Matanuska Peak Climb

 Michele Kamilos from Valley Wanderers had asked me a couple days ago if I would like to climb Matanuska Peak Wednesday. I pondered for a minute, since I knew I had the marathon on Saturday and planned to hike to Snowbird Hut on Monday. I felt I might be pushing my luck, throwing in another brutal event without enough time to recover from the first of the 3. But I love climbing Matanuska Peak, so of course, I said "Sure, meet me at 7 at Smith Road." I was still exhausted but managed to get there by 7. We had a wonderful hike up the Matanuska Peak Trail. I'd heard the McRoberts Creek Trail was terribly overgrown, so we chose the longer of the 2. We got to the picnic table fairly quickly and took a nice break. Then up the trail we went. Bella was doing great. We started to slow down some when we hit the slippery sliding scree field, but it wasn't too bad. The scree turns to rocks which turn to progressively larger boulders as you climb. The trail, if there actually is one, disappears into the boulders. There are occasional stakes marking the route, but they're not always terribly helpful. It became quite a struggle finding a good way up through the rocks. Bella tried to lead, but sometimes got separated, then tried to get back to us. She's pretty amazing, but some of those rocks were too big for her to jump. I found myself occasionally picking my way back to her to give her a boost up to the next rock. This activity was really tiring but Michele and I steadily made our way to the summit. We had the entire summit to ourselves and were relaxing and enjoying the extraordinary view. Then suddenly a dog appeared. We both recognized that dog, and then the second dog and Karen and her guy friend John. Karen was shocked to see me up there. She and her 2 dogs had been with us on the Snowbird hike. She was surprised I had gone on that one so soon after the marathon. You just never know who you might find at the top of a mountain. We had a nice visit with them, then we reluctantly left our magnificent perch on top of the peak and started our harrowing rock jumping descent. Bella kept trying to take a direct route straight over the north face, causing me to scream out her name and yell "get over here!" She did pretty well, jumping from boulder to boulder, often finding her own route and avoiding what we had chosen. Then we hit the scree. It wasn't nearly as bad on the way up, but with a gravity assist, it is very easy to slip out of control on the way down. We got very tired negotiating that section. I got a little ahead of Michele and found a big rock outcropping to wait a couple of minutes for her. I could tell then that Bella was getting very tired. That's a lot of work for a tiny dog. We took a short break when Michele joined us, and we continued down through somewhat better conditions. But Bella was now really slowing down. I put her in my backpack, and we worked our way towards the creek. I had given her the rest of my water but knew she probably needed more. She started squirming, so I let her walk some more and once at the creek she got a big drink. After that, Bella was able to make it on her own. We took our last big rest at the picnic table. Then we made good time to the end of the trail and our cars. Bella slept all the way home. It was a fabulous hike in every way. Even the struggles and the challenge added to the delightful experience. I know I'll be doing it again one day soon. It was Michele's first time up there and she's not so sure she'll repeat it. But that's what everyone says until they reflect on the amazing experience. I bet she'll be back. I know I will!