Gold Star and POW/MIA Peaks Climb

Today I went with the Valley Wanderers to climb Gold Star Peak and POW/MIA Peak just down the ridge from Gold Star. We usually park at mile 4.5 of Eklutna Lake Road then walk 1/2 mile to the official trailhead at mile 5. But there is an obvious narrow trail directly across the street from the parking pullout. We did walk it last year and found that it disappears into the brush and eventually brings you to a nice ridge, which will lead to the peak. But we remembered that it was pretty difficult last time. However, we couldn't resist giving it another try. It turned out to be just as brushy or maybe even worse this time. About halfway to the ridge, it seems to vanish, then we all took off in somewhat different directions looking for the trail. I found that part a little frustrating, especially when I lost sight of the others. Bella seemed to find her own way, mostly trying to stay close to whoever was the farthest up the mountain. Sometimes she would come back to check on me and I followed her back uphill until I lost her again. We all eventually linked up again when we reached the ridge, but it was very frustrating and involved lots of bushwhacking. It was very tiring. But the ridge walk itself was gorgeous and very easy walking along a well-defined trail. There was no obvious place to cut over to join the actual trail somewhere off to the left side of the ridge. I remember last time how it was a horrendous mess of brush and alders and very difficult to finally reach the main trail. Chris seemed to want to climb higher, but the others decided to head to the right because they felt it looked better. I honestly wasn't sure. However, now, I think if I try this again, I want to climb as high as I possibly can on that ridge before crossing over. It was really difficult scrambling through all that brush. Some people climbed higher through it while a couple went lower. I couldn't decide who to follow because I tended to be the farthest behind. Bella is a great little mountain climber, but she was having lots of trouble navigating the lower brush that was over her head. I ended up carrying her in my arms for a while, and that process made me even slower. I finally lost sight of everyone else until I suddenly saw Jane and Julia waiting for me on the actual trail. It was such a relief to see them. Even Julia's big dogs had been struggling through that brush. But once on the trail again, it was very steep, and a little slippery, but basically easy sailing. We all took a nice snack break at the saddle before starting up the rock and scree to the summit. Bella of course, beat most of us to the top. She was waiting for me when I got there. She took many side trips on her way though, racing up and down through the tundra chasing squirrels and running with the 2 big dogs. At the top of Gold Star, we took the usual amazing photos and admired the monuments. Then walked along the narrow ridge to POW/MIA Peak. Now we had a clear view of Eklutna Lake and the Mat-Su Valley on either side of the narrow ridge. The trail mostly ends just past the actual marked POW/MIA peak with its tattered American flag. Sadly, the black and white POW flag must have blown away because it was missing. We've had tremendous winds lately, so it didn't surprise me that it didn't survive, so exposed up on that mountain. The view of Twin Peaks is extraordinary from the end of the obvious trail. I couldn't stop taking pictures there. One could continue down the steep ridge and climb the West Twin or even venture across the valley and reach the Twin Peaks Trail. But that would be quite an adventure. Someone had built a little bench where we stopped, and Erin sat down to eat her sandwich there. Bella, in her usual fashion, sat next to her trying to mooch some of her food.  We lingered there for a while then took the alternate route on the west side of the mountain, along the dramatic cliffs that plunge down into the valley. The dogs made us all a little nervous because they loved to run much too close and way too far down towards the cliff edges. I did a substantial amount of screaming at Bella to get back here, because I didn't want to have to climb down some rock face to retrieve her. Fortunately, she was very obedient and sensed I meant business. She always came running right back. We descended along the official trail, which was a bit muddy and slippery. I fell a couple of times then finally put on my grippers like a couple of the others had already done. That was very helpful. That trail is tough enough, but it was a whole lot easier than the way we had come up. Next time, if we choose to go to the ridge, I hope we find a better way to traverse to the main trail. But even with the hardships, it was a fabulous hike, and I love how it honors our fallen soldiers. The hardships of the climb are nothing compared to the sacrifice they have made to make it possible for us to climb so freely to such a beautiful place.

