Eklutna Lakeside Trail

 I've been taking it very easy, resting my sore knee from the marathon and fall on Government Peak. But at least I don't seem to have much trouble walking when the terrain is mostly flat and smooth.  So I ventured up to Eklutna Lake to see what the conditions are and maybe to catch some more fall colors.  As always, it was fantastic up there.  I only planned to walk about one mile but when I reached the one mile marker, I just couldn't stop.  I continued on to mile 2 then decided it was best to turn around and not push my luck.  It was a gorgeous day with blue skies and new snow on the mountains. The lake was much higher than my last few trips up there. A lot of the leaves have already fallen but it was still very beautiful with many still hanging on. My dog, Baby was delighted to finally walk a little farther than up and down my road. She thrives on checking out new places and bouncing through the fallen leaves. We walked 4 miles and I'm not feeling much pain in my knee. I'm hoping that's a sign that it is finally healing. I'm really missing my long uphill hikes and hope I can get back to normal soon.

 

Equinox Marathon

Marathon #160 completed today.  This was one of the hardest ones yet. I did run this one back in 2008 and although I remember it being difficult, I had forgotten just HOW difficult!  Back then I was 3rd in my age division, F 60-64. This time in spite of all the trials, I came out first in my division. F 75-79.  Of course that was only because I was the only person in that division. 

Before I even started, I was a little tired from the long drive up from Palmer to Fairbanks. 360 miles and over 6 hours. I also was still having a little stiffness and pain in my right leg left over from slipping on a rock the previous Saturday on my way down from the Hatch to Government Peak traverse. But it didn't seem to be causing any significant problems. It was a beautiful day, but quite chilly in the high 20's. But at least it wasn't snowing. I felt pretty good until mile 6 when on a small downhill section I managed to catch my foot in a tree root. Not uncommon on a trail marathon. I smacked the left side of my head on the hard ground and also hit my left arm and left ribs.  As soon as my headache stopped, I picked myself up and said to myself, "Well, only 20 more miles to go!" Then I continued on.  My ribs were really hurting because the first half of the race is mostly uphill and it was very painful to take a deep breath. But I trudged along and made it to the top then down the other side on the out and back portion, then down the last miles. It was very cold and windy on the top portion and I was glad I'd dressed fairly warmly. I was occasionally feeling a little discomfort to my right leg because I think it was my right foot that had caught the tree root, causing that fall.  But even bouncing myself down the long steep powerline section called the Chute, I really had no trouble.  I do love downhill and was able to run almost the whole way down to the finish.  I was really happy to finish but I am extremely sore in many places.  I'm going to be recuperating from this race for a while, but it was worth it.  It's a beautiful and challenging marathon. The fall colors were amazing!

Lazy Moose Trail

 I was still pretty sore from yesterday's Government Peak Traverse, but my friend Alice really wanted to try to climb Lazy Mountain.  She doesn't like extreme steep trails so we took the Lazy Moose Trail.  It's 2 miles longer than the Lazy Mountain Trail, but considerably more gentle, with meandering switchbacks and great views of the valley below.  My legs were doing OK, even though I was still feeling some pain where I had fallen yesterday and smacked my knee on a rock. Once we reached the halfway point, the trail does get steeper, although nothing like the first section of the old trail.  But Alice found it was still too steep for her, so we turned back shortly after the halfway point.  Baby was really funny because she didn't want to turn around.  She knows that trail so well and knew there were ground squirrels and marmots and other things of interest further up the trail.  She stood there with all 4 legs braced in her "I'm not going to turn around!" stance.  I had to do a little bit of coaxing to get her to finally agree to go down.  I didn't want to go down either, but Alice was having some back pain so we had no choice.  We still had a nice 6 mile hike and the fall colors were beautiful.  Later on the wind came up so maybe it's just as well we turned back. I bet it got pretty cold up there. 

