Hatcher Pass Marathon

 This was my 10th time to run this tough race up the Willow Fishhook Road from Shirleytown Road up over Hatcher Pass and down to the Hatcher Pass Lodge, 27 miles later. My friend Diane stayed at my house last night. She was visiting from New York after her move there a year ago. We did a short hike of Gold Cord Lake yesterday and she agreed to get up very early this morning and drive me to Willow to the marathon start. We left my car up at the lodge near the finish line last night so I could have a way home at the finish. Logistics are always a problem with this race since they don't have a shuttle and it's a long gravel road that takes over 1 hour to get back to the start line. My friend Alice also raced today. We both felt a bit intimidated by the hot sunny temperature and planned to take our time to avoid heat exhaustion. It was in the area of 75-80 degrees most of the way. At times we were blessed with a light breeze, but it was really hot. We stayed together and spent a lot more time fast walking than running. Every time we broke into a run, we quickly slowed down to the fast-paced walk again. This was my slowest Hatcher Pass Marathon yet. They do give us 9 hours, and we both came very close to not making that limit. We stayed together until right at the very end when Alice got a second wind and beat me by 2 minutes to the finish. I took 8 hours and 58 minutes to her 8 hours and 56 minutes. There were still a few hardy folks behind us who were just finishing up the 50-mile race. Close to half of the runners registered for the 50-mile race didn't even start and many of those who did, dropped out, likely due to the heat. I had forgotten that I had replaced my trail running shoes and, in my confusion, couldn't find them. I ended up using my street running shoes instead. They turned out to be a wise choice because they were very comfortable. I had no foot pain the entire way. Even though it is gravel, it's a very hard packed road so street runners were just fine even though I had always used trail runners in the past for this race. We couldn't have picked a more beautiful day and in spite of the heat, the sunshine was wonderful. We ended up simply turning it into a lovely 27-mile hike. We both enjoyed it more than any of the times we had pushed hard to try for a good finish time. It was the most fun I have ever had running a marathon. Alice is a great marathon partner. At the finish, I drove her back down to her car. Then she drove home to Anchorage, and I drove to Mark's house to pick up my dog, Bella and I finally got home at about 9:30 pm. It was a very long day. But so worth it! Marathon #177 for me.

Alice and me 

at the pass, about mile 24

McRoberts Creek Headwaters Hike

 This was an extraordinary adventure, especially since I was the official leader. I felt like it was the blind leading the blind. I have only done it once and without my AllTrails app, I doubt I could have found my way. Fortunately, Virginia and Cathy showed up and caught up with us by the time we reached the tripod at the junction of the McRoberts Creek and Matanuska Peak Trails. Virgina was the true leader. The McRoberts Creek Trail was somewhat overgrown and slippery and muddy in places. We stopped for pictures at the new bridge Virginia and Dan had put in over one of the bigger creek crossings. I did step into one hole that was obscured by vegetation, causing quite the bruise and scrape on my right lower leg. We took a short break at the picnic table. I was starving at that point and really wanted to have a bite to eat. But everyone took off, leaving me to scramble to get my pack on and gobble down one granola bar. I caught up with the others before the spot where we turned off the Matanuska Peak Trail and headed down towards McRoberts Creek. That spot is just past the first rocky gully beyond the picnic table. Virginia pointed out a circle of rocks from an old campfire well below us near the creek. That was the landmark we needed to head for. It was mostly soft tundra with a few brushy spots but no actual trail down to that rock circle. Soon after, we were walking along fhe creek through a combination of thick brush, boulders, soft tundra and steep side hills. Soon the beautiful waterfall came into view. Erin decided to jump across the creek at this point. It was moving far too fast for me to consider it, especially since I would need to get Bella across it somehow. I held her back with her leash, so she didn't try to negotiate it on her own. Most of the group stayed on my side of the creek. We hiked on up around a steep rock face to the area above the falls.  We gathered again by the creek above the falls and did finally discover a spot where we easily crossed the creek. From the other side of the creek, we wandered up towards the hills and the upper reaches of the creek. There are several tributaries that ultimately flow into McRoberts Creek. We followed the main one until we found where the water burst directly out of the ground. The map indicates that the creek continues further up the mountain, but it must be mostly underground from where we stood. Cathy and Virgina kept climbing up towards the clouds, and the rocky peak ahead of us. We wondered how far they intended to go. The rest of us were simply content to watch them and wait for their report before pushing up behind them. They soon returned with nothing to report that made us feel like continuing to scramble up there. The clouds were very low and were obscuring the peaks. Sadly, that did detract from the view that a clear day would have provided. Even Matanuska Peak never showed her face. After our exploring, we meandered down towards the Matanuska Peak Trail and eventually found ourselves back on it. Rather than tackle the steep muddy McRoberts Creek Trail again, most of us chose to take the Matanuska Peak Trail all the way down to the trailhead. It was a strenuous but very interesting and beautiful 10-mile hike. Now if I'm ever asked to be the leader again, I think I could find my way even without my faithful iPhone and the AllTrails app. But I'd for sure bring it with me just in case. It was very helpful especially in finding our way back to the main trail. 

