Valley Thaw Out Half Marathon

 I ran the Valley Thaw Out Half Marathon today. I've done it the last few years. As usual, I was the last finisher. Maybe next to the last because Mabel, a runner I met in the first mile, ran with me the whole way. She held back and let me cross the finish line a few seconds before her. It was fun having someone to run with for a change. It seems like a race popular with the faster runners, so I am always completely alone. I usually walk parts of it, just to get a little break. But this time I actually ran the entire way. I took about the same amount of time as last year, so running wasn't any faster than when I do a bit of walking. But it was good practice. It was fun running with a buddy for a change. I wanted to hurry because my niece, Amber was having her baby shower at 2 over in Wasilla. I hoped to get done in time to get home and shower before heading to her shower. But it was so windy and cold that I barely ever broke a sweat even though I ran all 13 miles. At the finish, I just changed my shirt and made it to the party just a few minutes late. That was a crazy cold windy run! 

High Ridge and Baird Lake Loop Trail

 I usually hike with my friend Pam on Fridays. She wanted to check out the High Ridge Lake Trail that I discovered last week. So we met at the Crevasse Moraine Trailhead and I showed the route to her. It was a little muddier than last week, but we were able to avoid the worst mud. Two muddy dogs had a great time. I watched our progress on the AllTrails iPhone app and noted where a few other trails crossed the main one. Now I can see where it would be accessible via the Old Cat Trail off of Long Lake. We ran into a couple of ladies with 4 dogs who had actually come up that way, thus confirming that it is possible. I will check out that route soon. We found a narrow trail heading down to the shore of High Ridge Lake. It was a little disappointing because the lake was so high that there wasn't any real shore to walk on. Lots of sticker bushes and brush were along the lake shore too. But at least we got a closer look at the lake and its great view of the mountains. There were thousands of screaming seagulls flying around over the far shore of the lake. I wonder what had their attention. I noticed a couple of houses through the trees, likely accessed on the private roads I found when I tried to get there along the road last week. They have great homesites, with a lake and an entire trail system at their back doors. Pam enjoyed seeing the trails and I'm sure we will do it again soon, or at least explore getting there from Long Lake.

Independence Mine Hike

 It's been kind of a nasty overcast chilly day, but at least not actually raining. I drove up to Hatcher Pass and took a nice 2 mile trek on the snow up to the trailhead to Gold Cord Lake. No one has walked the actual trail yet, and the snow is still very deep. I had no intention of trying to slog through it to the lake. But the road is groomed for skiing and we walked along the edge to avoid messing up the ski trail. It didn't look like very good skiing and we only met one skier on their way down. We had the road to ourselves, so I let Bella run wild, since we weren't likely to run into any other dogs. The clouds were really beautiful and it looked very stormy down below. I enjoyed just being out in the cool air on the hard packed trail that had a couple of inches of fresh snowfall from last night. Even with the dark clouds it was still very bright up there. 

Blueberry Knoll Hike

 Took a nice hike up to Blueberry Knoll with Bella today. It was really muddy on the bottom half, but fairly easy to bypass the worst spots and keep my feet dry. Bella, on the other hand, was a bit of a muddy mess. The top half still has a substantial amount of snow. But it's well packed from other hikers. I ended up having to attach my spikes to my shoes because it was very slippery and slushy. At least it was packed enough that I didn't have to do any post holing. We spent a few minutes on top having snacks and taking pictures, then did a slippery sliding hike back down. It's only about 3 miles round trip but has quite the elevation gain. I definitely got a good workout. The trail is interesting because it's a bit of an obstacle course of tree roots and huge rocks. I'm always happy to complete it without any trips and falls. 

Easter Butte Climb

 It was a beautiful Easter morning and I didn't have any plans until 6 tonight when I went to my sister's house for dinner. So Bella and I took a nice hike up Bodenburg Butte along the West Butte Trail, then we went down the other trail and came back up, then on down the West Trail again. It was fairly busy with other hikers. The trail was a little muddy on the bottom of the west trail but otherwise it was in great condition. While trying to avoid some people with big dogs, I ended up off the main trail and doing a little rock climbing on my way down the other side. That trail is hard to find on that side and there are many options. But I figured out where the best route was and took the right route back up. It was a little windy on top but not the typical screaming wind that I usually find up there. It was a perfect 4 mile Easter morning hike.

