McRoberts Creek Waterfall

 I'm finally finished splitting the wood from the birch trees I had cut from my yard. After 5 days of that, I was totally exhausted. But what a relief! 
The Valley Wanderers had planned a 10-mile hike to the back side of Matanuska Peak to a waterfall near the headwaters of McRoberts Creek for today. It was late last night when I finally got up the mental energy to text Jane to tell her I would meet them at 9 in the morning to join the hike. I came so close to passing on this hike, but I knew I would be sorry if I had to miss it. I did manage to drag myself out of bed and get there by 9 this morning. I felt tired and my back was pretty sore, but I was still able to keep up with the group. It was really hot for Alaska. It was only about 70 degrees, but that is a blistering heatwave to Alaskans. We don't get very many 70-degree days around here. I did pack an extra liter and a half of water because I knew I was already dehydrated from the wood project. There have been several bear attacks in this part of Alaska lately, so I kept Bella safely on her leash until we were above tree line and out of the high brush. Once on the flatter trail that crosses the long valley between Lazy Mountain and Matanuska Peak, I let her loose to race ahead and lead us in her usual fashion. The plan was for some of us to leave at 9 and meet at the picnic table by noon, while Virginia and Nan planned to leave at 9:45 figuring they would catch us there by noon. They are always much faster hikers. We got to the picnic table only a few minutes before the two speedy ladies. We took a nice break there, then continued along the Matanuska Peak Trail until starting a gradual descent through some thick brush down to McRoberts Creek. Once there, we followed the creek upstream for quite a while until we could see the spectacular waterfall plummeting off a high cliff. I had heard about this waterfall but really had no idea how to get there. The creek originates from the ridges on the east side of Matanuska Peak, and it isn't really visible even from the summit. At the base of the cliff, we scrambled mostly straight up to get above the cliffs to the upper level of the creek. Judith and I stayed up high while the others stayed lower and remained at the edge of the water. We had a great view of them from our green perch up on the ridge. Bella took turns mooching food from the ones down below, then running straight up the hill and seeking lunch from me and Judith. She was really enjoying herself romping up and down through the tundra brush. After a long break in that area, we worked our way back to the Matanuska Peak Trail. We had to cross a couple of ridges to finally rejoin it. Jo didn't want to do the cross-country part, so she went back down and followed the route we had taken to the waterfall. I didn't want to return to the trail that way because it involved scrambling uphill through pretty thick brush. Our loop was a bit longer, but in many ways, I think it was easier. Jo did beat the rest of us back to the picnic table, but I caught up with her just before reaching the cars where we had parked at the trailhead. The whole trip was right at 9 miles. It was spectacular and I am so glad I didn't chicken out and stay home because I was tired. Now I'm tired beyond words, but it was all well worth it! I would not have wanted to miss that extraordinary experience. I can't wait to do it again.

Jo & Bella

Erin took this lovely picture.
She crossed the creek to take it.
I didn't want Bella trying to cross with me, so we stayed on my side
to keep her safe from the fast water.

Gold Cord Lake

 I had 8 big birch trees cut down in my backyard a few days ago and have been working on splitting the wood for future firewood. After days of doing that, I really needed to take a break and get out of the house. Mark called and asked if I'd like to go up to Gold Cord Lake so he could test out how his car would handle on the steep winding road. I jumped at the chance. I figured this pile could take care of itself for a couple of hours!

We hiked up the mile long trail to the lake and it was lovely as usual. We both needed a little exercise, especially me. I needed non-wood-splitting exercise. Bella had a wonderful time chasing ground squirrels and getting all muddy. There is still quite a bit of ice and snow on the lake, but it was open enough that a few young folks were jumping in then immediately jumping right back out again. One young boy was paddling around on a paddle board. Mark and I were happy just to sit there and observe those activities. I do want to drag my kayak up there again this summer once the lake is totally thawed out. Wildflowers are blooming everywhere, and the creeks are high. It was pretty cloudy, but we got back down before it started to rain a little.