Along the ridge

Twin Peaks

Eklutna Lake

Gold Star Monument

Monument to the Military Dogs of the Viet Nam War

School Connector Trail

 Virginia asked if I wanted to check out the School Connector Trail that intersects the loop trail that we took around High Ridge and Baird Lakes the other day. I always wondered where that actually went myself. So, I said of course, and we met at the Crevasse Moraine Trailhead. Before we met, I drove to the school that is at the end of the trail to see if I could see where the trail reaches the school. I drove all around the parking lots but never saw the trail. We met then walked the Crevasse Moraine Outer Loop Trail to the Bottom Loop where we found the unmarked School Connector Trail take off to the left. It's pretty narrow and doesn't look like it is used a lot. But it was fairly easy to follow. There were a couple of other vague trails leading off of it and we relied on our phone apps to stay on the right one. It deteriorated into a grassy ATV trail but was still the obvious correct way. It did in fact lead down a steep hill to the parking lot of the school, but it had not been very obvious from the school when I drove right by it. Instead of retracing our steps, we saw the powerline across the street that leads directly in a very straight line back to the Crevasse Moraine Trailhead. It was definitely a straight line and had a nice trail beneath it. But the trail itself was anything but straight. It was one steep hill after another because powerlines don't follow the contour of the land. They just go directly to their destination. It was kind of fun and a very nice hill climbing workout, although only a little less than 3 miles. We were both glad we hiked it and vowed to never bother to do it again!!! But our curiosity was totally satisfied.

That straight line is the powerline

Matanuska Lake to High Ridge Lake

 Our Valley Wanderers plan for today was to hike the trails up at Skeetawk maybe up to Government Peak. But when we arrived at Skeetawk, we were greeted by rain and a solid overcast and fog. Several of the group just said farewell, but Virginia, Jane, Erin and I decided to find an alternate hike in better weather. We met again at Matanuska Lake and started hiking the Long Lake Loop. Virginia led us down the tiny trail that warns us to keep out, caretaker's residence. I never dared to violate that sign. But she knew it was totally abandoned. So, we visited the boarded-up house. Then we followed the trail, which turned out to be a continuation of the Old Cat Trail. I mentioned that I had hiked that trail to High Ridge Lake before. So suddenly we all decided to follow it all the way to High Ridge and Biard Lakes. I had never realized that trail extended to that boarded-up cabin. It was very pleasant conditions, just cloudy but with no rain or wind. The trail gets very steep in spots and also quite narrow. Virginia had been to the lakes before but not from that direction. I had used that route in the past so ended up being sort of the leader. There is very little traffic on that trail, and we had it completely to ourselves. I pointed out the intersection that leads to the Crevasse Moraine trailhead, where I had first hiked to the lakes. Soon after, we passed the cute little blue chair that has been sitting there overlooking Biard Lake long enough to appear on the Gaia iPhone app map! Of course, we all took turns sitting in the chair. Rather than retrace our stops on the Old Cat Trail, we turned off the loop and took the Rooty Trail and joined the Long Lake Connector. This eventually led us back to the Matanuska Lake trail system and crossed the hay fields back to our cars at Matanuska Lake. It was a delightful 9-mile hike in lovely weather. Bella enjoyed mostly leading us the whole way.

