Lazy Mountain Climb

 I thought yesterday was muddy on Blueberry Knoll, but today was 100 times worse! I took the old Lazy Mountain Trail because it's the shortest and most direct way to climb Lazy Mountain. But it is extremely steep and if wet at all, it can be almost impossible. It was incredibly muddy and I ended up finally putting my micro spikes on my boots after sliding about 10 feet down one of the steepest slippery slopes. I thought today was going to be a perfect day for the climb, but when I set out for the trailhead, the clouds rolled in and obscured the peak. I considered abandoning the idea, but then decided to go for it anyway. It was quite a relief to finally reach the picnic table and stop for a snack. I ran into my friends from the Valley Wanderers who had climbed from the Southside Trail and were headed down Lazy Moose. After my steep slippery adventure, I momentarily considered descending with them. But I hate to quit, so continued on to the top. It was getting colder as Baby and I climbed, so I put her coat on her because she was shivering a little. The cooler temperature kept the ground fairly hard, so it was much easier climbing than the first part had been. We also encountered quite a bit of snow, which was also easy climbing since I was still wearing my spikes. We didn't hit the fog until right before the summit. Sadly we didn't get to see any of the view I had hoped for. But it's always nice to reach a goal. It was windy and cold so we didn't linger for long. The trip down was great until the last of the false summits before the junction of the Lazy Moose Trail. The temperature had warmed up and the mud was horrifying! I had 6 inch clumps of mud and grass built up under my spikes. It was almost impossible to maintain any kind of footing, so it was an easy decision to take the gently but 2 miles longer Lazy Moose switchback trail instead of the one I had climbed. It was still muddy but quite nice until I encountered a gigantic tree that had fallen across the trail. I tried several methods of getting past it then decided it didn't look possible. Shortly before the tree I saw a side trail heading down that had a sign indicating it was joining Lazy Moose.  I had no idea where it went but felt it must be the alternative to the obstructed trail. At least it was heading down. It came to anther trail with a sign that said it was access to Lazy Moose. I took it to the right, hoping that was the right direction. On my GPS map I saw I was parallel to Lazy Moose but heading in the right direction. It connected to the Morgan Horse Trail and led us back to the parking lot. I'd like to walk Lazy Moose from the bottom and see what happens from that direction when you reach that fallen tree. This was one of my more interesting climbs of Lazy Mountain.

Blueberry Knoll Hike

 At least it wasn't raining. Hoping to hike up to Gold Cord Lake on the snow, I drove up to Hatcher Pass. Last week, Baby was delighted to walk on the snow. Not today though. We only walked a few feet before she declared that she was not going another inch. So we went back down and tried the Rae-Wallace Trail. Once again she made it clear she wanted no parts of it either. I gave up and drove down to the Gold Mint Trailhead, hoping the lack of snow would be more to her liking. It was dry and warm, but nope, she wanted no parts of that trail either. I really wanted to hike somewhere so on my way back home, I thought I'd see if she would be interested in the trails at the Government Peak area. Suddenly she was all excited and I could hardly hold onto her long enough to attach her leash. What I thought might be a 5 minute attempt at the Blueberry Knoll steep trail, turned into a fast moving slippery climb almost 2 miles up to the knoll itself.  It was so muddy and slippery that I frequently ended up with muddy knees as Baby pulled me off my feet in her exuberance. Apparently she prefers mud to snow, at least today anyway. It was 3 pm when we started up so I figured there was no chance we would actually reach the knoll. But we did slip and slide all the way up to the top. We got there by 4, which for me was pretty fast, especially in those conditions.  The trail is quite steep and is mostly composed of muddy hills and tree roots. It's a miracle I managed to avoid tripping over any of those. But the steep hills were more challenging as I slid down, gaining one step up and two steps down. I love the view up there. I was really worried about the trip back down. I have to keep Baby on her leash because I know she would race right back to the car and leave me there, wondering if she really made it to the car. I spent the whole trek down shouting SLOW DOWN to Baby, as she totally ignored my pleas. I was a muddy mess by the time we reached the car, but felt a sense of accomplishment that we got there by 5pm. 

