Above Summit Lake

I hiked the beautiful switchback trail that begins just before Summit Lake on the Hatcher Pass Road.  It quickly gets steep and rocky but gives spectacular views in all directions while hiking in the rocks on the upper ridge.  I chose this trail because I wanted to get a good hill workout.  Nothing quite like climbing a mountain to get a hill workout! It was only 2 1/2 miles, but it gave me a couple of hours of strenuous exercise.  It was very cold and windy up there though.

Summit Lake View

Lazy Mountain Climb

I'm long overdue for climbing Lazy Mountain. I think it's been quite a few years since I've been up there.  I got tired of waiting to find someone willing to climb it with me.  I just grabbed my pack and hiked it alone.  There is a new trail called Lazy Moose that is a couple of miles longer, that starts at the bottom and joins the old trail at the halfway picnic table.  I took the old trail because it is the one I am familiar with. It's just as steep as ever.  I was disappointed that I was very slow and easily out of breath while climbing it.  I think I've really gotten quite out of shape.  Instead of the usual 2 hours to the summit it took 3 1/2.  But at least I wasn't forced to turn back.  Out of curiosity, I chose the new route on the return.  It's a lovely trail with mostly gentle switchbacks.  But it is longer.  I think I''l likely stick with the old route simply because it's a better workout.  I need all the workouts I can get.  I really want to climb Matanuska Peak but I feel a little more nervous doing that solo.  There have been many bear attacks lately, plus it's a pretty long trail with potential for injury while on the rocks near the summit.  I'll likely end up doing it solo soon though.

Eklutna Lake

I wanted to get in some hiking today.  I had hoped to climb Lazy Mountain but as soon as I picked up snacks for the climb, it started raining.  I had also just bought new hiking boots.  My old ones had caused a nasty sore on my little toe.  So I checked out the Keen brand in the store here in Palmer.  They have a substantially wider toe base, so I left my old ones in their donation bin and walked out with some new ones.

I walked the Eklutna Lakeside Trail.  My intention was to go to Bold Creek at mile 5.  But at mile 4 some bikers told me they had just encountered a bear.  I walked on for a short distance then decided it just wasn't worth the risk of running into him while I'm hiking alone.  So, I turned back at that point.  It turned out to be a lovely day.  Quite cloudy but still with lots of sunshine peeking through.  I got in another 8 miles and my toe still hurt but probably didn't sustain more damage since my toes have a lot of room in the new boots.

Wolverine Creek

I got out for a lovely 5 mile run along Wolverine Road this morning.  Perfect temperature.  But the hills sure killed me.  I really am so out of shape, especially hill running shape.  I don't know how I'll be able to do hill running in the flat lands of Deadhorse in September, but I sure need to start increasing my mileage.  I ran to the creek then up to the big carrot on the top of the hill.  It was a nice run and I feel somewhat inspired anyway.

Full Moon 50 K

I flew down to Little Rock, Arkansas to attempt to run the Full Moon 50 K on Saturday night.  It was in the 90s at 7 pm when we started.  The heat really didn't bother me too much, but the trail was quite hilly.  As usual, I was quickly in last place.  They had a time limit of midnight at the turnaround.  Unfortunately I was just a couple of minutes too slow.  So they stopped me and I had to settle for only 25 K.  Since I was only a couple of minutes over, they may have let me slide, but I was so tired and moving so slowly at that point that we all knew I would not have made the next time limit of 2 pm at the 25 K turnaround point.  That would have only given me 2 hours to run 8 miles.  If I had felt it was possible I may have asked them to let me continue, but it was probably wise to stop.

I really didn't feel too badly about it, even though of course I was disappointed.  I knew the heat would be a factor, plus I also know I'm getting pretty slow.  I plan to be more conscientious in my training now.  I'm going to run the Central Asian Challenge, with Z Adventures in October.  It's a 5 day series of 5 marathons in 5 countries. 
Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
I really do want to be able to finish them all, but if I don't, at least it will be fascinating to visit those countries.

Williwaw Lakes

I went on a beautiful hike with the Walkabouts hiking group today.  It was raining at home and the forecast was also for rain.  I really was prepared for the worst.  But instead, when we got to the Williwaw Lakes trail head, there was no rain, only some clouds.  It was a little chilly at times mainly due to fairly strong winds.  But it was lovely up there all day.  It's a gentle uphill climb for nearly 9 miles and my GPS showed 16.71 miles when we returned to the cars.  It really was just what I needed today.  I'm planning to run a 50K race in Arkansas next weekend, so it was a good workout in preparation for that. 

We saw huge bull moose resting in the grass along the way.

Here are three of us huddled behind a big rock trying to stay out of the wind.

Gold Mint Trail

I spent most of today cutting a fallen birch tree with my chainsaw, then dragging it through the woods with my plastic sled. After about 6 hours of that, I was ready for a break. 

It has been a beautiful day, too nice to waste cutting wood and cleaning up the woods. So I drove up to Hatcher Pass and went on a spectacular hike on the Gold Mint Trail. It was so green with wild flowers everywhere. It was great to be in the woods without needing to cut out all the dead and fallen trees.  Just an afternoon to enjoy nature and get in 4 miles of exercise.

Twin Peaks Trail

I was so tired from the last two days but couldn't pass up the chance to go for a hike with my friend Diane. I figured we would just walk the flat Lakeside Trail but it can be kind of noisy on Sundays because they allow 4-wheelers on Sundays.  So we elected to do the steep uphill climb to the overlook.  It was beautiful as usual.  Lots of flowers, but also lots of wind and very cloudy. Our beautiful week of 80 degrees is over and we are expecting a week of rain.  We did have a few sprinkles on the way down.

Hatcher Pass Marathon

What a tough Marathon!
I finished last but somehow I did manage to finish.  It's an uphill marathon, 25 miles up to the 4000 foot pass then a little over 1 mile downhill to the Independence Mine parking lot. There were only 39 full marathon finishers.  Everyone else was doing the 3 person relay.  It was my 4th time to run the race, and it was also my slowest.  It probably didn't help that I kayaked down the Little Susitna River for about 6 hours the day before.  That was fun but lots of work to avoid fallen trees and sweepers.

But I'll probably be crazy enough to try it again next summer.

Staggering to the finish!