Archangel Road Again

My friend, Pam heard what a great time I had up at Archangel the other day so asked if I'd like to do it again today.  Today was even better conditions because it had just been groomed for skiing. It was near perfect conditions.  I used my skate skis again.  This time, Baby was willing to walk on her leash, but she wasn't very consistent about walking in front of my skis.  She seemed to enjoy getting behind me and tangling her leash up with my ski poles, stopping and sniffing at everything, and simply stalling and giving me the "why are we doing this?" look. It was helpful when another skier passed us with a dog, because the Baby was suddenly sprinting like she was after a squirrel, which gave me quite a nice ride until the other dog was out of sight. I was really tired today so seemed to have even more trouble mastering the skate technique, but at least I didn't need to carry the dog in my backpack. 50 mile an hour winds kept me up most of last night so I wasn't quite as energetic as I'd hoped to be.  We made it to the bridge and then turned around.  The grooming stops just before the bridge then we share the road with noisy snow machines. They also mess up the snow so it's not nearly as nice for skiing. So I usually turn around at that point.  The trip back was really nice.  The groomed snow was faster than the previous day and we moved along quite nicely.  Baby was happy to keep running heading towards the car. She is much faster when returning to a destination she knows.  Maybe after a few more trips to that bridge she'll start to enjoy heading there and back.  She was a real trooper though. 4 miles is a long way for those tiny little legs, especially considering that she is getting close to 12 years old.  She's such a good little dog. I think she enjoys the company of Pam's dog too.  They've become good friends. I loved having a friend to ski with instead of my usual solo trips also. 

Archangel Road Skate Ski

 Today was perfect weather to go up to Hatcher Pass and practice with my skate skis.  I'm still struggling with them, but am starting to get the idea.  Baby was with me, but wasn't terribly interested in walking the 2 miles to the bridge.  I ended up carrying her in my backpack the whole way.  I found that carrying 8 pounds on your back is not helpful while learning to skate ski.  But it was still pretty pleasant just being out there in the fresh air.  Once I reached the bridge and turned around, my backpack passenger started getting restless. So I let her out and she happily ran us all the way back to the car.  It's mostly a gentle downhill back to the road, so I had a lot better luck working on my skate skiing.  It seems to be a much better workout than classic cross country skiing.  It feels a lot more like simply running on skis. I'm going to concentrate on using those skis as much as possible for the rest of the winter.

 

Eklutna Lakeside Trail

 At first when I arrived at Eklutna Lake, I was quite disappointed.  I have 8 inches of beautiful new snow in my yard, so of course, figured it would be the same at Eklutna. I put on my ski boots and my skate skis, with Baby pulling me, with her usual stops and sniffs.  But quickly I realized there was only a couple of inches of new snow on top of icy deep ruts and bumps from old footprints left over from the warmer days and rain from the weekend. Baby didn't think much of it either, and refused to walk.  I put her in my backpack and went a littler further, until I caught my ski on a bump and toppled over.  By then, I'd had enough with skiing.  I took off the skis and walked back to the car.  I switched over to my snow boots and spikes and kept Baby in my backpack. I hiked to the Yuditnu Creek Bridge, staying on the upper trail, which was more packed than the lower bike trail.  It was fine for walking, although a little rough.  I turned around at mile 3 because it would be dark soon and I wanted to get back while the road was still light. The road was plowed but still covered with snow.  I let Baby walk the last mile, and she was happy to run the whole way to the car.  She's always happy to head back to the car, but sometimes on the way out, she isn't so sure.  It was a nice peaceful walk with only a couple of fat tire bike riders who passed us in the last quarter mile on our way back.  Maybe the word was out that the conditions were less than perfect.

Frosty Bottom Half Marathon

 I originally planned to do the full marathon but realized that with the 1300 foot elevation gain and snow-covered trails, plus a marginal time limit, I switched to the half marathon. It turned out to be a wise decision. The trail was in good condition but I still had some trouble dealing with about 4 inches of slippery snow.  I came in last but I didn't mind since I am 25 years older than the next youngest person. I loved getting to run with friends for the last couple of miles. I was totally alone for most of the race.  I did have one scare when a moose charged a skier with a loose dog close behind me. Fortunately, the moose was just bluffing and everyone was safe. I sure wish I could pick up the pace!

