped that my silly bear bells would alert them to my presence. There were more clouds than the forecast had suggested, but at least the peaks stayed clear and there was never any rain. I still ran a lot of the long trail across the valley, but once past the picnic table and crossing the now, dry riverbed, it was all slow walking. The final climb begins with loose scree and sand then turns into rocks progressively increasing in size. The last mile or so involves climbing 3000 feet in about a mile and a half. Once in awhile I could see tiny figures far above me making their descent in the distance. Two young ladies passed me heading down as I climbed. Later a couple of men passed me. I kept pressing on, now picking my way through the rocks. Dan, the guy who passed me at mile 1 on my way up finally came down followed by another young guy who was practically dancing down the rocks. By now, I knew I was getting close to the summit, but was starting to feel discouraged. When climbing, the mountain never looks closer, it just looks bigger. Dan pointed out the best route around a gigantic rock, the size of my house and encouraged me to not give up because I was really getting close. At this point I packed my trekking poles into my pack and proceeded using both hands and feet. The rocks were now really huge and very rough covered with black licken. Fortunately, my hiking shoes do great on rocks. Sometimes it seems like they act like their soles contain little suction cups, and I climbed fairly easily through the rest of the rocks. Dan told me to look for the pole marking the summit, because it gives confidence when you see that. It was like the light at the end of the tunnel. Once I saw it, I did feel confident and moved pretty quickly to the top. The view up there is beyond words. I quickly phoned my friend Mark who was my contact down below and let him know I made it. I took lots of pictures and worried a little as clouds began gathering around me. Since I was now the only climber still high on the mountain, I didn't linger for very long. I wasn't too interested in getting involved with clouds and fog while picking my way back through those rocks. I felt pretty good coming down, just being careful not to stumble and break something resulting in a helicopter ride! The huge rocks weren't as much of a challenge as the loose rocks and scree on the lower part of the steep slope. I was so happy to reach that picnic table and take a much needed food break. Checked in again with Mark, then mostly ran along the narrow trail, crossed the cute bridge the Valley Wanderers had installed over Lazy Creek, then slowed my pace at the wooden tripod that marks the Lazy Mountain Southside Trail junction. I can't run as much after that because it gets a little slippery and tree roots like to reach out and trip me. I only fell on my butt a couple of times, but did no damage. Now the sun was shining brightly and the fall colors were just splendid. I was tired but was still totally enjoying the whole experience. A couple of hard core runners passed me coming down from Lazy Mountain and a couple other hikers passed me heading up the trail. Otherwise I was still alone and enjoying the peacefulness of being alone with nature. 

Thank you Matanuska Peak for letting me climb you again. I'll be back, probably next summer. It was wonderful!
Thank you Dan Hanrahan for your helpful tips, and Mark Simpson for keeping track of my progress. 

Matanuska Peak across the valley

Matanuska Peak

Summit View

Summit View

Summit View

Summit View

Summit View

Bridge over Lazy Creek