Bodenburg Butte

 I needed a good little workout this morning so decided to do a quick trek up the Butte with Baby.  It was tough negotiating all those steps as usual, but a bit more challenging today.  There was a family consisting of several fast walkers and several slow walkers and one huge unleashed pit bull dog.  Of course, Baby had to bark at the dog and go crazy as it ran back and forth from each of the people.  If I managed to pass the fast group, they always ended up catching and passing me. If I waited for the slower group to pass me, I always ended up catching then passing them.  So it was crazy with Baby barking all the way up. I pushed so hard at one point that I got light headed and had to take a rest.  It was better after that because they all passed me!

The view up there is spectacular and We had a wonderful little hike, me and Baby.

April Bowl to Hatch Peak

 Another beautiful hike in the mountains of Hatcher Pass.  I hiked with Mark and of course, Baby. It's a fairly steep hike but actually quite easy with a little rock scrambling in places. Baby was having the time of her life because she loves to run back and forth across the trail hoping to catch one of the many ground squirrels that are always running around on the tundra. She kept trying to crawl down into the holes beneath the rock piles trying to catch the ground squirrels. I kept pulling her back and warning her that if he kept it up one of these days she's going to have one of those guys bite her in the nose. Near the top she dove into one of those holes and I quickly pulled her back by her leash and heard the chatter of a squirrel who was obviously residing in that hole. We continued up and waited for a couple of guys to climb down some steep rocks.  One commented on how cute she was, then asked what happened to her eye. I looked and to my shock, her right eye was covered in blood. I was horrified and quickly grabbed my water bottle and flooded her eye and most of her head with water. I was relieved to see it was only a tiny cut on her lower eyelid and the cold water quickly stopped the bleeding.  At first I was going to turn back, but when we realized it wasn't serious we continued to the top.   I washed her eye again at the top and we had a snack and admired to spectacular view. I was happy Mark had decided to do the hike because he has not been hiking much after surgery last year.  He seemed to really enjoy the hike.  When it was time to descend, Baby tried to pull me off my feet all the way down.  My hands were getting sore just from holding onto her leash.  I didn't allow her to crawl into anymore ground squirrel holes. I hope she has learned her lesson and won't go poking her head into other people's business anymore!

Lazy Mountain

 Finally the weather was good enough that I could give the Lazy Mountain Trail a try.  I really like it because it's very steep and difficult and it is such a good workout.  I was a little dismayed at first because even though the weather was really nice, there were clouds swirling around Lazy Mountain and Matanuska Peak.  I wondered if I would end up hiking in the fog and never get to see the view. It was only 40 degrees when we started out so I was also a little worried that I'd get cold. But the temperature was fine. The steepness quickly warmed me up.  The trail was still wet from all the rain but fortunately it wasn't muddy. It was actually a little better traction that on hot days when it is slippery dust. I didn't need to grab onto tree limbs to climb like I so often have had to do in the past.   Baby was pulling really hard and I was breathing hard most of the time.  She was not interested in stopping while I caught my breath.  As soon as we reached the halfway point at the picnic bench the fog started rolling in. It wasn't very thick so I decided to continue.  I was pleasantly surprised when we reached the upper picnic bench because the clouds parted enough that Matanuska Peak suddenly appeared with a beautiful coating of new snow.  It looked like the Himalayas peeking its rugged head through those clouds.  From the top there wasn't much of a view of the valley below but the view of Mat Peak was just gorgeous.  We took the Lazy Moose Trail down from the halfway point mostly just for variety  I don't mind going back down the steep trail but the Lazy Moose Trail is so much prettier.  It was nice for a change and not so hard on the knees, even though it is at least a mile or two longer. I was able to run most of the way down Lazy Moose Trail. 