Anchorage Coastal Trail

 I had to go to Anchorage today to pick up my race bib for the Frosty Bottom Half Marathon on Saturday. Since I brought the dog with me, I wasn't planning on leaving her in the car while I took care of that and did a little shopping. So we went over to Westchester Lagoon and did a little 2 mile walk/run combination along the Coastal Trail.  It was snow covered but not icy, and was quite comfortably warm at right around freezing. We mostly had the section that I chose to use, all to ourselves.  We did see a couple of runners and one cross country skier.  But if we had taken the other fork in the trail towards Kincaid, we would need to deal with dozens of fast skate skiers that had gone flying by us. We only saw a couple of dogs just before we got back to the car, which made for a nice fairly quiet no-barking trek.  The conditions were so nice, and I hope they are just as nice on Saturday because that race is also on the Coastal Trail and the Chester Creek Trail. The conditions were perfect for running today.

Gold Mint Trail

 It has really warmed up around here today.  Just 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Baby and I did a short hike up at Gold Mint Trail in Hatcher Pass.  There is about 4 inches of new snow on the trail, so Baby wanted to go back to the car after a few feet.  I picked her up and put her in my backpack and kept going.  It was beautiful and peaceful and we had the trail all to ourselves.  Once I turned around at mile 1 to return, the dog got restless so I let her walk back. She was suddenly quite fine with the few inches of snow. She basically ran the entire way back.  We did meet one woman with 3 huge German Shepherds that were running loose.  I grabbed barking wiggling Baby up in my arms as the lady struggled to capture her dogs.  Baby made the usual fool of herself in a barking frenzy until we were safely past them. It's amazing how much noise one tiny chihuahua can make! 

It was a lovely little hike.

 

Twin Peaks Trail

 Still blowing hard at home. Once again only an extremely short walk for the dog.  I gathered her up and we drove up to Eklutna Lake.  There were only a couple of cars there so we had the place to ourselves.  Instead of the Lakeside Trail we climbed the Twin Peaks Trail, which is probably my favorite trail around here.  There was only enough time to make it to the first bench and the beautiful lookout over the lake. It was delightfully calm and not even very cold.  The thermometer in my car said 17 degrees in the parking lot. I warmed up quickly because the trail gets quite steep. The conditions were great, with hard packed snow and no ice. But I did wear my micro spikes to keep from slipping, especially on the way down with Baby pulling with all of her might. I love this trail because it's steep enough to always give a good workout, even if I only go to the first bench.  On longer days you can hike many miles up along the ridge to Pepper Peak.  I need to leave that for another day with more daylight.  We got down after sunset as it was.

Reflections Lake

This is a short 1 mile hike around a beautiful little lake.  I'm still having hurricane force winds at home so even our morning dog walk was out of the question. I gave up before we even got to the end of my driveway. Since I had some errands I needed to do in town, I decided to see how the weather was there. It was blowing right in town, but surprisingly calm at the lake.  My dog, Baby loves to walk around that lake, so we had a nice little fast paced run around the lake.  It's always beautiful there with great views of Pioneer Peak and Twin Peaks.  It was pretty cold, about 3 degrees, but we stayed warm by moving quickly.

Pioneer Peak

Twin Peaks

Tired Baby

Conditions in my yard!

West Butte Trail Climb

 It's been blowing hard for days here in Palmer.  Parts of the Valley are an actual disaster area.  My power was out for 4 days. I just have dozens of trees down but no actual property damage. It's still gusting to at least 50 miles an hour at my house. But I heard the Butte area was calm.  So I met with my friend, Pam and after a quick lunch we decided to hike up the Butte.  It's very icy and the sharpest ice spikes are a necessity. But we had no trouble hiking up the icy steps with our little dogs.  The last time I climbed the Butte, I could hardly stand up on the top due to high winds.  But today it was calm the entire way.  Such a contrast to what has been happening at my house. It's a very short hike, only about 2 1/2 miles round trip but it does climb up to over 800 feet.  It's a nice hill climb workout.  Pam and I really enjoyed ourselves and we could tell that our dogs did too.  In a couple of places I had to pick up my little dog because she was sliding down on the ice.  I kept her on her leash and had to concentrate hoping she didn't pull me off my feet, especially on our way back down.  She does like to run all the way back down.  

Pam & the dogs

Baby & Me

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