Bella and I met Pam and her dog Dahla at the Matanuska Lakes Trailhead and took a nice 4.5-mile hike along our usual loop around Long Lake. I had a bad fall earlier this week when Bella yanked on her leash while I was walking on my icy boardwalk. I landed on my back hitting it really hard on the edge of the step right next to my spine. I've been pretty uncomfortable ever since. So, I didn't want to do a long, or hilly hike. I especially didn't want to do one where I might need to carry Bella. I didn't even want to carry my pack with snacks or water. We ended up walking farther than planned, but it was a lovely day, and it didn't seem to make my pain any worse. I let Bella run the whole way off leash. She wore her booties and her warm coat since it was in the mid-teens before we started. It was very cloudy but no wind. We managed to avoid the heavy fog down along the river. But the sun through the clouds was very beautiful.
