A beautiful sunny day to hike with my dog, Baby along the Eklutna Lakeside Trail. It did have some snow but not enough for skis. I just wore my winter snow boots because it was actually just an afterthought to drive up here and take a look. We walked a little over 3 miles.
Today was a bone chilling hike along the Turnagain Arm Trail from the Rainbow Trailhead to the McHugh Trailhead. On my way to the trail I stopped at McHugh and nearly got blown away by the wind that must have been in the area of 50 mph. I decided that I was not going to hike in that wind! Plus it was only 30 degrees without the wind chill. But since I was almost to the trail and was meeting with the Walkabouts hiking group, I decided to go ahead and meet there. It was about an hour and a half drive from home, so I hated to give up before even actually getting to the start. I had my dog with me and knew there was no way she would want to walk for 7+ miles in those conditions. As the others started arriving, I decided to go ahead and do the hike. But the dog made it perfectly clear that she wanted me to carry her. So, I packaged her up inside a fleece bag, wearing two layers of doggie clothes and put her inside my doggie backpack. She rode back there comfortably for the whole 7 miles about about 5 hours. We found that the trees did a pretty good job of sheltering us from the wind most of the way. But we stopped short of McHugh because we would have been forced to cross a steep rocky section that was quite exposed, party from loose rock, but also from wind that was almost enough to knock us over. We turned back at that point. But it really was a lovely hike, in spite of the wind and cold. I always enjoy hiking with the others. Due to Covid 19, precautions we all kept our masks on the entire way. At first I found it uncomfortable, but soon I got accustomed to it and nearly forgot I was wearing it.
I had to go to the Ski Patrol orientation meeting yesterday so couldn't go on the Walkabouts hike with my friends. My friend, Pam was also tied up yesterday. So we got together for our own hike today. It snowed several inches last night so we had to scratch our original plan of hiking Gold Mint up in Hatcher Pass. I have my studded snow tires on, but she doesn't. That road can get pretty slippery after a new snow. So we just met up at Matanuska Lake and did the route around Long Lake. There was snow on the ground and it was snowing quite hard the entire time. Baby doesn't seem to mind hiking on the snow, but when it is snowing hard, she has a change of heart. We didn't go more than 1/4 mile before she was trying to climb up my leg and begging to be carried. So I popped her into my backpack and she got to ride the whole way. She seemed to enjoy the ride. It's such a nice trail even in a snowstorm.
They say there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. I had my warm parka, waterproof jacket and good gloves, so stayed warm and dry. Baby had on her warm coat and was wrapped up in her blanket keeping toasty warm inside my pack. Winter has arrived.
My favorite place to just commune with nature and get away from the real world. Just a lovely 6 mile hike along the lake with Baby. We went to the little beach where I like to have a snack while sitting on one of the many logs that have washed up there over the years. The lake was extremely high due to all the recent rains. We were lucky that there still were a couple of logs to sit on. Pretty soon it will all be covered with snow and I'll be doing this trek on skis. But for now, it's dry and a nice comfortable walk.
Today the Walkabout group was going all the way down to Hope to hike the Point Hope Peak. I really wasn't planning to go but at the last minute decided to go for the long 2 1/2 hour drive down to Hope. I'm so glad I went. It has been over 20 years since I've even been to Hope. Every time I drive to the Kenai Peninsula, I pas that Hope turnoff and thing, yes, I should go there one day. That's why I decided to go to join the hikers today. The only other hike I have done there was the Resurrection Pass hike at least 20 years ago I wasn't even aware there were other hiking trails in Hope.
This was a fabulous hike. There were 24 switchbacks before we hit the much straighter ridge walk that leads to the peak. The others had done the original trail which was more or less straight up the mountain. They pointed out many places where the old trail intersects the new trail. I think the new trail is much nicer and certainly much easier. The views of the inlet and the Chugach Mountains were extraordinary all along the way. It was a real treat. Plus quite a workout! I was proud of my little dog who hiked the whole 9 miles without needing to ride in my backpack through any of it. She is quite the athlete!
It's been a few weeks since I've done a Palmer Happy Run, so I decided to go for it tonight. I took the dog and to my delight, she was willing to actually run the entire 5 miles. I carried my doggy backpack just in case I would need to carry her, but I never needed too. We did the Outer Springer Road route. By the time we got to the Palmer Ale House, though, it was really cold and windy. I had Baby tucked into my jacket while we waited for them to announce the winners of the weekly raffle. As usual, I didn't win anything. With the pandemic still on, I'm hesitant to keep doing these runs. Not because of the actual runs, but because of the gathering at the restaurant at the end. Tonight they still met outdoors, but as the snow and darkness comes, I'm quite sure they will need to move indoors. I may elect to head home rather than mix with so many people, if I continue to do the runs. As it gets colder, it will likely be too much for the dog also. But it certainly was beautiful tonight with the gorgeous fall colors against the backdrop of snow-covered Pioneer Peak.