Marmot Mountain

 I hiked with the Valley Wanderers today. The trail didn't look very promising because the mountain and most of the peaks were pretty much enshrouded in low clouds. But Marmot is one of those peaks that can be easily climbed when completely in the fog. It's basically just a ridge walk as soon as you get to the first false summit. It's really impossible to get lost up there. There are many little trails that lead up to that first summit, but they all eventually lead there. Bella assumed the lead followed by Julia and her two big dogs, Trigger and Pumba and me. Julia likes to keep Pumba away from other people because he is huge and tends to push his way around. Since Bella likes to lead, and always goes with the leader, I kept up with Julia and Bella's much bigger canine buddies. We were in the clouds fairly soon and could no longer see the rest of our group. We would stop and wait for a while but once we got cold, we would move up to the next good stopping point. Judith eventually caught up with us and the 3 of us and the 3 dogs enjoyed our lunch on the highest point. Sarah finally arrived but Terry stayed down by the weather station with her dog, Chili. It was a really nice hike and quite beautiful except for being totally in the clouds on the summit. But it was mysteriously beautiful on the way up and down as the clouds swirled around us, periodically giving us glimpses of the valley below and the other mountains. I love hikes like that because they are really enchanting and make for interesting photos. I ended up running down most of the way and Judith finally caught up and passed me. But Bella took off after her, so then I ran a bit faster carefully trying not to trip over every rock, then caught up with Judith just before the parking lot. It's steep enough that it's almost easier to run down than to try to walk down, trying to brake with every step. I just kind of hop and skip my way down in places like that. The ridge up Marmot is really interesting with unusual rock formations. It feels like a much higher mountain than it really is, just because of the steep cliffs that drop off the sides. There were several snow patches that all 4 of the dogs really enjoyed. They all loved eating their mountain snow cones. The hike was only 2.8 miles but had almost 2000 foot elevation gain.

Eklutna Lakeside Trail

I usually hike on Fridays with my friend Pam. The last 2 Fridays she has been tied up doing other things. She said she was feeling hiking deprived! So we did the 10 mile walk from the Eklutna Lakeside Trailhead to the Bold Creek Bridge and back. It was a really nice day for it. Not too hot and not too cold. It was overcast but warm enough to enjoy the hike without a coat, but not so warm that we were sweating the whole way. Bella and Pam's dog, Dahla had their usual wonderful time running ahead and back chasing birds, bicycles and other hikers. But they were mostly well behaved. The Yuditna Cabin was unoccupied, so we took a nice break there at just past the 3-mile point. We had our official lunch break on the Bold Creek Bridge, enjoying the sounds of the rushing water. It was nice to just relax and walk a fairly flat trail and not have to push hard to climb up a mountain. But 10 miles is still a fairly long hike, and I was tired. Bella slept all the way home!

Lazy Mountain

 I'm trying to climb Lazy Mountain once a week for the rest of the summer or longer. But last week, life got in the way, and I missed doing it. Today looked beautiful on my morning dog walk so I decided that if I wanted to do my Lazy Mountain hike this week, I'd do well to grab the chance today. Bella and I started up the trail right at 9 am. I was feeling really good and energetic in spite of how steep that trail is. I still wasn't running up it though. I'd love to be strong enough to do that. I am always in awe of the mountain runners who go screaming by me running up the trail, while I huff and puff and pull myself up with my trekking poles. But today we pretty much had the trail to ourselves because of our fairly early start. Since it was just me and Bella alone on the trail, I wore my noisy bear bells to try to make enough noise that any bears out there would scurry away. I'm not sure they really help, but psychologically they do help me feel less nervous. I also talk to my dog a lot. I kept her on her leash until we were above the first picnic table. She tends to tun off on her own, and I didn't want her getting in an altercation with a bear or a moose. We grabbed snacks at the table and made our way to the top. The wildflowers were just gorgeous and dotting the hills everywhere. I was a little disappointed that the sunny blue skies from our morning walk had quickly deteriorated to solid clouds. As we progressed the sky did open back up a little and we did get some sunshine. In fact, I got pretty hot for a while. We got to the top and I took my usual 360-degree video.

