Gold Star Peak & POW/MIA Peak

 This is one of my favorite hikes. It's very steep and not always a well marked and maintained trail. But it has very special meaning. We started at the parking lot with 5 people. But Chris decided not to hike, and shortly after we started up, Connie decided it was a little too difficult for her today. I was sad to hear she had to turn back. But Jane, Diane and I continued on to the top. It was really cold at first, but since it's such a steep climb we quickly warmed up and had to shed some layers. Bella was really enjoying herself and quickly took the lead, somehow knowing exactly where we were planning to go. I think if she is on a trail heading up, she always assumes that up will be the intended route. It was cold enough that the ground was still frozen but we knew once the sun hit it, we would be dealing with mud again. It was very steep until we reached the saddle, then we took a nice short break. From there it becomes at least as steep or worse and also involves lots of loose rocks and scree, plus areas involving rock scrambling. Bella of course, reached the monument on the top before any of us. The top of Gold Star has a pole that is covered with dog tags from our fallen heroes. It's a monument to the families of those who were lost in wars. After spending some time there, we walked the steep rocky ridge another half mile to POW/MIA Peak and took a long break beneath the two flags flying there. There is also a dog shaped silhouette memorial to the military dogs of the Vietnam War on a small hill just past the memorial pole. I feel the whole place is sacred land. Plus the views in every direction are spectacular. It was possible to see Denali in the distance plus Eklutna Lake far below, and all the surrounding mountains. Once heading down, we found things to be very slippery and we all put on our microspikes to try to prevent falls. We were right about the frozen ground on the way up becoming mud on the way down. It was pretty slippery but the spikes definitely helped keep us all on our feet most of the time. Diane and I both had our turn falling over, but no injuries. I recommend this hike to everyone, but keeping in mind that even though it's only about 5 miles round trip, it's really hard. But totally worth it!

Some information about Gold Star Peak: https://www.goldstarpeak.org/about-us/

Eklutna Lake and Bold Peak

Twin Peaks

Bella at the Monument Pole

Bella honoring the Vietnam dogs

POW.MIA Flags

Along the ridge

Gold Cord Lake

It was such a beautiful day today, only 31 this morning, but bright sunshine. After I raked leaves I just had to get out and visit the mountains for a short hike. Bella and I hiked the short mile long hike up to Gold Cord Lake. It was the muddiest I have ever seen it, and Bella took an immediate trip to the kitchen sink for a bath when we got home. But what a lovely hike it was. We had lots of company up there. The gate closes after tomorrow so it will involve an extra one mile each way to hike up the road to the trailhead. I think a lot of people wanted one last chance to avoid that walk up the road. Soon we'll be skiing up that road. But right now, only some snow up in the mountains.

Government Peak Waterfall Hike

 Today was just a short, but of course, very steep hike to the waterfall on Government Peak. I've seen where the trail takes off of the main race trail towards the falls, but have never hiked over to see it. This morning there was heavy frost on the car and I wondered if I would be cold on this hike. But the sun came out and I was quite comfortable. The trail was wet and had some muddy spots, but until we reached the turnoff to the falls, it wasn't too bad. We all put on our microspikes at that point though because it was a much narrower and more slippery trail. I was quite glad I brought them along. In fact, I wore them all the way back down to the parking lot. The falls are quite beautiful and are the source of the main creek we follow as we hike the the Government Peak Race Trail. It turned into a beautiful day and finally got up to 50 degrees. It was only about 3 miles round trip, but still a nice steep workout with the Valley Wanderers. Bella led the way most of the time, as usual.

Lazy Moose Marking & Lazy Mountain Climb

The Valley Wanderers always mark the upper part of the Lazy Moose Trail in fall so it can be found more easily once it is snow-covered. The plan was to meet at the trailhead or at the picnic table at the top of Lazy Moose at noon. I really don't like hiking the tough trail up the Lazy Mountain Trail to the picnic table without going all the way to the top of Lazy Mountain. So I just left early and hiked to the top then back down to the picnic table to meet the others. On my way down from the top near the upper picnic table I was surprised to see Virginia, one of our group, also working her way to the top. She is a much faster hiker than I am, so I figured she would reach the top then catch me on the way down. I got to the picnic table with 10 minutes to spare and Virginia arrived a couple minutes later. I ran most of the way down from the top. The bottom half of the trail was extremely slippery and as always, quite the effort to make it to the table without falling. Bella was on her leash and managed to wrap herself around some fallen trees at one point. So then I unhooked her and she was on her own the rest of the way to the top. That dog is so fast, she ran all the way to the top. I used to worry about her climbing up the rocks, but today, I just let her go and she bounced her way all the way to the highest point. I could tell she wanted to continue on the route that goes down the other side and over to Matanuska Peak. I called her back before she took off in that direction. Normally the most amazing view of Matanuska Peak is from the summit of Lazy, but today the fog rolled in just in time to totally obscure the view. But I did get lovely views on the way up and on the way down. Once down at the picnic table with the others, we took a leisurely walk down the Lazy Moose switchback trail for 3 miles, tying flagging periodically to make the route visible in winter. We only did the top half because after that, there are official markers and the trail is much more obvious. It was a gorgeous day with amazing fall colors.