Eska Falls Hike

 We all met up at the Sutton General Store to pile into 2 vehicles, supposedly capable of driving to the actual trailhead for Eska Falls. Michele's car was quite capable, but the other one quickly determined that it was not. I was in that car, so our little group of Valley Wanderers had to walk the extra 1 1/2 miles to the trailhead while the others got to bounce along over the rocks in Michele's big truck. Only Erin waited for us at the trailhead, but we all caught up with the others before reaching the 1-mile marker. The trail starts out quite gentle as it switches back and forth and gradually climbs up along the long ridge where it finally tops out on a nice rocky plateau. Since there were 4 other very large dogs with our group, and most folks were ahead, I kept Bella on her leash until we reached the wide-open plateau above tree line. There, Bella joined the other dogs in running up and down the mountainsides chasing ground squirrels and each other. We could now see Eska Falls in the distance, between the towering mountains, Eska Mountain and Granite Mountain. Eska Creek plunges straight off the ridge that connects these 2 peaks. It's very beautiful back there, but sadly, the ATV trails really mess up the natural beauty of the area. They are convenient because they lead the way to the falls, but there are far too many of them and they mostly disturb the landscape. But we made good use of them for several miles making our way to the base of the falls. Bella must have traveled 3 times the distance of the humans because she kept running ahead to join the leader then racing back to check on me. She rarely stayed exactly on the trails either, instead racing up and down and back and forth from trail to trail. We all finally reached the beautiful waterfall and found comfortable seats among the rocks to have our lunch break. About half of the group decided to climb up the steep narrow trail that leads through the moss, tundra, and boulders up to the plateau and long valley above the falls. I sensed that the trail was most likely originally formed by either Mountain Goats or Dall Sheep because it was really straight up the steep mountainside. We had to cross a couple of giant boulder fields, to get to the grassy areas above the rocks. We had spectacular views of the valley below and the surrounding peaks from up there. On the way down, I fell on a small creek crossing and dunked half of my body into the creek. Now I have bruises on my right leg to match the ones on my left leg from my last few hikes. The folks ahead of me were struggling to get over a huge gap in some gigantic boulders. Bella passed by them and jumped fearlessly from one boulder to the other. I didn't think much of it until I got to that spot and saw the giant chasm between those two rocks. It was amazing to think that little dog would leap across such a huge gap. She is totally fearless. Once back down close to the base of the falls we joined some of the rest of the group. A few had moved on and we found them down lower engaged in blueberry picking. Bella followed right behind me all the way back to the car we had left near the spot where the paved road ends. We hiked a total of 12.4 miles with an elevation gain of just under 3000 feet. I'm quite exhausted but so glad I was able to visit this lovely place once again. I'd like to explore the area above the falls in more detail someday. You can trek for miles and miles through those spectacular mountains.

The view of the peaks above the falls

Eska Falls

Skyscraper to Independence Mine

 Such an interesting and somewhat challenging hike we did today! We parked our cars at the upper lot of Independence Mine then all piled into Michele's big car and drove up to the Summit Lake area at the top of Hatcher Pass. We left her car at the turnout by the steep trail that climbs Skyscraper Peak. From there we climbed the straight up trail to the first summit. Janice was the fastest hiker and was always in the lead. Of course, my dog Bella was always either with her or bounding up ahead of her. I like to keep my dog in view so I hiked as fast as I could to keep close to Janice. We waited for the others to catch up once we reached the first high point of the trail. The trail is easy to follow along the upper ridge most of the way. It is a series of peaks and valleys with huge rock piles at the top of most of the high points. Bella always seemed to know where we intended to go and was usually far ahead of us. As we started to climb each peak, we could usually see her looking down at us from the top. Of course, she also took numerous side trips to chase marmots and squirrels and to investigate the occasional snowfield down below. We had amazing views down to Summit Lake and of the mountains surrounding the entire Hatcher Pass area. Much of the route was easy sailing along a gentle ridge. But there were numerous sections of steep rock where we had to rely on our rock-climbing skills to find our way through. On one place it was so technical that I hitched Bella to her leash and helped her over some spots that seemed impossible to me at first. I do wonder if she might have found a better way if left to her own resources. But I wanted to be sure she was always safe. It was a bit cumbersome for me in a couple of those places with the leashed dog trying to go twice my speed. But we both survived. Once we finally reached the high spot where we needed to start our descent, it was not totally apparent where the trail might actually go. So, we just started down over the soft mossy tundra until we reached the dreaded boulder field. The first boulder field was not marked at all, but we could see a semblance of a trail on the other side of it. So, we just climbed and scrambled our way through the huge rocks until we reached the other side. Then we continued nearly straight down through rocks and scree until we saw an orange flag, marking the spot where the trail now progresses through the second huge boulder field. I was ahead for a few moments and went right for that flag. Bella ran right to it, and I followed her. The others found a slightly different route, but we all ended up at the boulders and could see bits of orange flagging marking the route. Lots of climbing and scrambling we all made it through those rocks. Then we came to a scary nasty little scree field. Each step sent rocks and scree cascading down the slope. We elected to traverse that in single file, so we didn't cause a landslide on anyone below us. I got across this fairly easily because I know not to lean into the hill and to go as fast as possible. A couple of the others were a little more hesitant, but we all made it just fine. Jane had climbed higher and maybe she actually found a less obnoxious route. Now we were finally on an actual trail. Bella took off ahead and followed it like a champ. It had gentle switchbacks and often, Bella could be seen several switchbacks below. She did take some shortcuts. It was almost as if she could see my car in the distance down below in the mine parking lot. The trail led through lots of ruins of old mine buildings complete with old bed frames. We had to be a little careful to avoid splinters, tripping over metal cables and pipes, pieces of rusted metal roofing, and broken glass. Once through all of that mess we followed the trail for a while, with a clear view of the mine and the parking lot far below us. The trail eventually completely disappeared, and we had no choice but to simply head down through the mossy brush to the stream below. Then we crossed a bridge that finally led to the official trails of the Independence Mine Park. Bella ran ahead and was befriending a couple of tourists, so I had to catch her and put her back on her leash. It was a wonderful and beautiful little hike of only about 3 miles. But there was a lot of ups and downs and challenging rock-climbing adventures mixed in. We all really enjoyed it, and we had great weather because it never got too hot and although cloudy, it never rained. This was only my second time to do this, and I look forward to the next time.

