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