Taku Lake Hike

 I had to bring my car to Anchorage for service and to get my hitch installed for my bike rack. A 4 hour wait at the Subaru dealer seemed beyond boring, so I took a little walk with Bella. We found that the highway crosses Campbell Creek and there was an easy way down to connect to the Campbell Creek Trail. We walked about 4 miles round trip along the trail to Taku Lake and back. It was a much better way to spend the morning! It's mostly a really nice urban bicycle trail, except for one section that was obviously once a homeless camp. There was trash and garbage everywhere. It will be quite a project for whoever is destined to do that cleanup job. But it desperately needs to be done. Other than that section, it was a really nice little hike. A nice mostly paved trail too.

High Ridge Loop Trail

 I've noticed a couple of lakes on the map and wondered how to access them. I could see that there are some trails in the Crevasse Moraine, Mat-Su Greenbelt area that do lead towards them, but have never seen a sign pointing to them on any of their well-marked trails. I wondered if they might actually be accessible by road from Palmer, so using Apple Maps on my phone, I asked for directions to them. One is High Ridge Lake and the other is called Baird Lake. I tried following the GPS using the road system from Palmer. Both showed routes from the Glenn Highway. I tried driving to each of them but in both cases, I came to forks in the road where both forks had Private Road signs. So now the original road access has been taken over by private property. However, The AllTrails app on my phone does show a loop route around both lakes that begins at the Crevasse Moraine Trailhead. So, I decided to see if I could follow it using the app as a GPS. I started on the Outer Trail from the parking lot and stayed on it until I passed the sign for Top Loop. Soon after that, the app showed I had missed the turn to the left that leads to the loop. I turned around and followed the arrow until it showed where I needed to turn. I would never have even noticed that narrow little unmarked pathway without the app showing the way. I turned there and followed the narrow but easy to follow path until I came to a junction where I could go either way and remain on the loop, according to the app. I took the left route. It meandered up and down through ridges and trees and I finally found myself overlooking High Ridge Lake. The views were spectacular of the Chugach Mountains, and Pioneer Peak. There were so many trees that they did block part of the view. Someday I'd like to hike down to the lake for a better view. I walked on the ridge high above the lake, then Baird Lake came into view off to my right. There I found the ruins of an old log cabin and nearby on a tree, was a beautiful hand made sign that read High Ridge Trail. There was even a metal gate there, but it was open. There were a couple of trails heading down to the left from that spot. I imagine they lead to the roads I had tried to drive on before reaching the private property signs. There was another wooden sign that read Baird Lake Trail. I continued on the loop around Baird Lake until I linked up with my original trail. I did see a couple of other alternate unmarked trails that likely linked up with the Greenbelt trail system. But there were never any of the usual Borough trail signs to indicate where they lead. I was surprised to run into a trail runner coming towards me. I guess there are others who know this trail loop well. I found a blue plastic chair that faced an amazing view over High Ridge Lake, and put Bella on it for a picture. Soon after, we were back on the Outer Trail and made our way through the mud and a few huge puddles back to the trailhead and my car. I'm so glad I ventured out to finally find those lakes. I'm sure I will go there many more times now. They're certainly not as well used as most of the main trails.  I enjoyed the seclusion and peacefulness. I could tell Bella was having fun too. 

This is the unmarked trail off the Outer Trail that leads to the loop 

Eklutna Lakeside Trail

 I met my friend Alice at the end of Eklutna Lake Road and we drove up to Eklutna Lake together. We had not hiked together for quite a while. It was great to hike and catch up. We walked along the Lakeside Trail to a little way past the Yuditnu Cabin. We might have gone farther but the wind off the lake was really strong and very cold. I figured the trail would be very muddy like most of the other trails right now. But it was surprisingly dry and in good condition. There were a few muddy spots and a couple of giant puddles to work around, but it was easy to avoid those areas. The lake is still frozen. With the recent warm temperatures, I've been hesitant to venture out onto the lake. But we did see a small group out on the ice. But they were pretty close to the shore. I mostly let Bella run free, but grabbed her several times when we encountered other hikers and a couple of bikers with loose dogs. She barked at them, as usual, but we all passed each other with no incident. The clouds were gathering around the mountains so the view of them was deteriorating. But as always, it was still beautiful and peaceful, except for dealing with the icy wind when on the lower trail along the lake. It was a nice 7.2 mile workout and we both felt like we had done something much better than sitting home.