It was beautifully calm up there and so green everywhere. The clouds were not yet obscuring the mountain peaks, and I had a full view of Matanuska Peak and the surrounding mountains. We spent a few minutes on the top until I saw a couple of other hikers who had reached the flag. Bella and I went back down to the flag so they could have room at the top if they wanted to scramble up the rocks to the summit. I made my way fairly carefully down through the loose scree from the top, then was able to at least halfway run along the ridge. I started running into many other hikers making their way to the top. I even ran into Dan and Karen, 2 hiker acquaintances making their way up to the top, much faster than my pace, I might add. Both of them are way out of my class. I wondered if they would both reach the summit and still pass me on their way back down to the cars. Once to the lower picnic table, I figured out how to really run down the steep rest of the way. I really don't call it running so much as more of a hop skip and a jump method of descending. I managed to make it all the way down without falling on my face, but I did have a few close calls as I tripped over tree roots that I used as steps. Bella mostly stayed right with me on the way down. I was now used to the idea that bears and things could be in the brush but kept her running leash-free, so she didn't pull me to my death on that extremely steep trail. We did the whole 4-mile trip in 3 and a half hours, which is faster than my typical 4 hours round trip. I still took 2 hours to get to the top but made up for my slow ascent by mostly running down. Once back at the car, I found raindrops on my windshield. Soon afterwards I looked back and saw the summit of Lazy Mountain was covered in clouds, and it started to rain at home. I'm glad I started early!

Summit View of Matanuska Peak

Bella on top

The flag has been replaced after I found it missing recently

Bodenburg Butte

 It was cloudy and looked like rain. But I just had to get out of the house. I did some yard work until I was totally bored with that. Mowed the lawn and trimmed some trees. But Bella was really getting restless and even she was getting tired of our many walks up and down our street. I hopped in the car, and we went to the West Butte Trail and hiked up to the top. This trail is odd because the majority of it is wooden steps that trail crews put in. Without the stairs, this trail would be horribly steep and maybe barely passable. The trail on the other side is steeper and shorter, but I like this one because it's longer and I don't have to pay to park. I have the Borough sticker on my car that gives me free parking. Sometimes I hike up this trail then go down the other side and back up. But today Bella and I just hiked to the top, had our snacks then ran back down. It was lovely up there and the wildflowers along the way were spectacular. The fireweed is now in full bloom. The tops of the mountains were totally obscured in clouds. I had considered a hike with the Valley Wanderers today, but they were hiking some complex route on the back side of Lazy Mountain. That didn't appeal to me after being fogged out on Pepper Peak the other day. Looking at the view from the top of the Butte, I decided that clearly, I'd made the best choice. I still had a bit of a view of the Knik Glacier and the trail was in great condition. It's only about 3 miles round trip but still a good little climbing workout. Bella seemed to enjoy herself too.

Knik River and Knik Glacier in the distance

Pepper Peak Trail

 The drive up Eklutna Lake Road was a little disconcerting when I had to stop for a black bear at mile 3. This hike was a bit disappointing for me. I absolutely love the hike up Pepper Peak, and that was our goal today with the Valley Wanderers. However, it didn't look promising at all. There were low clouds obscuring all of the mountain peaks, and I knew that even if we made it up there, we wouldn't have any view at all. We started with 8 of us. Chris, Karen and Virginia took off immediately and were quickly out of sight, which is typical for those speedy characters. The rest of us made our way up the Twin Peaks Trail. It was still quite beautiful, and we had a great view of Eklutna Lake from the first bench overlook.  We could see the clouds lowering and wondered if it was even worthwhile to continue to the 2nd bench. But we decided to press on at least that far. Once there, after pondering and considering, we decided to ascend into the clouds and go partway up to the ridge toward the next overlook and Pepper Peak. We stopped at a huge rock and most declared this as our final destination. We pondered a little and I assured them it wasn't very far to reach the upper ridge to see if we could get the view from there. We all pressed on. We made it to the ridge but could barely see each other, let alone the view of the lake. At that point, we collectively decided we were done, and it was pointless to try to find our way up to Pepper Peak. At some point, Sarah received a text from Virginia saying the 3 speedy folks had made it to the top but couldn't see anything. I was a little disappointed, but without seeing the view from the top, it was pointless to continue. We went back down and had an enjoyable 6-mile hike total. Bella enjoyed running up and down the trail going twice the distance we did.

Mile 3 of Eklutna Lake Road

View of Eklutna Lake from the overlook at the 1st bench

The upper ridge in the fog