High Ridge Loop From Cat Trail

 It's Friday and as usual, I went hiking with Pam and our dogs. I've been wanting to explore some other ways to link to the High Ridge Loop Trail that I hiked last week. So, we started at the Matanuska Lake Trail parking lot and hiked our usual Long Lake Loop route until we found a small trail that led to the Old Cat Trail. It was quite narrow and steep at first but brought us out onto an open bluff. The wind was really howling there on that open bluff. The views of the mountains are amazing there though. We could even see the Knik Glacier in the distance. We've been on that bluff before but it looked like the trail ended there. According to the AllTrails app, though, it did appear that the trail continued on to the Old Cat Trail. We followed it, passing junctions to the Rooty Trail and Bear Bottom Bluff Trails, and finally joined the High Ridge Loop Trail on the south side of Baird Lake. We had plenty of time so we went ahead and walked the entire High Ridge Loop Trail back to the junction with the Old Cat Trail then returned the same way, for a total of 8.5 miles. I was happy to finally satisfy my curiosity and establish that the route did exist. We did encounter a couple of other hikers and even a guy on a bike. So this trail is not really as much of a secret as I thought. It was a beautiful day except for that wind. The dogs had a grand time too.