April Bowl

It's been snowing up in Hatcher Pass so it won't be long before the road over the pass closes down for the winter.  I drove up there just to see what the conditions were, and found that the road is still open. Since that could change any day, I drove on up to Summit Lake and decided to hike partway up the April Bowl Trail. I didn't have my trekking poles but at least I did toss my microspikes into the pocket of my coat. I thought I might get by without them but once I got to the snowy sections of the trail I was glad I'd brought them along. They were definitely needed. It was getting progressively cloudy and foggy so I decided I probably wouldn't make it all the way up to Hatch Peak. I do prefer having my poles up there, plus the show was starting to get fairly deep. The steepest section up to the weather station was really getting slippery, so I decided to turn around there if the fog didn't lift. Once there, I waited a few minutes, but the fog just got thicker. Preferring not to be caught in a snowstorm, Bella and I turned back. I'm sure I could have made it all the way to Hatch Peak, but it didn't seem worth the trouble since even where I was, I couldn't see the view in any direction. I took Bella off her leash for the descent. She likes to pull and it was a little treacherous without the added downhill tugging of an anxious dog. She ran up and down the rocks, thoroughly enjoying herself, while I picked my way down the steepest parts. I'm really glad I decided to hike up there today because it may well be my last chance until next spring. I think they close the road October 1st regardless of snow conditions.

Equinox Marathon

 I ran marathon #171 in Fairbanks, Alaska today. It’s one of my favorites but probably the hardest one I’ve done. Today it was raining and very muddy. The higher we got up Ester Dome, the more it snowed. I felt pretty tired because I’ve been fighting a bad cold for a week. But I managed to beat my time from last year by about 6 minutes. Once again I got 1st in my age class of female 75-79. I don’t think there was anyone in my age group who came in after me. I was so excited to make it to the finish line still standing. 

1st place in age group medal

Bird Ridge

 I tried this very steep trail last year with the Valley Wanderers but we turned back close to the high point due to 50 mph winds. One of my gloves is probably somewhere still out there in the wilds of Indian Valley. There was also substantial snow where we turned back last time. This time we waited until a bit later in the year and hiking conditions were perfect. As we neared the top of the ridge, I felt myself slowing down. The steep hikes the last 3 days had likely caught up with me and I was really tired. I let Bella off her leash and she followed close behind the rest of our group. Each time I started to feel frustrated, here would come Bella bouncing down the trail to check on me. It was very helpful because there are numerous trails winding through the rocks at this point, and she always showed me the way the others had gone. She was a natural guide. At the official top the weather was starting to get windy and there was a trace of rain starting to fall. Our 3 speediest members, Virginia, Chris and Erin elected to continue along the ridge, That idea intrigued me but I knew I would only slow them down. I descended with the other 3 in our group. I was happy with that decision because once again it started to rain hard and we were all kind of wet when we got back to our cars. The views are spectacular from up there. We could see mountains forever and the silvery mud flats of the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet below us. Next time, I'd like to continue along the ridge and see what else is out there to see. It's an amazing place. It was only 5 miles round trip but seemed so much longer because of the steepness.

Of course I had to get my picture taken from the top of this little point

Twin Peaks Trail

 I was still a bit tired from yesterday's Bear Mountain hike but I felt restless and just wanted to get out and try to see some fall colors. I decided to drive up to Eklutna Lake just to take sme pictures. I had no intention of actually hiking. When I got there, I found not a single parking place. In fact people were parked illegally all up and down the road. That's not unusual on a nice weekend day, plus I got a very late start. I ended up parking in the ATV lot by the ranger station and walking the extra distance along the extremely muddy ATV trail. I started hiking up the Twin Peaks Trail with no real destination. But the farther I walked the less I wanted to turn around. I remembered a particular spot just below the first bench at the overlook. There is a large stand of birch trees that often turn bright yellow gold in autumn. That spot is breathtaking in fall and it was definitely at peak today. From there I just kept going, just Bella and me, until we reached the second bench where the trail splits to go up to Pepper Peak or on to the Twin Peaks. Many people turn back at this spot. But it was so pretty there today that I took the steep trail towards Pepper Peak up to the high ridge with the most spectacular view of Eklutna Lake. The main trail had been wet but the high trail was mostly dry and easy hiking. Bella and I had some snacks and her doggie treats then we turned back. With the addition of the ATV trail we covered 7 miles. Gorgeous colors were everywhere. Today was a perfect day to hike up there. This is always one of my favorite hikes.

Eklutna Lake from just below the first bench

Twin Peaks

Bella on the upper ridge overlook

Bear Mountain

 The weather looked a little marginal today but  few of the Valley Wanderers decided to chance it and try to hike up Bear Mountain then traverse along the ridge and complete the loop, descending along the Mt Eklutna Trail. It was cloudy but no rain most of the way, until we reached the summit plateau of Bear Mountain. Then it started to rain lightly.  It also started to get windy. The trail we had climbed was very steep and slightly muddy and slippery, so we had been looking forward to the loop and avoiding that steep trek down. But we didn't discuss it for more than a couple of minutes before we all voted to scamper back the way we came. After a bit of slipping and sliding on the mud, we all decided to put on our spikes to keep from falling our way down. By the time we got back to the main Peter's Creek Trail, it was raining substantially and we knew we had made the right decision. Bella was totally soaked and went straight to the kitchen sink for a bath the minute I walked in the front door.

The fall colors were splendid, even though their true colors were somewhat subdued by the rain and fog.