I really want to walk the whole Palmer-Moose Creek Railroad Trail someday. It's 6 miles one way and quite possible to leave a car at Moose Creek Campground and another at the Palmer Trailhead. So far, I've always turned around when I start facing all the rock slides along the way. I know they're passable but since a slip could send me sliding down to the Matanuska riverbed, I hesitate to cross them while hiking alone. I've only walked from the Palmer side. But today I decided to see what the trail is like from the Moose Creek side. I only hiked in about 2 miles, but I can see that it's a very nice trail. The first mile follows Moose Creek itself until just above the junction with the Matanuska River. At that point you are walking on the old railbed. I did encounter some slide areas but nothing as intimidating as what I have seen from the other direction. I passed a couple who had hiked from the Palmer side and they confirmed that it is possible to walk the entire way. They were pretty tough and planned to turn around at the Moose Creek Trailhead and return along the trail back to Palmer. I passed them again on my way out. The man reminded me of pictures I'd seen of John Muir, with his long gray beard and matching long hair. Perhaps he was John Muir reincarnated. I hope I run into them again one day. They seemed like really nice folks. I joked to myself that I should go to the Palmer trailhead, hike in and, meet them again. I bet they would be quite surprised to encounter Baby ad her barking, once again. But I really didn't have time to do that.
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