Pam & Julia on Dan's new bridge

Portage Pass Trail

 My friend Diane is back in Alaska this week doing a little traveling. I met up with her today to hike the Portage Pass Trail. Every time I have tried to hike this whole trail it's been bad weather or no place to park or not enough time. I've been to the top of the pass several times but never all the way down to the lake. We caught the 2:30 tunnel release and easily found parking in the beautiful new parking lot. It's a beautiful sunny day and even kind of hot by Alaska standards. I brought some extra water for Bella because the trail was much drier than I have seen it in the past. She was very happy when we reached the tiny pond right at the top of the official Portage Pass. From there we went up to the lookout where I always seem to finish my hike. The view of the glacier is incredible from there, but it's still a mile or so down to the lake. We had plenty of time, so we decided to hike the whole 5-mile trail this time. It is a nice gentle not terribly steep descent over a very rocky path to the beach along Portage Lake. I was so excited to finally get to see it! The fireweed was in full bloom which made it even more beautiful. Bella enjoyed running around and drinking to her heart's content in the lake. The glacier was in full view and so much closer than the view from the overlook. It's sad how much it has receded during the 40 years I've lived here. In the old days you could actually see the glacier from the Visitor's Center parking lot. There were also gigantic icebergs floating in the lake in those days. Now the glacier has receded above the lake, so it is rare to see any icebergs. I did see a couple of small ones today, but it's very rare for one to reach the Visitor's Center anymore. It was hard to finally leave and start our hike back, but we wanted to catch the 7 PM tunnel release to drive back through the train tunnel to Portage from Whittier. It was so hot, I was sweating profusely and the bugs were terrible all the way back. I must have 1000 mosquito bites. But it was all worth it to finally reach the lake after so many tries over the years.

Notice Bella's little face peeking into the left side of this photo

April Bowl to Skeetawk via Government Peak

 This is always one of my favorite hikes. However, I have never gone down from Government Peak to Skeetawk Ski Area. I have only descended from the Government Peak summit via Blueberry Knoll or the Government Peak Race Trail. This route is a couple miles shorter than the Blueberry Knoll route but has more ups and downs and small peaks to climb on our way down the Frostbite Ridge. I joined the Alaska Wild Women group along with several of the usual Valley Wanderers. We left a few cars down below Skeetawk and carpooled up to the Summit Lake, Hatcher Pass, April Bowl parking area. There were so many cars, we were lucky to find places to park. It was a beautiful sunny Saturday, after weeks of rain. So, everyone was taking advantage of it. We had as many dogs as people! It was delightful how well they all got along and enjoyed running together. Even Bella was friendly to all of them. Although, she tended to be up with the leader and of course always well ahead of me. This route is very tricky once you leave the established April Bowl Trail and reach Hatch Peak. Up there we had great views even of Denali far in the distance. Descending from Hatch Peak we followed the primary ridge leading in the direction of Government Peak. There were lots of ups and downs and a considerable amount of rock climbing and scrambling. I had to let Bella run free, so she didn't drag me off my feet on the rocks. I did have to lift her over a couple of huge boulders, but for the most part she negotiated them far better than any of us humans. It always seems to take forever to finally reach the summit of Government Peak. There are so many rock precipices that we need to negotiate as we make our way to the final steep climb to the marker on the top. About halfway to the summit a small group of the Valley Wanderers caught up with us. They had planned a different hike and were going to head down an alternate ridge and not go to the peak. We had a brief break and visited with them before our final push to the summit. Our group all reached the summit fairly close together and took a nice long lunch break up there in the sunshine. Once we were all ready to start our descent to Skeetawk, Kim started out first. Of course, Bella followed her. That meant I had to follow close to Kim since I do like to keep my dog in sight. We hiked along the ridge and through the rocky boulder pile to the white box that is some sort of weather station. Kim and I were ahead of the others, but we could see them behind us. Isabel caught up with us and pointed the route out since neither of us had done this part of the hike. There really is no trail at this point. It was mostly just soft tundra vegetation, and we walked easily on it. Kim continued to lead along with her big white dog Sophia, and Bella. We made our way down the ridge, then up the next peak, then down the next ridge, from peaks to valleys along the ridge that seemed to drop off for a thousand feet or more. Isabel was not far behind us, but the rest of the group seemed to get farther and farther behind. The actual group leader with the most knowledge of the hike was with them, and Isabel had also done the route before. So, we moved along confidently. There was a beaten trail from other hikers beginning to show up so it was now fairly obvious where we needed to go. We took many breaks hoping the others might catch up. As we got closer to Skeetawk, we wondered how far back the rest of the group had fallen. Isabel called and found they were a long way behind, and one had been having knee trouble. It was now obvious we were going to have a very long wait at the bottom. Fortunately, after some discussion on the phone it was determined that there were enough cars down at Skeetawk that we didn't need to wait for the rest to reach us. We certainly didn't want to leave if they needed us to drive them back up to Summit Lake for their cars. We were all tired and our dogs were ready to go home once we made it through the muddy mess of the lower trails leading to the Skeetawk parking lot. After 7 1/2 miles and 5 1/2 hours we finally reached our cars and took our tired dogs and our tired bodies home. It was a fabulous hike. I'm not so sure that I prefer it to the Blueberry Knoll descent, but I think it was a bit more scenic. I'd for sure do it again though.

