Gold Cord Lake

 They closed the gate to the road over Hatcher Pass yesterday. That means it won't be long before they close the road up to Independence Mine. It was sunny at home and looked pretty cloudy up at Hatcher Pass, but I wanted to take a chance and get in a hike up to Gold Cord Lake before the gate gets closed for the winter. It was misting and drizzling a little but Baby and I decided to give it a try. At least I did.  She didn't really have much to say about it. But I didn't hear any protests from her either. She loves that hike because there are so many little ground squirrels and marmots running around. She delights in chasing them, even though I keep her on a leash and it's all in vain. Most of the way up it was raining so lightly that my raincoat kept me completely dry.  Baby got a little wet but not too badly. There were very few other hikers so we basically had the trail and the lake to ourselves. The fall colors were gorgeous, especially on the drive up with the golden trees. The trail to the lake is all above tree line but the tundra vegetation had all turned to various degrees of gold and red. I hope we get another chance to hike up there before the road closes. But at least I'm glad we got this chance.