Bear Point

 Today was a hike with the Valley Wanderers. At first it was only Kim and me. But Kim brought, Amy a friend of hers, and as is typical, Chris showed up at the trailhead unannounced. He usually does that. Amy said she had never done a winter hike before. Wow, what a way to introduce someone to winter hiking, going up a very steep icy trail covered in snow. It's really not a difficult hike, but it is very steep in many parts. There was just enough snow on the trail to cover the glare ice beneath it. Conditions like that can be very slippery even with the sharpest of micro spikes. I had a few close calls, but never actually fell. Chris forged on ahead as always, and I was mostly able to keep Bella from taking off after him. But she was usually far out ahead of us three ladies. She was very good about coming back when I called her though. I don't like her actually getting out of sight. We caught up with Chris at the top and we all walked together across the upper plateau to the actual Bear Point. The view from there is spectacular. It offers great views of the Knik Arm and Mat-Su Valley down below as well as a lovely view of Twin Peaks and Mount Eklutna. It was so nice and sunny that we all felt like we could stay there forever. Plus, we were also wondering how treacherous the trip down was going to be on all the icy sections. I was pleasantly surprised that the trip down wasn't too bad at all. Chris tried to find a different way down, to avoid the ice. But he ended up taking a much longer route and coming up behind us. Bella stayed pretty close to me all the way down. I think she gets tired on the way back and loses interest in bounding down at breakneck speed. I was happy that I didn't need to carry her. My back doesn't enjoy that activity very much. But she does ride comfortably in my backpack when needed. The hike was 4 miles, and the elevation gain is about 2000 feet. It was a spectacular hike!

Kim, Me and Amy

Twin Peaks

Mt Eklutna