View towards Hatcher Pass

Bella and me

Not so well marked trail!

Gold Cord Lake in the distance

See if you can find Bella in this picture

Independence Mine from the top of the ridge

Tanaina Lake Kayak

 It was a spectacularly beautiful day, so I wanted to get out on the water with my kayak. I drove up to the Nancy Lakes Recreation Area and put in at Tanaina Lake. This is the starting point of the Lynx Lake Canoe Loop that I really would like to do again. But it was far too late in the day to consider that today. I would prefer to do it with another person also. It's a long loop with many portages and very wild. It's also probably safer and a lot more fun with a companion. Although Bella is always an interesting companion. She does enjoy trying to figure out how to get out of the boat and onto the shore without getting wet. She also enjoys barking at anything that moves, such as birds, lilies floating on the water, and her own shadow. It got kind of warm in the bright sun, and I did pick her up by the handle on her life jacket and dip her in the water to cool off a couple of times. We paddled the entire perimeter of the lake. We did hop out for short walks at both of the portages. We walked in to visit Milo Lake, but I didn't bother to carry the kayak in this time. Bella really liked the chance to get out and sniff and run around for a few minutes. I had hoped to see some birds but never got the chance to use my big camera that I brought with me for that purpose. We paddled about 3 miles around the lake. It was very relaxing after the tough hikes I have been doing all month. 

Alyeska North Face Trail

 I had a fun little hike with Jennifer who I met through Facebook. We met up at the Alyeska Hotel and hiked the steep but very well-maintained trail up to the top of the tram at the ski area. The first part is basically a wide dirt road, but it gets progressively steeper as we climbed. There are some giant wooden stairs that help with the steepest parts. I found them a bit challenging for those of us with short legs. Bella was far ahead most of the time breaking trail for us. She got along well with Lola, Jennifer's dog. It started to rain just as we got close to the top of the tram. It was kind of nice because even though it was a cool and cloudy day, climbing a steep trail got kind of warm. The rain was helpful to cool us off. We checked out the restaurant and bar at the top and decided to ride the tram down, rather than negotiate the steep trail down in the rain. They allow dogs on the tram, but only if they all can fit in their single kennel together. By now, Lola and Bella were best buddies, and they sat quietly in the kennel, although looking a bit quizzical wondering why they were suddenly in a kennel. The ride down only took about 5 minutes. The views on the trail were fabulous, in spite of the marginal weather. It was about 3 miles one way with an elevation gain of 2100 feet. Not terribly difficult but a very nice workout with lovely views.