Thunderbird Falls

 I love this little hike.  Very snowy but also pretty short.  I didn't have much time, but wanted to take a little walk somewhere.  Wearing my spikes, Baby and I walked up and down the little hills to the Thunderbird Falls lookout.  The falls is mostly frozen but you can see broken areas in the ice where water is falling.  We took the trail down to the creek and found we could hike all the way to the base of the falls.  The last time I tried I found so much slippery mud that it wasn't passible.  But we did make it to the open water at the bottom.  We found a young couple hiking down there and Baby had to bark her head off and embarrass me as usual. We also found a couple of really cute snowmen that others had made along the trail. 

 

Twin Peaks Trail

My favorite trail in the area is always Twin Peaks.  It's steep enough to always be a good workout and the view from the first bench is amazing.  The view from above the second bench is even more spectacular but we didn't have enough time to do that today.  Baby and I hiked to the first bench.  Considering that it was snow covered, it was not bad walking.  I did wear my micro spikes to keep from slipping and sliding.  I didn't even have to carry the dog, always a plus. It was cold but not miserable. 

Morgan Horse Trail

 I was only planning to go for a short walk with the dog.  I didn't bring my backpack figuring we'd only walk a short distance.  I wanted to just check out the ski trails.  They were awesome and I wished I'd brought my skis.  The dog was enjoying the walk so we kept on past the groomed trails and started following along the Morgan Horse Trail.  I was only vaguely familiar with the trail since many years ago I had walked it from the Matanuska Peak Trail back to the Lazy Mountain Trailhead after climbing Matanuska Peak via Lazy Mountain.  I figured it ended at Smith Road or at the Matanuska Peak Trail.  But to my surprise I found it continued on past Smith Road.  I finally reached the end of it at Maud Road.  What a nice trail it was too.  I was really glad the dog didn't decide she was too tired because we still had to walk all the way back through the snow. Our short little stroll turned into nearly 5 miles.

Pioneer Peak from the trail

Archangel Valley Ski

It's hard to stay away from Archangel Valley when the weather is nice and the snow is good.  Today was another perfect day to ski out to the Reed Lakes Trailhead.  As usual, Baby ran along ahead for about one mile, then started begging to ride.  So I put her in my backpack and we were on our way again.  The snow was really nice and well groomed so we stayed mostly in the ski tracks.  Baby pulled me back from the spot where we turned around.  She always loves to run back. 

 

Archangel Valley Ski

Another beautiful bluebird day for skiing up at Archangel Valley.  The snow was perfect.  Baby ran along ahead for about one mile then started trying to climb up my leg and begging to be carried.  She seems to be good for about that distance when the snow is deep.  So I tucked her into my backpack and skied to the Reed Lake Trailhead, where I turned around.  Just before the bridge, snow machines are allowed on the trail.  They really make a mess of the groomed trail so I tend to turn around there.  Soon after turning around, I felt Baby squirming to get out.  It's funny how she loses interest and thinks she is cold and tired on the way out, but once I turn back, she's suddenly not either cold or tired.  So hooking her retractable leash to my backpack waist belt, she pulled with all her might and we skijored all the way back to the car.  You don't often see someone skijoring with a chihuahua and we got some odd looks from passing skiers.