Ptarmigan Valley Trail

 It snowed all night and was still snowing this morning when I woke up. I had decided to hike with the Walkabouts hiking group to the Ptarmigan Valley Trail. If you go the whole way it would be about 10 miles round trip. Our plan was to go as far as we wanted. The last time I hiked here we went 7.2 miles round trip but today we turned around early doing 5.2 miles instead. It was snowing the entire time we were hiking and still snowing the whole way driving home. The trail was covered in at least 5 or 6 inches of snow and got deeper as we went. A couple miles in we came to the junction of the summer and winter trails. The winter trail is usually well packed from snow machine activity. But since it is early in the season all we had was a single set of footprints that seemed to follow both options. Several of our group decided they were ready to turn back, and the rest of us continued on. First, we started on the winter trail. We came to a spot where there was some open water close to the surface, making it uncomfortable and a little dangerous. So, we turned back to the junction and took the summer trail instead. This trail was a lot steeper and narrower than the winter trail. It climbs up a couple of hills and winds through the trees. The snow was deep enough that it was becoming a little difficult, although it was still possible to walk without snowshoes. Both trails join together at some point, but we ended up being forced to turn back before that. A huge spruce tree had fallen and was lying across the trail. It would have been very difficult and not worth the trouble to try to find a way around it. So, we all made that our turning point and went back the way we came. Once we got back to the junction, the rest of the trip was fairly easy going. The 2 little dogs, Bella and Dahla were slowing down because they were starting to build up large snowballs on their legs and feet. Bella did a little better than Dahla because she was well covered in her snowsuit that covers most of her legs. But her long hair below the cuffs still collected a number of small ones. It was a very enjoyable hike with the peaceful beauty of snow falling on snow. I love hiking in a snowstorm because it is always so peaceful and silent. I look forward to coming back in the summer to see what this summer trail is like. I imagine it is very beautiful.

The fallen tree across the trail

Reflections Lake

 The fog was so thick it was almost hard to drive. But I like to do this little mile long walk around Reflections Lake whenever I go to town to shop. Today, with the ice fog, it was like a walk through an enchanted forest. It was only 9 degrees at home, but likely had warmed up to 10 Fahrenheit. The trees and brush and every blade of grass were coated with a layer of hoar frost. The sun peeking through the fog made them glisten and sparkle. It was so cold that I had to take my photos quickly because even a few seconds out of my gloves made my fingers go numb. Bella tended to pull on her leash, making each shot more difficult too. Patience is definitely not one of her virtues! She doesn't like to stop, unless for the purpose of focusing her nose on some random blade of grass. Today wasn't a significant aerobic workout, but it was a delightful pleasure for the senses. 

Independence Mine Snowshoe

 I met a group of the Valley Wanderers up at the Mine Parking lot today to snowshoe up to the mine. You can walk, ski or snowshoe straight up the closed road or take a walking trail through the snow. My dog, Bella was really cold, even with her heavy snowsuit and her little red booties. Once we all started up the road, she refused to walk. I had no choice but to load her into my backpack and carry her. It always takes a couple minutes to accomplish that task, because she turns into a jiggling bag of wiggling worms. Sometimes it's a lot like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube. It was bitter cold up there and my hands were freezing through the whole process. I actually got her in and the pack back on my back pretty quickly. But by then the whole group was out of sight. I walked as fast as I could hoping to somehow catch up. I didn't see them anywhere up ahead. When I came to the junction of the walking trail, I decided to take that rather than track up the groomed ski trail. By the time I was halfway to the mine, I still didn't see them. I texted the leader who said they were now at the mine. I almost turned back, but it was so beautiful and sunny I decided to just continue at least to the mine itself. Once I got there, I finally saw them far above the mine and realized there was no way I could ever catch up at that point. I walked a little farther and took some pictures. Then decided to turn back the way I had come. It was a bit disappointing to be left behind, but I still enjoyed a 2 mile hike in the sunshine. Bella seemed fairly content wrapped up in all of her winter clothes, cozy in my backpack. 

Mile High Trail

 Our Saturday Valley Wanderers hike today was along the Mile High Trail out of Eagle River. Just getting to the trailhead is a bit of an adventure along the icy steep road heading straight up from Eagle River Road with a bunch of steep hairpin turns. I'd hate to live up there and have to negotiate that road very often in winter. There is only room for a couple of cars to park by the trailhead too. The trail itself starts out very steeply until you finally get up on the ridge. Then it is a lovely ridge walk, undulating up and down hills towards Mt. Magnificent and on as far into the Chugach Mountains as you would want to go. The trail was mostly snow-covered but also quite windblown It varied from bare rock to 8 inches deep and was very corniced on the downwind side. There was no need for snowshoes but we all wore our microspikes. It would have been quite treacherous without them. One person had to go back because of prior engagements, and the rest of us continued on. There isn't enough daylight to go all the way to Mt. Magnificent so we set our sites on Tucker Point, a steep rocky prominence on one side of the ridge. It's easy to avoid climbing it if one wants to go all the way to Mt. Magnificent, but since we certainly didn't have time to do that, we thought we would try for Tucker. A couple of our faster hikers got fairly close to the top, and the rest of us were about halfway up when a freak snowstorm happened along and completely obscured the peak blowing sideways snow making the otherwise comfortable temperature quite miserable. The trail had become very steep and slippery and I wasn't too disappointed that we elected to turn back. Bella had forged ahead and was up with the two leaders. We all turned around and picked our way carefully down the slippery steep snow slope. Bella bounced her way down and led us through the poor visibility to the saddle below. The snowstorm cleared as quickly as it had arrived, as if it just didn't want us climbing up there. The views were amazing in all directions, and the hike down the ridge was very pleasant. I was surprised at how steep the trek in had been when I found myself slipping and sliding most of the way back down. I'm sure happy I had those spikes on my boots. 

Tucker Point

South Fork Eagle River Trail

 Today was a spectacular day to be out in the mountains. I hiked with the Valley Wanderers. We had hoped to make it all the way to Symphony and Eagle Lakes. But after about 3 miles, we found that the trail was barely visible and the tracks we had been following through the snow were barely discernible. It was also getting rather late and some folks needed to head back anyway. The snow was about 8 inches deep but the first part of the trail was well packed down and snowshoes weren't needed. If we had continued much further, we would have needed them though. It was cold but mostly sunny so it felt a lot warmer than it was. It's always so beautiful out there, but with the sun bouncing off the snow-covered mountains, it took on a whole new dimension of gorgeousness.