Eklutna Lake Cross Country Ski

 It was still very cold today, below zero but a lot warmer than a few days ago. But still below zero. We skied right on the frozen lake in several inches of fresh snow. We were the only people on the lake and made the first tracks in all the new snow. It was really perfect conditions. However, I have been having trouble with cold feet. So, the other day I purchased some electric socks and couldn't wait to try them out today. What a disappointment they were. They not only didn't keep my feet warm, I doubt they were even heating up at all. When back in the house they didn't even seem to warm up. My toes were so cold that I was a little concerned that I had sustained a little frostbite. But they did warm up on the way home, so no actual damage was done. But those socks are now in the trash! It was really beautiful out there and I was enjoying that part of the ski trek with Pam and our 2 dogs. We decided to turn around because my dog, Bella was frequently stopping and acting like she had already had enough no matter how beautiful it was. I ended up carrying her back for at least 1mile in my backpack. Our total mileage was 4.5 miles. When we got back to the cars, Pam and I were both quite cold. I think I'd like to wait until warmer weather before attempting that trip again. We did encounter a young couple pulling a sled with a young child heading out to one of the cabins for the night. I also saw one biker off in the distance, but our paths never did cross. We left a nice trail for the next person wanting to ski or walk out there. 

Pam & Both Dogs

Bella

Bella

Twin Peaks Trail

 This was a bone-chilling hike up the Twin Peaks Trail with Pam. She had to leave her dog home, because she was having her monthly grooming. I was worried Bella would miss her and not want to walk with us. I was even more worried when our car temperatures said it was -17 Fahrenheit in the parking lot at Eklutna Lake. I tried hiking the Eklutna Lakeside Trail a week ago and Bella refused to walk. It wasn't nearly as cold that day, so I was prepared to carry her in my pack. But she surprised us both by running on up the trail like it was the middle of summer. She was dressed in her coat and bright red booties though. It was a gorgeous day in spite of the cold. Once we got to the first bench, we were all pretty cold. My feet and thumbs were numb even though I was wearing foot and hand warmers. Sometimes it's just too cold to be comfortable. So, we elected to not move on to the second bench. Bella was trying to continue on though. But by the time we got back to the car she was shivering and seemed quite happy to be back with the car heater. The lake is now frozen so we can look forward to skiing on the lake soon. The trail didn't have a lot of snow and was well traveled and hard packed. We did need our micro spikes on our shoes though.

Independence Mine

 First hike of the new year to watch the first light of the new year with the Valley Wanderers. We would need to spend a few more hours to actually see the sun itself, but we did see the first light of dawn. We met at 8 am and hiked up the closed road to the mine buildings in the icy cold and dark conditions. The temperature varied between -5 and zero on the hike but had warmed up to +11 by the time we got back to our cars. Since we started out in the dark, we all wore headlamps and some even wore Christmas lights. Bella wore her lighted harness. That was a good thing too, because she tended to run far ahead and would have totally disappeared except for her flashing multi-colored blinking harness. At least we always knew where she was. I did have to take a couple minutes out 3 times to replace escaping booties. But for the most part, they did stay on. She was mostly the leader and seemed to know exactly where we wanted to go. It was like the wise men following yonder star because we just followed her lead up the trail. I was so glad I didn't need to put her in my backpack. For being as cold as it was, she was a real trooper and did really well all the way. But she was shaking pretty hard and very happy when we got back to the car. It was only about a 2 1/2-mile hike, but in those temperatures and the dark, it was long enough. 

Happy New Year!

Bella Anniversary Hike

 This was just a short hike on a very cold day around Reflections Lake. It's only one mile around the lake, but at -10 degrees Fahrenheit Bella needed to wear her full winter clothes. This is the 2-year anniversary of Bella joining my family of just us 2. We've been walking around this little lake so many times I could never begin to keep count. She loves to sniff every blade of grass, tree, bush or anything else, making many stops all the way around. It's a popular place for dog walkers, so she also enjoys barking at all of the other dogs.

