Lazy Mountain Climb

 Kim led the Valley Wanderers today up the back side of Lazy Mountain along the Matanuska Peak Trail. Rosemary and I were the only ones who joined her. Several of the others were attending the "No Kings" rally in Wasilla. The 3 of us just weren't feeling like devoting this lovely day to politics. I do agree that I'm extremely unhappy that our government has taken on authoritarianism, but Sometimes I just want to get away from all of the depressing politics of today. Being out in nature is where I'm the happiest. Today was one of the best days for being outdoors in the crisp fresh air with a couple of good friends and our dogs. It was really cold, only 10 degrees when we started at 10 am. But once the sun started to reach us, we warmed up quite a bit. Past the area we call Stonehenge we started to feel some chilly winds, but that subsided when we reached the top ridge. It was a little more treacherous than in the summer, because of patches of snow on the highest rocks. I was the only one willing to venture up to the true summit. I have a compulsive urge to reach the very top and attempt a 360-degree video. I reached my goal. Bella disappeared as she ran back down to join the others. I very carefully picked my way down through the rocks for the descent. It was as beautiful as I have ever seen up there today. The mountains dressed in show makes the view so much more spectacular than the typical summer view. I love being up there when it is still basically winter, even though it is a few days past official spring. At 10 degrees this morning, I think actual spring is a few weeks off yet. The trail was in excellent condition with hard packed snow and was perfect for micro spikes. We reached our cars at the Smith Road trailhead fairly quickly. It was a little over 6 miles total distance and took us about 4 hours.

Kim and her dog Silvia

Bella

Matanuska Peak from Lazy Summit

Bella and Me

Kim and Silvia

Ski on Mud Lake and Gull Lake

 I went with my friend Pam and of course our 2 dogs to ski on Mud Lake again. It’s still terribly windy in both Palmer and Wasilla. But the lakes are in the Butte area which is always spared by the wicked Matanuska North Wind. We found it to be nice and calm and with a mild temperature in the bright sunshine. I’m certainly getting this route cemented in my mind after 4 times exploring out there. It’s just so breathtaking that it’s hard to keep myself from coming back. I am looking forward to coming back and doing at least part of the route in my kayak after the snow and ice are all gone. 

Government Peak

 It's a very windy and cold but also a very sunny day here in Palmer. I hiked with the Valley Wanderers to the second picnic table on Government Peak. We were mostly out of the major wind, but even at the table we were starting to feel it. We expected to need snowshoes and we all carried them. But we found it was possible to get by without them, so they were just along for the ride to build character! I was glad Bella wasn't complaining of the cold or tiredness from yesterday and requiring me to carry her. Then it would have been quite the operation, since the snowshoes were riding in the pack I use to carry the dog. She was the leader most of the way. Apparently, she has memorized the route since we have hiked that trail many times. She did great, even when she sometimes fell into deep holes and had to drag herself out. I think she enjoyed the trip.

Mud Lake and Gull Lake Ski

 I went back to Mud Lake to see if the conditions have changed since last week. It was another perfect bright sunny day. I tracked mostly the same route I skied last time. I was hoping to find a way to cross over to Jim Lake. But I didn't find any snow machine trails or ski trails that seemed to lead in that direction. Although I do know approximately where I would need to go if I had enough time. I got a very late start today so didn't try breaking a trail through the snow to find a way. Bella got very upset at the start and even ran almost all the way back to the car. There is a shooting range about a half mile down the road from the Mud Lake parking lot. Today it was very busy there and the noise of the gunshots was really scaring her. I had forgotten my running belt so at first, didn't know how I could put her on the leash and still hold onto my ski poles. But I found that I could just put her retractable leash into my pocket and zip it up. It took a lot of coaxing and a few dog treats, but I finally got her to walk along beside me. I kept her on the leash the whole time because I didn't want her running back to the car again. Once we got fairly far away from the parking lot, the sound diminished and she didn't seem concerned about it anymore. The groomed trails were not as pristine as they were last week, but I still found they were good skiing. I got a nice workout for a little over 6 miles and just enjoyed being outdoors in the sunshine.

