Gold Mint Trail

 It's been very cold, below zero for about a week. It's pretty hard on Bella, my dog going out in those cold temperatures so we haven't been doing a lot outdoors lately. We did take a quick 1 mile run around Reflections Lake this morning though. She managed to keep all 4 of her red booties on, which was nice. After that, I met my friend, Pam up at the Gold Mint Trailhead. The road has been closed due to avalanches for a couple of weeks, but they just opened it up to mile 14, which is the Gold Mint Trailhead. It was just about zero by the time we got there. I tried with no booties on Bella at first but she refused to walk. Then I put them on. She still wouldn't walk. I didn't bring my dog carrying backpack, so I just scooped her up and carried her in my arms for a while. She started getting restless watching Pam's dog racing back and forth and enjoying herself. So I let her down again. At first she was a little hesitant, but finally was racing along like a cheetah up and down the trail over the snow. We turned around just past the 1 mile mark because Pam's dog indicated she had now had enough and was trying to get Pam to carry her. Dahla weighs about 18 pounds and no way was Pam going to carry her. So we turned back at that point. After I got home, I read that the trail groomer had only made it to about mile 1 but had to turn back because they came upon a massive avalanche that they couldn't get through. So I guess we wouldn't have made it much further if we had continued on. It was kind of tough going as it was because even though it had been packed by the groomer, we kept punching through. But it was a beautiful day and worth all the hardship just to be out there in the bright sunshine and fresh air.

Archangel Road Ski

 The snow conditions were absolutely perfect for skate skiing on Archangel Road today. I got my skis on and was ready to go then noticed that Bella's coat with the built in harness was falling off. Upon closer inspection, I found one of the harness straps was no longer attached to the coat. That had disaster written all over it. So after struggling to get my skis on with her pulling on her leash, I had to remove the skis and go back to the car for a different harness. I left my skis and poles leaning against the snowplow and made my way back to get her spare harness. Once back in my skis, we were off to enjoy the delightful few inches of new powdery snow. I'm quite the novice when it comes to skate skiing, but I did find my new ski poles to be very helpful. I have fallen in love with skate skiing and hope one day I can master it.

It was very beautiful up there today and Bella and I got quite a workout on our way to the bridge and back, around 5 miles. 

Snowshoe Direct Trail to Stonehenge

 Some of the Valley Wanderers flagged a straight up route from the Matanuska Peak Trailhead to the area nicknamed Stonehenge. I've hiked it a couple of times to add orange flagging to branches on the trees to help people find the trail in the winter. It's very steep. We have had very little snow this winter so many of the regular trails are extremely icy due to unusual periods of heavy rain, followed by freezing temperatures, The Valley Wanderers like to snowshoe the flagged trail periodically through the winter to make it easier to hike. We set out to break trail there today. The McRoberts Creek Trail to the cutoff that leads up to the Matanuska Peak Trail, was very icy and steep and the cutoff trail was really treacherous, covered only with a couple of inches of soft snow over solid ice. I loaned my old snowshoes to my friend Pam, who came along with us. They aren't quite as nice on steep trails, so she had a lot of trouble using them. We just used our micro spikes until partway up the flagged trail, when the snow started to get too deep. Then we switched to the snowshoes. Pam was a little slower than the others, but we kept stopping anyway to remove large branches from fallen trees obstructing the trail. Virginia had a really nice little saw in her pack, and did an amazing job on some of those trees. As the snow got deeper, my dog Bella started slowing down. She had a substantial number of giant snowballs hanging from her legs. I stopped a few times to remove them, but finally decided it was asking too much to have her struggling through the deep snow. So I put her in my backpack and carried her to the top of Stonehenge. That slowed me down so I ended up walking with Pam the rest of the way. At Stonehenge, the snowshoe trail seemed to disappear and the wind was horrendous. We figured the others in the group were hiding out among the rocks somewhere but we couldn't find them. I tried calling them on my cell phone but no answer. Then I saw a trace of snowshoe tracks through the rocks and figured that must be their trail, so we followed them. Jane saw I had called and called me back and told me they had gone on down tot the junction of the Matanuska Peak Trail and were waiting there for us. Soon after we joined them, Pam and I decided to remove the snowshoes and go back to wearing micro spikes. She had fallen a couple of times and had enough of the snowshoes.  Now out of the deep snow, Bella was happy to run along ahead of us as before. We avoided that steep cutoff trail and took the Matanuska Peak Trail all the way back to our cars. It was still very icy and steep, so even with spikes we were struggling. We did catch up with the other 3 in our group, who had stayed on their snowshoes. We were able to move a little faster with the spikes, but it was still slow going. It was a very tough 4 mile hike, but still lots of fun and a bit of an adventure. As always, the views back there were amazing in spite of the overcast gray conditions, and THAT WIND!