Independence Mine Hike

 I had originally considered hiking early this morning around Reflections Lake with the Valley Wanderers, at 8:30 this morning, in the dark, to watch the first rays of light at 10:30 during sunrise, to celebrate winter solstice. However, the last 2 days I had hiked around Reflections Lake, I found it was mostly glare ice. With my worn-out micro spikes on Wednesday, I had to get off the trail and into the trees to keep from falling over on the ice. On Thursday, yesterday, I wore my new spikes and was able to carefully make my way around the lake. But it was still treacherous. I pondered the idea of trying to negotiate that icy trail in the dark, coupled with the forecast for subzero temperatures. I decided to opt out of that idea. By morning, when Palmer was 5 degrees below zero, the rest of the group had made the same decision. I normally hike with my friend, Pam on Fridays and she suggested a short walk up to Independence Mine with our dogs. We met at 10 am. It was now fairly light, but the sun had not actually risen when we arrived. It was below zero at my house and my car thermometer varied from -5 to 0 as I drove to the mine parking lot. It was actually 3 degrees above zero when I arrived. But there was a substantial wind blowing, which I knew would make it seem a whole lot colder. 

I had bundled Bella up in her warm coat and booties, plus wore my warmest Canada Goose down Jacket and my new micro spikes. Pam and I braved the chill as our 2 dogs raced far ahead of us the entire way, frequently returning to make sure we were still coming. Our whole walk was about 2 miles, but our dogs surely ran at least 4. I think they had more fun than I've ever seen them have, racing full speed up and down the closed road. Bella suddenly launched off one of her booties. They are bright red, so I found it quickly. But soon after she managed to discard the other 3. I picked them up and hoped she wouldn't get too cold. Both dogs seemed to do fine, but when we got back to our cars, I could see that Bella was pretty cold. As it turned out, our hike far surpassed the Valley Wanderer's original plan. As we progressed, we finally climbed into the rising sun right at the mine buildings. It was a gorgeous clear morning, and it was a spectacular Winter Solstice Sunrise. We stopped at Hatcher Pass Lodge to grab a bite to eat but found that it was closed today. That was a little disappointing, but our short little hike was wonderful.

Eklutna Lakeside Trail

 The wind in Palmer has been blowing between 50 and 90 miles per hour for a week. I wanted to hike up at Eklutna Lake with my friend Jennifer, but we didn't know what horrors we might find there. We both had driving horrors just getting there. She came from Anchorage and I came from Palmer. But we both survived the harrowing drive in. It was dead calm at the lake. Unfortunately it was also only 6 degrees, but we and our dogs hiked to the cabin a little past mile 3 and back. Her dog, Lola was wearing her winter coat and Bella had on her coat and booties. We were both so bundled up that we managed to stay fairly warm. The trail conditions were great with just some hard packed snow and very little ice. We did both wear our micro spikes though. We took a nice break at the cabin then turned around. She was a little late meeting up and it meant we ended up getting back after sunset. But it was still light enough to find our way back even without headlamps. The lake has a little ice now but still has lots of open water. It will likely be at least another month before it is safe to walk or ski on the lake. Jennifer had never been up there in the winter and really enjoyed the beauty of winter up there. It is really gorgeous when there is snow on the ground and the lake is still open showing amazing reflections. It was wonderful to get away from the wind for a couple of hours. I thought my car might blow off the road on the way home, but I managed to keep it under control I hope this wind stops soon.

Long Lake Loop Again

 We.ve had about 4 days of extreme winds with 3 1/2 days of no power. Trees are down everywhere from the 80-90 mph windstorm. Pam and I usually hike on Fridays, so we decided to repeat the hike we did last Friday. My back still hurts, but that trail is not terribly steep. We still walked the whole loop of about 5 miles. It was very icy today and my rather worn-out micro spikes were not doing a very good job negotiating the icy conditions. I decided to buy a new pair as soon as we got back. Pam had nice new ones and had no problem. The wind has mostly subsided, but it certainly left a path of destruction along this trail. There were trees down across the trail all over. Sometimes we had to crawl under them, other times we could climb over, and sometimes we had to find a totally new path around them. Our dogs were small enough that they could usually just go under them. It was only around 10-15 degrees and even with multiple layers, after a while, we were all getting a little chilly and glad to get back to the cars. More wind is forecast for the next few days, so it was nice to get in at least a short hike in between windstorms. Still hardly any snow, with not much hope for a white Christmas. That's annoying considering most of the lower 48 states are having tons of snow, along with other areas of Alaska. I guess we're just going to have a windy Christmas! Not what I've been dreaming of.