Skeetawk Patrolling

 It was another beautiful day to Ski Patrol up at Skeetawk Ski area. It was only 5 degrees when I got there but once the sun came up, it started to really warm up. I like to ski on Sundays because I reserve Saturdays to hiking with the Valley Wanderers. It also tends to be slower on Sundays. I skied hard most of the day. But in the afternoon, Max, the Skeetawk Patrol Manager offered to drive me up to the upper mountain on the snow machine to where the Snow Cat takes people who don't mind spending a huge sum to get a little longer run. I had never been up there to have the pleasure of skiing down. I had also not been on a snow machine since 1987! Max likes to drive fast and I hopped onto the back of the snow machine, and he whisked me quickly around the curves to where I got to hop off. The ride up was almost as much fun as the ski down. The trail up there is freshly groomed, and it was a fabulous ski down. Max sped down below and took a video of me skiing down. That was kind of fun since I've never seen myself downhill ski. At least I didn't have a horrible crash requiring the Ski Patrol to rescue me. I'd hate to have to rescue myself. I felt quite energized after that run down and went back to the lift to do as many more, shorter runs as time allowed until sweep time. It was a really great day.

Max Coffey

Eklutna Icebreaker 10-Mile Race

 It was kind of hard to drag myself out of my bed this morning. I was still kind of tired from yesterday's 6-mile hike. But with a little caffeine, I perked right up. I met Alice down at the end of Eklutna Lake Road and she rode up to the Eklutna Lake Trailhead with me. I have the parking sticker, and a better car for negotiating the icy road. It was only 3 below zero when we arrived. That was a bit disconcerting. We both worried if we would be wearing the right combination of layers to be out there for 10 miles. I had on my Ice Bug running shoes and micro spikes over them. Alice just wore her warm winter boots. But she found they were not comfortable at all for actual running. My feet, however, immediately froze and I never felt them again until I was back down to the end of the road to deliver Alice back to her car. I was getting worried about frostbite, which was actually helpful for the race. It made me run a lot faster than I probably would have if I had been more comfortable. We had to run on the lower trail most of the time. The ATV Trail was in great condition except for a couple of huge ice flows. We managed to carefully cross those without incident. But the lower trail was loose snow with footprints through it and extremely rough. It was difficult to walk on it let alone run on it. But I did my best to run most of the way. I was usually a little ahead of Alice, but she always caught up with me. I'm a very slow runner in any condition, but I was much slower today. It was beautiful out there and we both stopped to take a few pictures. We had 4 hours to complete the 10 miles, and we only took 3.5 hours. We heard numerous grumbles from other runners, and especially from the poor souls who had chosen to run the 20-mile option. I'm glad I didn't choose that race. 10 was plenty for both me and Alice. It was a beautiful day and did warm up to almost 20 degrees. Only my feet and my face were cold. But I don't see any frostbite. It was a great workout and fun seeing other familiar faces out on the course.

Alice

High Ridge and Biard Lakes Loop Trail

 This was a lovely 6-mile trek through the snow with Pam and our dogs. It was a lot longer than what I had hoped to do today since I'm planning to run the Eklutna 10-mile race tomorrow. But it's such a beautiful day and it's what Pam wanted to do. It's also one of my favorite local hikes. I especially like it because not very many people use it. It's not officially part of the Crevasse Moraine trail system, but the only way to access it is via an unmarked trail off one of several trails within that system. We accessed it off the Outer Loop Trail, where I had first encountered it. The Outer Loop was freshly groomed, in fact, we had to step aside for the groomer to pass by. Our footing was much better on that trail but did deteriorate significantly once we got onto the unmarked trail. I had my AllTrails app going in case we lost track of the correct trail. There were tracks from other hikers, but I don't like to depend completely on tracks through the snow. They did end up following the correct trail. Once along the shoreline of High Ridge Lake, the trail was quite wind-blown. We ended up post holing through some wind drifts that completely obliterated the original tracks. But it wasn't too difficult to find the correct path. The app was really helpful when we came to trails branching off the main trail. I am familiar with most of them, but Pam is not. The app kept us always on the right path. I liked that I was able to zoom in and see the actual name of the trails that branched off back to Crevasse Moraine. I had walked there using a couple of them on other hikes. Pam and I had come there via the Old Cat Track last summer. I recognized that steep branch right away. We were very happy to finally reach the little blue chair at the beautiful overlook over Biard Lake. One of the arms has been broken off, which is kind of sad. I found that on my hike there back in January. I'm sure there's an interesting story behind it. Soon after that we encountered a guy with a couple of dogs. Our dogs had the usual conversation with them as we passed on by. It was nice to finally get back to the Outer Loop and onto the hard packed groomed trail. It was a great hike as always, even through the loose snow.