Blueberry Knoll Hike

 I love this trail. It is very varied and quite steep in some places. Today was the best winter hike I've done there because the snow was hard packed and easy to follow. We did need our micro spikes on our boots but it was very easy walking. There were a couple of extremely icy spots but it was easy to work around them. I was hiking with two of the Valley Wanderers, Jo and Jane. Bella was leading the way most of the time. The snow was just the right consistency to not stick to her hair and make giant snowballs. She did have a significant conversation with a large black dog, but I snatched her up into air jail until he and his owner passed by. We only encountered a couple of other hikers on the whole 3 mile round trip. When we started, the sun was coming out and it was 15 degrees. But when we reached the picnic table on Blueberry Knoll it had turned cloudy and there was a little bit of wind. It had cooled down a little but as we descended it definitely warmed up. It was 24 degrees back at the car. It was a bit slippery going down, and I was sliding even with my sharp spikes. But I never fell down. It was beautiful and I love the amazing views of the mountain ranges in every direction. Someone had built a hilarious snow lady on top of the first picnic table and we enjoyed visiting with it and taking each other's pictures with it. Someone had a lot of fun and was very creative.

Fireweed Trail at GPRA

 I hiked the Fireweed Trail with the Valley Wanderers  through the snow. It started to rain at first and we wondered how wet we were going to get. But it soon turned to light snow and wasn't a problem. Bella led the way. She always seems to know exactly where we are going. Occasionally I have to call her when she takes a wrong turn though. This is a very twisty winding trail the runs around most of the Government Peak Recreation Area. We took one side trail on up to the first picnic table on the Government Peak Race Trail. Then we went straight down and reconnected with the Fireweed Trail on back to the parking lot. It wasn't a very scenic trip because the clouds were so low and it was snowing. But it was a nice 4 mile workout. I know Bella enjoyed being our lead dog.

Gold Mint Trail

 I hiked with the Valley Wanderers today. They followed my suggestion of the Gold Mint Trail because everywhere else the trails are solid ice. This trail is in the same area as the Archangel and Independence Trails that I have been skiing all week. Pam joined us with her dog, Dahla plus Terry had her dog, Chili Julia had her dogs, Trigger and Pumba also. So Bella had lots of doggie buddies to run with.  She loves to run along with the big dogs. She looks so tiny next to them. It was fabulous conditions for hiking today. The trail is very well boot packed and we didn't need snowshoes or ice grippers. We went out to the 3.2 mile spot where the view opens up and you can see the glaciated mountains up ahead. It's so pretty back there. One day I hope to go all the way back to the Mint Hut at mile 9. But that will have to be in summer because we barely made it out by sunset at 4 pm. We saw a couple of moose running along through the snow out on a flat area across the river. Pam's dog was packing a bunch of snowballs today but for some reason, Bella didn't have as much trouble with them. I was able to pick them off periodically and keep her pretty comfortable on the 6 mile hike. It started snowing a little once we got back to the parking lot. On my way down the mountain, I noticed the snow turned to rain. It was 40 degrees in Palmer when I got home. A huge winter storm is due tonight with 70-100 mph wind and mostly rain rather than snow. I'm wondering what that will do to the nice fresh snow from this week. Plus I plan to Ski Patrol up at Skeetawk, the local ski area tomorrow morning. That could be interesting! But today was a really nice hike.