Gold Cord Lake

 I think this lake has now become Baby's favorite place. First we tried hiking the Gold Mint Trail.  She would have none of it. She splayed her legs and refused to take a single step up that trail.  It really was the strangest thing.  I really don't know why she suddenly doesn't like that trail. I gave up and drove on up the road and decided to give the Gold Cord Lake Trail a try. She was so excited I could hardly hold onto her leash.  She was racing from side to side trying to chase ground squirrels and marmots and anything else she thought she saw or heard.  I think she ran 3 times the distance I did. I'm wondering if she was trying to relive her little period of freedom the day I had to chase her all over Lane Basin when I let her off her leash.  The terrain on Gold Cord Lake Trail is very similar to Lane Basin.  Tundra with lots of whistling marmots. Baby ran me up to the lake, where it started to rain, then she ran me back down to the car.

Could it be that she didn't like Gold Mint Trail because she knew that farther up the road there was a better trail? Gold Cord or Lane Basin?  Both are up that road.  I'm not sure I want to give her that much credit but she sure preferred hiking up to this lake. I love it too!

 

Eklutna Lakeside Trail

 I walked a couple miles along the Eklutna Lakeside Trail with Mark and Baby the chihuahua. I never get tired of Eklutna Lake. The lake is still really low for some reason. That seems unusual for this time of year, especially after all the rain we've had around here lately. It won't be long before we're skiing this trail.

Long Lake Loop

 I used my All Trails app to navigate this trail. I know the way, basically, but have so often made a wrong turn and ended up off the actual loop.  It's not marked quite as well as it could be.  I really just wanted to see how the navigation app works.  I was impressed because at one point I took a wrong turn and it immediately beeped and let me know.  I think this could be very helpful on a more complex trail system. There are a number of side trails and wrong trails that a person could take on these Matanuska Lake trails, so even on this short loop it was helpful. My dog seemed to love it and especially when we crossed the beautiful green fields along the Experimental Farm.  It is beautifully green right now.

The Butte

Just a nice little trek with Baby up Bodenburg  Butte. We took the West Butte Trail with its many wooden stairs. Such a beautiful day!  I felt like I wanted to stay up there all day in the bright sunshine. I love this little hike because it's a great uphill workout that doesn't take all day. Plus the views of the valley are amazing. 

 

Gold Cord Lake

 It was another fairly nice day and My friend, Mark and I drove up to Hatcher Pass. We decided to do the nice little hike up to Gold Cord Lake. It was quite cloudy but a nice temperature for the hike.  I was checking the trail to Microdot, a mountain beside the lake and wondering how difficult it would be to climb it from the lake side.  There is a trail up the ridge that starts down at the Independence Mine Parking lot.  One of these days I will give that route a try. Gold Cord Lake Trail is a popular little hike.  It's fairly steep but only a little over a mile each way.  It's so nice for a short hike when you don't have a lot of time. Baby loves it because she likes to chase the marmots and ground squirrels. 

Lane Basin

I joined my hiking group and met them at the Reed Lakes Parking lot.  Several felt that they would have been comfortable driving the whole road but they decided to all meet at the same place and walk the extra two miles. We tried several different places to cross Archangel Creek to hike the trail to Fairangel Lakes. I feel sure I would have been able to cross it but decided against it. The creek is very fast and it involved climbing over very large rocks.  I saw how the others struggled to cross and decided that I didn't want to risk trying to do it carrying my dog. I would like to do that trail sometime, but maybe if the creek isn't running so full.  I decided not to do that hike. Pam also decided against it even though she was able to cross the creek.  She had some time constraints anyway so crossed back over and the two of us with our dogs hiked the gorgeous trail to Lane Basin. It's a much longer hike than Fairangel and certainly as beautiful, but with no dangerous creek crossings.  We walked nearly to the spot where the old Lane Hut used to be.  We stopped short simply because other hikers were sitting there.  We had our lunch on a big rock and admired the green valley and surrounding mountains.  This is one of my favorite trails. Pam had not done it before and hopes to return and do further exploring.  It is part of the Bomber Traverse which I hope to do one of thee days if I ever find someone who wants to go with me.  That involves a multiday backpack trip and some serious mountaineering and navigating skills.  But I know I could do it. 

