Pepper Peak

 There is a really silly rule here in Alaska. South of Anchorage and north of Anchorage you can put on studded tires September 15th. But in the Municipality of Anchorage, they can't go on until October 1st. I needed to put them on to go to Fairbanks last week because there has been snow through the passes. 

Today our Valley Wanderers had planned to hike the Twin Peaks Trail with a possibility of going all the way up to Pepper Peak. Since my studded tires are already on, I needed to carpool from the park-and-ride since the trail is in the Municipality. Jane drove and I went with her, Judith and Sandy. They were not able to hike all the way to Pepper Peak due to personal time constraints. Chris, Meg, and Madeline from Anchorage also met us up at the trailhead. Chris had gone ahead, and we figured he was up on top of Pepper long before we even got to the upper overlook after the 2nd bench. I was disappointed to find that even the two ladies from Anchorage didn't want to climb Pepper. Up on the high ridge overlook, Bella suddenly took off uphill towards a hiker descending. That was Chris. He had not gone to the summit but had just hiked partway up. I mentioned how I wish I could hike up Pepper, and he said he would like to go. Of course, my car was back in Palmer at the park-and-ride. There is cell service up on the ridge, so I called my friend Mark and asked if he would be willing to meet me at the bottom of the road and take me to my car in a few hours so I could climb up with Chris. He said sure, since I am so often taking him to car appointments etc. We waved goodby to the others and Chris, Bella and I took off uphill to the top. Bella of course ran ahead and was always far above us. I was worried that I would be too slow for Chris but we both kept a good pace, and I don't think he had to slow down much for me. I had forgotten how difficult the top part of the climb is, but it was quite fun and challenging. There are long sections of steep rock and loose scree to negotiate. But none of it is really technical, although one needs to exercise care to avoid nasty falls. We had amazing views of Eklutna Lake and the surrounding peaks all the way to the top. We did find some snow on the top, but only a few inches. Bella enjoyed eating the snow. We took lots of pictures and ate some snacks. I called Mark to update our location. Then we picked our way carefully down through the rocks and scree. I worried that the descent would be too nasty, but it really wasn't bad at all. For me, it is better and easier simply because I'm no longer out of breath like on the steep uphill. Once back on the upper ridge above the 2nd bench, I called Mark with an update. We chose the faster steeper straight down trail to the 1st bench. I had on my ice bug studded shoes, but although they were mostly great on the damp slippery trail, I did fall a couple of times. But nothing serious. That steep trail cuts off at least a mile of the descent, but it is very steep. Once at the bench, it was easy sailing down the Twin Peaks Trail to the parking lot. Chris drove me down to the turnout at the bottom of the road where Mark was waiting. I'm so happy that I got the chance to hike this amazing trail once again. It is so beautiful and wonderfully challenging.

Chris & Bella on the summit

Bella giving me kisses on the summit

Video on the summit

Gold Cord Lake

 I heard that Independence Mine will be closing on September 30th. They plan to close the gate up to the mine for the winter that evening. I heard there has been some snow up there, so thought I would take advantage of the open gate and make a quick run up there to hike to the lake. Once the gate closes you have to walk at least another mile to the trailhead. This is a fun hike for Bella because it's very interesting and there are lots of other dogs. She finds lots of fascinating things to sniff all the way up to the lake. The trail is only about one mile long, but it is steep, muddy, rocky and sometimes very slippery. I used my ice bug studded shoes to see how they would work on the slippery trail. I found that they were wonderful. No slipping at all even on the worst sections. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the blue sky and bright sunshine made for a very pleasant little hike. There is a little snow up there, but it's too early for the lake to be frozen. We walked partway around the lake and took a nice snack break on a big rock. Then we walked on down, and Bella happily greeted all the other hikers and dogs on our way down. It's such a beautiful place. I love taking a little time to hike up there. 

Red Shirt Lake Hike

 It was pretty cool this morning but no actual frost. Only about 38 degrees when I left home. I hiked with a group of the Valley Wanderers along the Red Shirt Lake Trail to the lake. Lots of beautiful fallen leaves are on the trail. But along the lakeshore, most of the leaves have already fallen. There were still some very pretty spots along the trail where the golden leaves are still on the trees. It clouded up a lot more by the time we got back to our cars, but fortunately we didn't get any rain. Bella had 2 dog friends, Pam's dog Dahla and Michele's big dog Sasha were along. Bella mostly ran ahead on our way to the lake, but she stayed with me on the way back. A few hikers passed us carrying paddles because you can rent canoes there on the lake at the end of the trail. It's a very big lake so a person could spend quite a lot of time exploring the several islands and many little inlets and peninsulas along the lake shore. But we just walked the 6.2 miles out and back. I'd love to explore the lake with my kayak someday.

