The Perch

 I hiked the trail to the Perch along the Iditarod Trail from the Eagle River Nature Center with a small group of the Valley Wanderers today. Lots of folks are out of state for the winter so our hikes have been with only a couple of us. Today it was just Jane, Linda and me. Chris showed up at the trailhead, but then for some reason, he turned around and left. So, it was just us 3 and Bella our fearless leader. I got distracted as we started the hike, then suddenly realized I had forgotten something. I had left my backpack in my car! Feeling like a fool, I quickly ran back with Bella running along with me, grabbed my pack then ran back to the others. Fortunately, we had not gone very far before I realized my silly mistake. Since it's at least an 8-mile hike, I thought it best not to hike without it. I had my water and food in it. The trail was well packed down but like everywhere right now, it was icy enough that micro spikes were good to have. It was easy hiking until we got to Echo Bend and the river. From there, we found more icy sections and the trail gets kind of steep and narrow, with lots of tree roots. In a couple of places, I worried we might slip down into the river. The river was mostly frozen but definitely has a lot of open water, and there is water on top of the ice where it is frozen. It's been unseasonably warm and was even a bit above freezing today. The Perch is just a rocky outcropping with a short steep climb where you can get a great view of the river. Bella ran to the edge of it and the snow was very soft. I did some serious yelling at her to get back here, because I sure didn't want her sliding off onto whatever was down below. I kept her close by until we descended to the trail again. It was gorgeous up there and a nice place for a quick snack and a rest. On the way back we took the loop to the Dew Mound, which is just small hill overlooking a tiny lake. From there we also had a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains. The whole trip took about 4 hours, and we covered 8.6 miles. It's not a hard trail but Bella slept all the way home. I think she hiked twice as far as we did because dogs always have to run up and back increasing their mileage substantially.