Julia suggested a short hike today with the Valley Wanderers. No one responded but I had already told her I would be happy to hike somewhere. We met at her house and drove to her friend, Andrea's house. We put Julia's 2 dogs and we 3 ladies and of course Bella into Andrea's big car and drove quite a way down the Glenn Highway past Long Lake. There was a lot of construction happening in the area and we were held up for a while waiting for a pilot car. We were able to pull over into a large turnout and park out of the way of some heavy equipment also parked there. Purinton Creek runs under the road in that spot. But it is not the official Purinton Creek Trailhead. Julia knew of a narrow, likely game trail that heads straight up the ridge. We hiked up there. I was glad I brought my trekking poles because it was a bit steep. It was very beautiful because as we climbed, we had lovely views of the mountains across the highway and the Matanuska River. We found some trees that had changed to their fall colors of bright yellow gold. Once on top of the ridge, we walked for several miles along the top of the ridge, still on a narrow trail. We stayed on it until it finally seemed to disappear into a flat plateau, with views to a wide valley below. The Talkeetna Mountains dominated the skyline on the other side of that valley, while the Chugach Mountains towered above the Matanuska River far below us. Andrea and Julia got carried away picking blueberries and other berries, while Bella and I relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine. I'm not much of a berry picker and didn't have anything to put them in anyway. Since we didn't see any trail signs past the berry picking area, we decided to head back the way we had come. It was a beautiful little hike in a place where likely very few people would ever go. I consider it Julia's little secret hike.
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