Lazy Mountain Climb

 I'm all rested up and recovered from the marathon so decided it's time to get out and keep on hiking. Bella and I climbed up Lazy Mountain along the steep Lazy Mountain Trail. It was kind of slippery but mostly dry.  I didn't try to push myself very hard but just did a steady saunter to the picnic table. There, I gave Bella a snack and myself a granola bar. We didn't linger long but continued on to the top. I felt much better after the food. Bella always stayed ahead of me. I had no need of bear bells because if I couldn't see her, I would find myself yelling her name. They say talking alerts bears to scramble away. So, that was my talking, since I was hiking alone. Quite frequently, I might add because she was constantly racing out of sight. One man passed us heading down while we were stopped at the picnic table and we had the rest of the mountain all to ourselves all the way to the top. It was so nice and calm, and a good temperature for climbing. I had worried that I might be cold since it was only 34 degrees when I woke up this morning. But it did warm up nicely. The light wasn't the best for photography because of the partial cloud cover. But there were some nice fall colors along the trail and scattered across the tundra. I took my usual 360-degree video on the top.

 

It was a little slippery due to the loose rocks and damp trail so once back down at the picnic table I put on my micro spikes. They were extremely helpful because I was now able to run almost the entire way down, even on the steepest sections. At least it wasn't muddy. That trail is horrid if it is muddy, but it was just damp hard packed dirt. I passed a couple of guys on their way up, who stopped to visit with Bella. She always makes a hit with everyone. She loves everyone. I ran into Meg Inokuma, one of my running hero friends. I often run into her on this trail. In fact, the first time I met her was on this trail. She's an amazing athlete who wins most of the races and climbs all the mountains. Bella managed to wade through the only muddy spot on the mountain and got to have a nice bath when we got home. 

I love the Lazy Mountain Trail because it is a tough workout but only about 4 miles long, giving me good mountain training without taking all day. Plus, it's so beautiful and just a couple miles from my house.

Equinox Marathon Fairbanks

 I ran marathon #174 today. It's a very tough race because it climbs a mountain and is mostly a rocky narrow mountain trail. We were lucky this year because it was cloudy and cool but no rain, wind or snow. There are interesting sections of the race, that have special names. The first one is called the Tunnel. It's a beautiful section that runs through a long stand of trees that form sort of a tunnel with their canopy of golden autumn leaves. At the top of the Tunnel is my favorite spot where you can view an expanse of fall colors covering the hills across the valley.

Soon after, you climb the Zipper, which is a twisty winding narrow collection of tree root obstacles that lead to the top of Ester Dome. The challenge there is to avoid tripping on the roots. Once up on top, you are greeted by the many communication towers that service Fairbanks.

Soon you reach the out and back section. It's now a winding trail of rocky road full of giant mud and water puddles. It was easy to navigate around the puddles and avoid the dread of wet feet. This section goes mostly downhill to the turnaround at about mile 15. There is a giant well supplied table of water and food at the turnaround. But then it's mostly uphill back to the summit again. Soon after the top, one heads down the steep road to everyone's least favorite section, the dreaded Chute. I actually look forward to that because at least, it's downhill. Very steep rocky and narrow downhill for about half a mile more or less following a powerline. I kind of hop and skip down this, trying not to fall and break bones. Of course, the fast and fearless mountain runners go flying down this like it's not even there. I'm always happy to get to the spot where the trail is once again mostly flat or slightly downhill and I can actually run at my slow but steady pace through the fallen leaves. It was really beautiful through this section because of the golden colors.

From this section on, it starts to feel like any other marathon, with sections of road, both paved and unpaved. The pavement felt kind of hard on my tired feet, but I do like the downhill aspect of it. There is another section of trail beneath a powerline, then through streets, bike trails, and the woods, to the roundabout, then up the hill through the grass to the finish line back at the University of Fairbanks.

