The Perch

 I hiked to the Perch along the Crow Pass Trail with the Valley Wanderers today. Pam and her dog joined us. Another dog friend of Bella's, Biscuit also joined us. The trail was almost completely dry except for a few small spots. There is a new section of the trail that starts shortly after Echo Bend, and we used it today. It is a bit more difficult than the old trail because of many ups and downs and lots of rocks to negotiate. But I think it is a bit more beautiful. It offers several nice overlooks where we have great views of the Eagle River and the mountains. It was a nice partly cloudy day, but the wind was really strong, especially when we were close to the river. We didn't linger for very long on the perch mainly because of the icy wind. On our return, a passing runner advised us that he had just seen a black bear with 3 cubs 1/4 mile ahead of us. That was our sign to put our dogs back on their leashes. We never did see the bears, and they had moved on before we reached that spot. I was getting tired by the time we reached our cars, after the 9.3-mile hike. But it really felt good to get out for a long hike. Especially without dealing with snow and muddy conditions for a change. Spring is finally on its way.

Twin Peaks Trail

 After dragging gigantic log rounds through the woods for several hours yesterday, I took another rest day from the wood pile. I hiked with Pam and our dogs up the Twin Peaks Trail to the second bench, we were both pleasantly surprised that there was almost no snow or mud along the trail. We did find a small section of snow just below the second bench, and a little bit of mud just below that. But I'd heard it was all post holing through snow just last week. It was very cloudy but at least we didn't encounter any rain. I always love the view of Eklutna Lake from the first bench overlook. There was still too much snow to continue past the second bench to the ridge, so we turned back at the second bench. The dogs had a great time running ahead and exploring all the interesting smells along the trail. I enjoyed being far away from the wood pile!

Long Lake Loop Hike

I took a break from cutting and splitting fallen trees and went for the 4.5-mile hike around the Long Lake Loop at Matanuska Lakes with my friend Pam and our dogs.  It was a really nice day, and we managed to avoid any rain. Most of the trail was clear of mud, but we did find a few muddy spots we had to avoid. I really enjoyed getting a workout for my legs instead of just my arms and my aching back. I could tell that our dogs were very happy to go along with us too. Especially Bella. She's not been very happy with me for spending so much time out in the yard doing spring chores. We're both ready to start doing our typical summer hiking and running schedule.

Bodenburg Butte

 I've spent the last week doing massive yard projects. Cutting, hauling, splitting and stacking wood from a fallen spruce tree was the toughest 3-day project. I also had to plant new lawn in a large part of my backyard after having a gigantic tree stump removed. I had to take a break from all that. Plus, I think Bella was starting to hate me for not taking her hiking. We did the little 3-mile round trip climb of the Butte. The trail is now in great condition, with only a few muddy spots and small puddles. I really enjoyed the climbing workout instead of the obnoxious things I have been doing all week. When we reached the top, the wind was ferocious! So, we didn't stay up there very long. We did meet a few people on our way down, but I'm sure none of them lingered up there for very long either. It was beautiful as always with views of the snow-covered mountains and the Knik Glacier in the distance. Afterwards, I went home and finished splitting and stacking the rest of the spruce tree. Bella seemed very happy too!

Bella acting as a wind gage

Wolverine Creek Run

 Bella and I just ran from the house along Wolverine Road to the creek and back. It was a test run wearing my new road running shoes. They felt pretty good. Bella refused her breakfast this morning, but I see she gobbled it right up after running 4 1/2 miles!

Matanuska Lake Trails

 The trails are still very muddy, and it is suggested folks stay off of many of them until conditions dry out. I knew the Matanuska Lake Trails were not too bad in most places right now, so I went with the Valley Wanderers on a 6-mile hike in that area. It was a very winding combination of parts of the Long Lake Loop and the Bear Berry Loop. We did encounter a couple of huge puddles that we needed to avoid by climbing a bit through the brush. But otherwise, the trails were pretty good. We did have to climb around a giant fallen tree on the Long Lake Loop Trail that wasn't even there a few days ago when I hiked it with Pam. I had taken a load to the landfill earlier and it was raining, so I planned for rain by wearing my rain jacket and making Bella wear her matching raincoat. At least she was colorful and easy to spot as she raced on ahead of the rest of us. But we didn't even get a single drop of rain. We were not at all disappointed about that. We had our lunch at the picnic table on the Bear Berry Trail with the awesome views of Pioneer Peak. It was great to be out with the group again.

Long Lake Loop

 I hiked the Long Lake Loop with my friend Pam and our 2 dogs today. I'm still getting over a bad cold but felt pretty good just doing our 4-mile hike around Long Lake. We did find a few very muddy places but were able to navigate around them. It looked like it really wanted to rain on us, but we only got a few little grains of snow that pelted us for a few minutes. It did make for an interesting, although rather threatening, cloudy sky. Our dogs were happy and very muddy by the time we got back to our cars. Bella is ready for another bath.