Frostbite Ridge

Ice Cream Cone Mountain

Head of Knik Glacier

Government Peak Summit with Bella and Me

Denali from Hatch Peak

April Bowl

Reed Lakes Trail

We couldn't decide where to go today because it was a terrible weather forecast but didn't look too bad up in the Hatcher Pass area. Julia. Pam and I went up to the Reed Lakes Trail with our 3 dogs. Due to the weather, we didn't plan to make it all the way up to the lakes. We planned to turn back when we reached the huge boulder pile. The boulders, and especially the creek crossings over the boulders can be quite challenging to dogs. Bella did do it last year, but I did have to hand her across a couple of spots. We made it to the boulder patch but only went as far as just above the first creek crossing. Today it was more like a raging river than a creek so it would have been extra tough. The weather was also moving in, so we turned back at that spot, which was a blessing since we reached the trailhead just as the rain did. It was beautiful as it always is up there. Our dogs had a wonderful time running ahead and back logging twice the distance of our 5.44 miles. Bella and Pumba ran down to the waterfall, so I followed them to get some pictures. we found an alternate trail that led back to the main trail where we rejoined the others. It was only a very short detour. Wildflowers were everywhere from all the rain we have been having. Shorter than ideal but still a very nice workout for all of us and all of the dogs.

Gold Cord Lake

 Today did not turn out the way we had expected. Our original hike was the traverse from Government Peak to April Bowl. I always prefer starting up at Summit Lake then hiking April Bowl up to Hatch Peak then crossing the ridge to Government Peak and going downhill on the Government Peak Race Trail or the Blueberry Knoll Trail. But due to the muddy trail conditions, Janice was leading and decided to avoid the steep muddy Government Peak Trail completely and just do out and back along the ridge from April Bowl to Government Peak and back. But the weather was not conducive to doing any of those options. Rain was forecast and it was already drizzling a little when we met at Turner's Corner. Only Julia and I joined Janice. Looking at the massive cloud banks ahead, we decided to just try for the simple 2.5-mile round trip climb up to Gold Cord Lake. It turned out to be a good choice because it was actually not socked in there, like pretty much everywhere else in the area. It wasn't even terribly muddy except in the one bad spot that is always that way. Julia brought her big dog, Pumba and Bella loved running along with him. They look kind of funny together due to their drastic size difference. We had the trail mostly to ourselves on the way up but did meet a number of families coming up on our way down. We let the dogs run free because it wasn't very crowded and they were behaving nicely. They did take off a couple of times across the tundra after a marmot or ground squirrel. But never caught one. Pumba always wears a muzzle so he would have been out of luck anyway. He's quite a gentle soul, but Julia says he does tend to get aggressive to other dogs at times. The lake is still mostly frozen, but the creek is running and there is now some open water on the lake. It's not quite summer up there yet.

Bodenburg Butte Hike

 It has finally stopped raining, so I took advantage of the dry weather and climbed the Butte with Bella. the trail was nice and dry until we reached the upper stairway. It was very muddy up there, with big puddles on each step. But I managed to keep my feet dry. Bella managed to have the muddiest feet I've ever seen though. There were quite a few people heading down as we climbed, so I did need to keep Bella on her leash. But once on top I let her go free. It was very windy up there but not terribly cold. So, we spent a little time up there just admiring the view. The clouds were starting to look pretty threatening, and I felt a few raindrops, so we headed down. I kept her off leash almost the whole way down because she tends to pull me. The stairs can be very slippery when wet, so I feel much safer if she is on her own and not dragging me precariously down the wet steps. I've noticed the wood on the main staircase is really starting to wear. To remain safe, most of the steps will need to be replaced fairly soon. The wood is starting to deteriorate. We ran most of the way down and managed to beat the rain. It felt great even though it is a very short climb, only about 2 1/2 miles round trip. It's still a nice little climbing workout. Bella needs her feet and belly washed now. Such a muddy mess she is!