I was faster than last year by 22 minutes, but still very slow. We are allowed 10 hours, and I finished in 8:18:41. But this year I didn't make first in my age group. I'm in the 75-79 group. A 75-year-old woman beat me by over an hour. Normally at the next decade I would move to the next age group of 80-84. But they don't continue at that point. If I make it next year, I'll probably still be in the 75+ group even though I will be 80. But I'm mostly just happy that at 79, I can still run at all. I am happy with my results and was very happy to get off my feet and back at my hotel with Mark and Bella who were waiting there for me. We will go on to travel to Delta then down the Richardson Highway to home the next day.

2nd in the 75-79 age group medal

Bodenburg Butte

 Took a short little 2.5 mile hike up the Butte today. When Bella was sick on Sunday, she refused to hike up the Butte. She is all better now and eating and keeping her food down. So, I figured she would be delighted to go hiking. To my surprise, she balked again just past the trailhead and refused to continue. I picked her up and carried her a short distance then put her back down. She still didn't want to walk. I knew she wasn't sick anymore, so I gave her a tug and said, "Let's Go!" she gave in and not only started walking, but she was also now pulling me on her leash. She trotted all the way to the top and ran all the way back down. So, I'm not sure what her issue is with the bottom of the Butte Trail, but it must not be anything too serious. I wonder if she sees ghosts of past hikers, or perhaps that area was once a Native American burial ground. Who knows? It was a gorgeous blue-sky day for a nice little hike. 

Craigie Creek Trail

 The trees are barely starting to turn gold here at home. So, I decided to drive up to Hatcher Pass and see if they are looking any better up there. I did see that most of the leaves are still green or have been blown off by the wind, which was a bit disappointing. It was very foggy and rainy down below but was mostly sunny up in the mountains. I continued up to Summit Lake then over the pass, thinking it might be more colorful on the Willow side of the pass. The trees are starting to turn on that side, but still not nearly close to peak foliage. I stopped at the Craigie Creek Trail and took a nice 4-mile round trip hike up the trail. That is a very rough ATV trail with huge rocks and gigantic puddles to negotiate. But Bella and I found our way around most of the puddles. She did just run through many of them, but I found my way through brush along their banks and didn't get my feet wet. We did have to move over a couple of times to let ATVs go by. But for the most part, we had the entire trail to ourselves. It's pretty desolate out there so I didn't plan to go very far. I turned around at 2 miles. I found one lovely little pond, and a few golden trees and golden bushes. The hillsides are colorful but it's still not quite full fall colors. It was a very pleasant little hike though. Bella seemed to enjoy it, especially when she got to chase a couple of ground squirrels. After we got back to the car, I drove the rest of the road down to Willow then on to home. There are some beautiful golden aspen trees along the way. But it will likely be another week or 2 before all the trees are autumn gold.

Lazy Mountain

 The Valley Wanderers hike for today was to Stonehenge, which is simply a flat spot with a lot of rocks and rock cairns along the trail from the Matanuska Peak Trail to the summit of Lazy Mountain. That stretch of trail is officially called the Lazy Mountain Southside Trail on the borough brochure. It was raining this morning, and we even considered scrapping the idea of hiking altogether. But it had improved by 8 am so we decided to go ahead and do the hike just to Stonehenge. It was just the 4 of us, Jane, Judith, Rabecca and me, plus Rebecca's dog and Bella. By the time we met at the end of Smith Road the sky was bright blue with just a few scattered clouds. It was chilly but perfect temperature for hiking. We walked up the McRoberts Creek Trail to the shortcut that leads up to the Matanuska Peak Trail then on to the wood tripod at the 9200-marker leading to the Southside Trail up to Stonehenge. We took a nice break on the rocks at Stonehenge and the others decided to head back down. I hate to stop at Stonehenge because it's only a 30-minute walk to go all the way to the summit of Lazy Mountain. I chose to continue. Bella and I reached the summit right at 12:30 and we had it all to ourselves. We spent a little time on the very top and I recorded a 360-degree video of the summit view. Then we headed back down. The best part of the view is that of Matanuska Peak, but clouds rolled in and obscured it. A little disappointing but it was still a lovely view of the surrounding mountains. Bella and I scurried back down through a bit of loose scree and a few muddy spots and were back to the car by 2:30. It was a perfect day and as always, a great 7-mile workout.