Archangel Road Ski

 Today is Friday and I usually hike or ski with my friend Pam on Fridays. More snow fell overnight and I even had to use my snowblower to clear my driveway. We met up at Archangel Road and actually found parking places. The fresh grooming was now covered with about 4 inches of new snow. But it made for wonderful ski conditions. I'm still struggling with my skate skis but found I was finally able to make some progress. On slightly downhill areas I could really get the right skating rhythm. But it was still a lot of work on the uphill sections. It was snowing hard the entire time and we were both getting wet. Both of our dogs were collecting huge snowballs on their feet. Bella has long hair and by the time we were back I think she had the equivalent of her own weight in snowballs alone hanging from her poor little body. We skied to the bridge and back, close to 5 miles. I stopped now and then to remove snowballs from Bella. Back at the trailhead, she couldn't jump up to climb over the snow berm to get back to the car. I found she had a gigantic pile of snow on the whole underside of her body. I had to remove that to get her back down to the car. In the car I found that she had numerous snowballs the size of baseballs hanging from her legs. I cleaned them off at the lodge then we went in the lodge for a nice lunch. They allow dogs in the restaurant and even give the dogs a treat called a pupucino, which consists of a milk bone covered in whip cream. Both dogs thoroughly enjoyed that. Pam and I enjoyed salmon burgers. I realized that I needed to buy some actual skate ski poles instead of struggling with my heavy adjustable snowshoe poles. So I stopped into Backcountry Bike and Ski shop and picked up the best ones they had. I hope they will be helpful the next time I ski. The poles are important in skate skiing because they are used to push from behind. They need to be the right length and have the right wrist straps. I'm sure that will help. I was soaked from the snowstorm so spent tonight drying things out.

Independence Mine Ski

 I saw on the Mat-Su Ski Club site that Archangel Road was groomed this morning. So I packed up my skate skis and raced up there to get in some good practice on the nicely groomed trail. Unfortunately, everyone else in the area had the same idea. There was absolutely no place to park. Plus there were at least 4 large loose dogs running around the crowded parking lot. So I knew that even if I could squeeze in somewhere, I wouldn't dare try to get out of the car with Bella, who would be barking her head off. I gave up and went back up to the mine. It's such a steep slope, but at least it had some nice fresh snow and I could get some exercise and enjoy the nice views. I struggled to get all the way up to the mine buildings. I ended up needing to let Bella run off her leash. She had to stop and sniff every few feet and was dragging me all over the slope. The weather was also moving in so I didn't get as far as I had hoped. I turned off the main road into the parking area for the mine, but lost sight of the trail due to the low visibility. Bella ran all the way to the mine buildings but came running back when I called her. It was starting to snow a little now too. We turned back and I enjoyed a nice fast trip back down the steep road. Suddenly I saw the huge groomer vehicle heading up the road. I was glad Bella came running back when I frantically called her. I hooked her leash to her and we moved off the trail to let him by. I kept her on the leash after that and we had a really fast trip the rest of the way down. Except for one little mishap. The groomer had brought a few small twigs to the surface as he passed. One on my skis caught a tiny one and sent me flying to the ground. I landed on my right hip. I wasn't hurt but it took me a minute or two to drag myself back to standing. She had a very puzzled look on her face seeing me lying on the ground. Once standing up we once again were speeding straight down the road and back to the car. It was really fun on the freshly groomed trail. 

Archangel Road Ski

 It was a beautiful day today and nice and warm. Several inches of snow fell overnight so I had to quickly get up to Hatcher Pass and try to take advantage of it. This winter has been so dry with either ice cold and no snow, or well above freezing with only rain if we have any precipitation at all.  It is completely icy on all of the trails. But it was perfect for skiing up at Archangel Road today. Once again I brought only my skate skis and skied to the bridge and back, about 5 miles. The snow was a bit heavy, which made skating a little harder. But so far, it's kind of all hard for me. It was a lot easier than struggling up to the mine the other day though. At least this road is just a gentle incline, which is a perfect place to practice skate skiing. I can see that I need a whole lot more practice. But what a beautiful day and a great workout.

Independence Mine Ski

 I need to practice with my cross country skate skis. I feel like I will never master them. I drove up to Independence Mine in Hatcher Pass, partly to do that and mostly to get away from the obnoxious cold and wind down here in the valley. It was calm and 26 degrees up there instead of 17 with a 40 knot wind blowing at my house. The trail to the mine is pretty steep, so it was probably not the best place to try to learn to skate ski. But Archangel, which is flatter, was so busy that I doubt I could have found a parking place. The trail to the mine was great with even a few inches of fresh powder. But I had a hard time trying to skate up it. Bella was helpful sometimes, by pulling me, except for when she found lots of interesting smells off the trail. I got a good workout getting to the high spot where we turned around. Bella was running at her top speed on the way down, so I didn't dare try to actually skate. I just tried to break my speed a little so I didn't crash on the way down. But it was all OK. It was beautiful and so much fun speeding straight down the steep trail. I was just happy I didn't have to put her in my backpack. I think she liked the warmer temperature and that I didn't put her booties on her. I think she just hates those things.