Pam and I let our dogs run free for most of the hike. There were very few other hikers and Baby was happily following right behind me. But on our way down, both dogs decided to chase a ground squirrel off across the tundra.  Pam's dog came right back but Baby took off jumping streams and bouncing over rocks and acting as if she would be happy to continue chasing that squirrel for the rest of her life. We both got tired of screaming "Baby" across the entire Lane Basin so we finally had to chase after her.  She looked so funny, just a little flash of her pink harness as she bounced from rock to rock.  I jumped over a few small creeks and finally caught up to her.  She will not be hiking unleashed again after that little fiasco. 

Archangel Road

 My hiking club is planning a hike tomorrow to Fairangel Lakes. This trailhead is at the far end of Archangel Road. They are planning to drive to the trailhead, but my recollection is that this road is full of giant rocks and huge potholes and is really only suitable for high clearance large 4 wheel drive vehicles. Since I have never had the courage to drive past the Reed Lakes parking lot, I wanted to go up there today and see how the road is currently.  It was raining pretty hard and I found that this section past the bridge is still in the same bad condition I had remembered.  There were some smaller all wheel drive vehicles picking their way up through the mess, but my feeling still stands.  I wouldn't want to take a chance on that road even with my new Subaru. It is likely possible to drive it but it would be very stressful and I wouldn't recommend it. It would be a very bad place to need towing if you were to break an axel or do some other serious damage to your car. In spite of the rain and the deep water filled holes, I made a nice little hike out of it. I walked just 2 miles and enjoyed the wildflowers along the way.

Emerald Cove

Such a beautiful place! My friend, Mark, Baby, and I walked along the extremely muddy trail to the gorgeous waterfall. We had wonderful views of the water outside of Whittier along the way, and also the many glaciers hanging off the mountains. It was a short hike, only 1.27 miles. But it was challenging trudging through thick mud, especially in shoes that were not meant for hiking.  But it was so worth the effort and the mess!

 

Summit Lake

 It was a horrid day but I just had to get out of the house.  Not a big hike today.  Not even recorded with my phone app. But it was such an interesting little hike around Summit Lake in the fog and the pouring rain with Baby.  It was so foggy that I walked right past the parking lot and was partway around the lake for the second time when I realized I was about to cross the bridge over the outlet creek for the second time.  Baby was a good sport and didn't seem to mind getting soaking wet. We only walked about one mile.

AKtive Valley Trail Race - August, Settlers Bay Coastal Trail

 This was the last race of the virtual AKtive Valley Trail Race series. The Coastal Trail is a lovely new trail system in the Settlers Bay area right outside of the subdivision. The park isn't quite complete yet but the main trails are very nice.  I asked my friend Mark to come along since this course was fairly short and I knew the trail was basically flat, rather than up a mountain like last moth's Blueberry Knoll trek. Of course I had Baby, my chihuahua on the leash as usual.  We did encounter one very large moose cow guarding her calf, just off the trail.  She didn't looked pleased with us or the large barking dog that had just headed towards her.  Baby barked once, then we moved quickly past her. I picked up my nice little medal at the AKtive Soles shoe store. I'm glad I did these little events.  I learned a couple of new trails and revisited a couple very familiar ones. 

 

Archangel Marathon

This was my third time to run this interesting marathon. It's exactly the same course as the Hatcher Pass Marathon that I ran back in July, except it is in reverse.  Technically it's downhill.  But the first couple of miles are a brutal uphill to Summit Lake. Then it's a very steep downhill for the next 5 or 6 miles.  After that it is generally downhill as it follows the creek out of the mountains down to Willow.  But even though it is still downhill, it feels a lot more like flat with occasional downhill sections.  It's definitely easier than Hatcher Pass, but it's still a fairly challenging marathon.  It rained during the first half and was totally fogged in from the start through at least the first 6 miles. After that it was just a light rain and the low clouds made for some stunning views of the mountainsides.  The sun actually came out for me during the last mile.  Once again, keeping with tradition for these marathons with Happy Malamute, I came in last. But at least I finished still standing!