April Bowl to Government Peak Traverse

 I got to hike from April Bowl to Government Peak and down along the Blueberry Koll Trail with a couple of friends today.  I did this interesting traverse last year with my friend Pam, so Dela, another hiking friend asked me about it. When she asked if I'd like to join her group, I jumped right in for the opportunity.  It is best to put a car at each end so you don't have to backtrack to April Bowl. I had forgotten how strenuous and difficult this route really is! I think Pam and I had avoided a few of the shortcuts that didn't turn out to be shortcuts on our previous hike.  We ended up needing to go straight up instead of just toughing it out and climbing on the rocks.  But it was all good.  We were a little worried at first because clouds seemed to be forming around the tops of the mountains.  Getting caught in a thunderstorm up there would not be a good thing at all.  But the clouds were just dancing along in and out and were never threatening.  They even cleared when we got to the top and offered some more interesting views. It took us over 8 hours to complete the 8 mile trek.  I'll be a little sore for a while I suspect.  

On the April Bowl portion a big loose dog came along. As I bent down to grab Baby, another big loose dog raced over to us and grabbed my poor little dog by her back.  I wrapped myself around her to protect her and screamed until the owner came and pulled her dog off of Baby.  We were both so shook up, Baby was shaking and so was I.  Fortunately Baby only had a small cut on her leg and I was not hurt.  We were able to continue. The dog owner was very apologetic and nice about it, but no one should have a loose dog on a popular trail like that.  I'm so relieved that we weren't hurt.  It was a horribly scary experience.  But other than that, it was a wonderful hike with Dela and Rebecca.  They were good sports on this tough hike. 

Gold Cord Lake

 Just a quick hop up the wonderful trail to Gold Cord Lake.  It was pouring rain down in town but we didn't hit any rain until we got to the lake.  Even then, it was just light rain.  We hiked up into the rocks above the lake to get a little different view than the usual lakeside view.  Baby and I sat on the rocks for a little while until I started getting wet! I think this has become her new favorite hike.  She loves to chase the ground squirrels and marmots, who love to tease her. 

Twin Peaks Trail

What a spectacular autumn day to hike Twin Peaks.  It was so beautiful and I really needed a nice uphill climb.  I usually just stay on the official trial and then head up to the upper ridge towards Pepper Peak for the great view of the lake.  But I got tempted by the very steep shortcut that bypasses the second bench and goes straight up to the ridge from the first bench.  I'm not so sure I would recommend that route, but it was beautiful and gives a view of the lake from a totally different perspective. It's really quite straight up and very steep.  But I'm glad I gave it a try.  I came down the regular way though.  The fall colors are not quite at peak yet, but they certainly didn't disappoint.  On my way down from the ridge a couple of guys asked me if I had seen the bear that crossed the ridge 10 minutes before I did.  Thank goodness, I had managed to missed encountering him!

Baby, my chihuahua seemed to really enjoy herself.  She tried her best to pull me off my feet as she ran all the way down, making me run along with her. 

Gold Mint Trail

 It's raining in Palmer today but I wanted to go somewhere for at least a short hike or run. I found that it wasn't raining up at Gold Mint Trail so Baby and I hiked in 2 miles then back out because I have a commitment later today.  The trail was quite wet and I'm sure very muddy if we had the time to walk further. But I really want to come back next week if we have a couple of nice days, and hike the whole 9 miles back to the Mint Hut at the base of the glacier.  Of course I'll need to backpack in and camp because we probably don't have enough daylight to do all 18 miles in one day.  I'm not sure I'll find anyone to go with me, but I'm going to try to do it anyway.  I've wanted to get back there for many years and if I can't find a fellow hiker, I'll just have to be satisfied with a chihuahua as a hiking buddy! The fall colors are starting to show so it will be spectacular out there soon. It was kind of sad to see how the beaver dam with its massive beaver houses has been destroyed by the big avalanches this past winter.  If it had not been so wet and muddy, I think it would be possible to go right inside of the old beaver houses and see how the little guys once lived.