Stonehenge Loop

I had a really nice hike today with the Valley Wanderers.  I had met a couple of them last Saturday on the Near Point climb and asked to be put on their email list. Today we hiked up the Matanuska Peak Trail and connected with the Lazy Mountain Southside Trail to a nice little plateau covered with big rocks and rock cairns that obviously people had been adding to for quite a while. That spot has been nicknamed Stonehenge because of all the rocks.  It has the most magnificent view of Matanuska Peak. There's still too much snow to reasonably continue on to the top of Matanuska Peak, but sitting there sure gave me the desire to come back soon and go to the top. It was a strenuous climb and I'm really tired, even though it was only a 4 mile hike. Baby walked the whole way.  At one point a couple of loose dogs chased her around my legs and between getting tangled in her leash, being on loose dirt and a slope, I toppled over into one of the other ladies in our group who caught me as I slipped to the ground.  A bit embarrassing, but no one was hurt. If only Baby wouldn't find it necessary to carry on heated conversations with every dog she meets, we'd both be a lot safer. It was beautiful and green and a great workout. Plus so warm, over 70 degrees in bright sunshine. I'm looking forward to more hikes with the Wanderers.

Palmer-Moose Creek Rail Trail

 I've been so busy for the last couple of weeks, taking care of yard problems left over from winter, plus getting my gardens ready for summer.  I just need to take a walking or hiking break away from my house every day. Today after a quick trip to the gas station, Baby and I took a nice walk along the Palmer Rail Trail.  It's so green now compared to the snow covered trail we walked a couple of months ago. We just walked to the biggest washout then turned around.  The trail through the old slides are looking pretty nice compared to last summer. I did turn around but I could see that it isn't nearly as treacherous as it has sometimes been in the past.  It was so hot and I really needed to get back to my yard projects, so I didn't venture further. When I have more time, I want to walk the whole 6 miles and maybe just turn around and walk back unless I can find a partner to place a car at Moose Creek and make it a one way trip. It's so pleasant walking along the Matanuska River. Always a good place to relieve yard work stress.

Eklutna Lakeside Trail

Took a nice short hike with my friend, Mark and of course, Baby the dog.  The lake is so low that we walked about one mile down along the water's edge in a place that is usually underwater.  I hope the lake comes back up soon because it looks kind of sad and empty that low.  It was still a beautiful walk as it always is. The clouds mostly covered the top of Bold Peak. There were lots of folks out enjoying the water in kayaks.  I'm so ready to get out on the water with mine.

Near Point Hike

Today was a beautiful day for a hike in the mountains outside of Anchorage.  I went with the Walkabouts Hiking group. There were 6 ladies and 4 dogs along for the trek.  Pam, Sue Ellen, Karen, Kathy, and Madeline plus me.  Dogs were Baby, Biscuit, Dahla, and Stormy. The snow was mostly gone except for a couple of short patches right near the summit.  The first half along the Wolverine Trail was mostly fairly flat with lovely creeks passing near and crossing the trail. There were occasional muddy spots but we could mostly just avoid them by stepping on rocks. I never got wet feet, but a couple of dogs were pretty muddy. My dog, Baby doesn't like wet feet so she did a pretty good job of leaping over them. The second half was much steeper, but not extremely challenging.  It was a good workout however.  Round trip took us about 5 1/2 hours.  But we did linger awhile on top to enjoy the view and get a bite to eat. From the top and most of the top half of the hike, we had spectacular views of Anchorage and the inlet.  We could also see Denali and the Alaska Range in the distance.  It would be hard to find a day with better weather. It was a little windy on top but not enough to keep us from relaxing in the sunshine.

Anchorage & Mt Susitna

View from the top

Independence Mine Ski

It was a spectacular day cross country skiing up the road to the mine, with friend, Pam and our two dogs. The snow was really nice.  6 inches fell last night and there was one track someone else had made.  We just stayed on that track all the way up to the mine. It followed a nice loop back down to join the original track. My skis worked very smoothly but Pam was having trouble at times with the snow sticking.  Baby was tending to pull me on the way down and sometimes, I was going a little faster than I really like to go on cross country skis.  But we got back down in one piece.  Even off the tracks I was moving very quickly. It was perfect light new snow. At first it was quite foggy but the clouds parted making for amazing scenery.

We initially started at Archangel Road but with no tracks to follow, once we got to the avalanche debris, we couldn't figure out the best route.  So we went up to Independence Mine where the route was more obvious. 

 

Eklutna Lakeside Trail

Today was a lovely little hike of Eklutna Lakeside Trail with my friend Alice and Baby the dog.  Baby was really slow and stopping to sniff every few feet. I guess there are lots of new smells now that the snow is finally gone. The lake is now open and we even saw a canoe out there. But the lake is the lowest I've ever seen it. We walked about 3 miles out then needed to turn back because Alice had an afternoon commitment. On the way back it got very windy and Baby lost interest in walking at all.  I finally had to put her in the backpack and carry her back. She really doesn't like wind. It wasn't particularly cold though.  I think the frequent ATV's speeding by us were stirring up too much dust for her comfort. Alice was really happy to get back out there because she had not been there all winter.