Gold Mint Trail

 I usually hike with my friend Pam on Fridays. Today she wanted to hike at Gold Mint because we haven't been up there since winter. It looked like rain and was even raining a little at home. But we figured since it's a fairly flat trail, we could easily turn back if the weather turned bad. Or, if Bella or I got too tired from climbing Matanuska Peak 2 days ago. But we all felt great. Our dogs charged ahead as always, and we kept on going until we reached the beaver ponds. The trail sort of disappears into water at mile 5 because of the beaver's handiwork. We always turn back there rather than try to pick our way around the water. I really want to go the whole 9 miles out to the Mint Hut someday and camp. But today was certainly not going to be that day. Especially since I plan to hike Reed Lakes with the Valley Wanderers tomorrow. But every time I go out this trail, I start daydreaming of how I really want to either go out to that hut or better yet, do the Bomber Traverse. Maybe someday. I'd prefer to do that longer hike with another person, but I never seem to have any takers when I toss the idea out to my friends. If it wasn't for the beaver pond problem, I'd probably have gone for it solo. Maybe next year. I say that every year! So, we did our usual 5-mile turnaround point and headed back before the rain caught up with us. It's so beautiful out there any time of the year. But right now, it is very green with wildflowers everywhere. I'm not sure if a 10-mile hike was the wisest thing for me to do with a big hike scheduled for tomorrow and still recovering from the marathon, Snowbird and Matanuska Peak. But oh well, I sure didn't want to turn around until we had to.