Crvasse Moraine Trail Hike

 It snowed a couple of inches this morning and was totally socked in with clouds everywhere. I usually hike with my friend, Pam on Fridays but it was hard to decide where to go. We decided on the Crevasse Moraine Trail since we could avoid the nasty road construction we would encounter if we went to the Matanuska Lake Trailhead. We considered walking the trip I did with Frank on Wednesday, but in reverse. We got sidetracked taking the Bear Berry Bluff Trail and ended up walking in a circle on the Bear Bottom Trail. It was so muddy that we really didn't want to do a 10 mile hike anyway, so once back to the Long Lake Loop and Long Lake Connector Trails, we headed back to Crevasse Moraine. 6.7 miles through the mud and a little snow, was plenty. Our dogs were once again, totally covered in mud. But they really couldn't care less. They were having a ball checking out all the interesting smells. Bella went quickly into the kitchen sink once I was back home. I want to do some more exploring on those trails, maybe after more of the mud goes away. There are a bunch of lakes out there that I have never seen. It's pretty easy to get turned around and confused out there in that quagmire of trails though.

Mat-Su Greenbelt Hike

 I met Frank Wall at his house and we drove over to the Kepler Lake trailhead intending to hike from there to the Crevasse Moraine Trailhead and back. The best way to do that is to get to the long trail called the Long Lake Connector and follow it to the Crevasse Moraine Trails. In the opposite direction, it leads to the Matanuska Lake Trail system. But, the trail markings are often very confusing out there. While watching our iPhone trail apps, we decided to try a trail called Bear Bottom, because it did give a mileage to the connector trail. It was a very winding steep trail. At one point we found a trail heading off to a bluff. I have walked it before and knew where it goes. It's pretty short and leads to a wide open area over a bluff, with great views of the mountains. The wind was ferocious there and nearly blew me right off my feet. I managed to get a few pictures out there though. We made one mistake on the way back from that trail by following a side trail pointing to the Connector Trail. It did eventually lead us to the connector, but that routine made our trip a bit longer. We finally ended up on the Connector Trail and made our way to the Crevasse Moraine trail system. There, we took the Expressway Trail which is the fastest way to the trailhead. But I think it was a bit more confusing to Frank, because all trail options point to that trailhead. Frank said he was very familiar with the area because 20 years ago he had snow-machined out there many times. But many of these trails didn't exist back then. And the ones that did, didn't have trail marking signs. After grabbing some snacks and taking a break at the picnic table we headed back along the lower trail, avoiding the big hills on the Expressway. We reached a picnic table and a trail junction to the Picnic Table Single Track Trail. The map indicated this would lead to a trail that Frank really wanted me to see. It was a lovely narrow trail along a steep ridge. When we came to a junction, I felt we would be best to head in the direction of Matanuska Lake. But Frank was sure we should detour through a field because he knew that area so well. That turned out to not be a good idea. We wandered around there far too long, trying to find a trail that would lead is in our correct direction. I finally convinced him to head back using my phone app, to the last place we saw a sign. Looking at my digital map, I realized our best bet was to retrace our way back to that picnic table and head for the Connector Trail. By now, I think Frank was totally twisted around, and who could blame him! We were definitely somewhat going around in circles. But I knew to keep the mountains to my left and head towards Matanuska Lake. Once on the connector, it seemed like we were headed correctly. Frank insisted we should head back down a trail called Bear Root Trail. I knew it was too soon to turn, but also knew it would take us where we wanted to go. We came to junctions that pointed in each direction to the Connector Trail again. One said .1 mile, the other said .3 miles. I knew we needed to take the ,1 mile option because of the direction. He was sure we needed the other one. It was close either way, so we took his route. Once back on the Connector, I definitely knew we needed to go left. Looking at both of our trail apps, I convinced him and we both knew which way. Now he was having serious pain to his feet from his shoes. I felt so sorry for him. But he's a trooper and kept on. I think he still wasn't sure if we were heading correctly. But once we passed the Long Lake Trailhead sign, we knew the Kepler Lake one was coming up. We finally got on it and made our way back to his truck. I think the trip should have been about 10 miles, but we did it in 12 miles. It was a fun adventure and a great lesson in navigation and route finding. We had 2 very muddy dogs and 2 tired hikers. Bella went directly into my kitchen sink for a much needed bath.