I really wish my dog could explain why she loved that muddy trail and had no interest in the others that are usually her favorites. 

Twin Peaks Trail

It's been rainy and cloudy and miserable for days. I started out intending to just do a little shopping, but the mountains were calling so I had to go. I had tossed my cross country skis into my car in hopes of finding enough snow to ski somewhere. It has been kind of warm so I wasn't sure what I would find up higher. I drove up to Eklutna Lake, hoping maybe there would be enough on the Lakeside Trail. I found absolutely none there! My dog seems to always prefer climbing to walking on flat trails so I decided to head up the Twin Peaks Trail. We didn't have much time since I had started out rather late this morning. It was cloudy and threatened rain but we made it up the steep trail to the overlook by the first bench. I took a few pictures and took a little break. Then I felt a few raindrops. Baby really wanted to continue climbing, but I decided that might not be fun in the rain. Also, I didn't bring any water or snacks because I had originally figured we would just walk a short distance on the Lakeside Trail. I turned back and Baby tried desperately to pull me up the hill. She finally gave up and headed back down with me. She was on her leash so really wasn't going to win that argument! It was a really nice hike and the views were spectacular as always, in spite of the cloudy weather. Once to the car, it started to pour rain. Descending had been the best decision.

Independence Mine Hike

 It snowed yesterday so I wanted to go up and check out the new snow up at Hatcher Pass and Independence Mine. I was contemplating possibly hiking up to Gold Cord Lake again. But when Baby and I got to the trailhead, after walking the mile to reach it, we found it disappeared into the new snow. I was hoping someone had walked it earlier so I could follow their trail. I'm sure, given extra time, and using my AllTrails iPhone app, I could have found my way. But Baby stopped and indicated that she was done with that idea once we crossed the two bridges over the creek. That was where all signs of the trail disappeared. She enjoyed the walk to that point because she was able to walk in old foot prints and ski tracks, avoiding the 4 inches of new snow. I think the deeper snow didn't interest her anymore. But she enjoyed running back down to the car. It was so beautiful. I wish I had been able to get up to the lake. Maybe tomorrow I'll come back with my skis and see if we can get up to Summit Lake again. There appears to be enough snow to do that.

Matanuska Lakes Trail, Long Lake Loop Twice

 The Valley Wanderers had planned to hike the Mount Eklutna, Bear Point loop. But it was raining and forecast to do so all day. That loop can get very muddy and steep so they decided to hike at Matanuska Lake instead. I love these trails, not very steep, with so many options. We hiked the Long Lake Loop once then three of us decided to do the route again since the day was still young. I took a chance and let Baby off her leash. We had another dog with us for the second time around and Baby seemed to be getting along fine with him. She did great, and stayed right behind me the whole way. Fortunately there were no squirrels tempting her to take off and disappear, sending me screaming down the trail after her. When other hikers with dogs approached, I quickly hooked her back to her leash. I could tell she wanted to try to start trouble with them in her usual way. But once they were past us, I was able to let her run free again. The trail was nice and dry with just a few small muddy spots. It was very windy, but the forecast rain never arrived. I think that wind would have been pretty horrible if we had done Mount Eklutna though. I think we made a good choice. 

  

Summit Lake

I drove up to Hatcher Pass, not sure what I was going to do when I got there. It was pretty cloudy but at least not raining. I knew there would be snow up at Summit Lake, but not enough to worry about avalanches yet. So Baby and I hiked up the gravel road past the closed gate and walked all the way up to the top of the pass to the lake. It was beautiful up there. I love the view of lakes that are still open yet surrounded by snow. The first half of the 2 mile long road was wet but snow-free. The top half was just slushy snow a few inches deep. It wasn't terribly cold, at just about freezing. Up by the lake it was a little windy but not terrible. We looked around, admired the view, then enjoyed a 2-mile run to the bottom. Just before the gate there is a little trail that cuts down across the creek to the turnout where I had parked. We diverted off the road and checked it out. It was quite steep and muddy in spots. But it was nice crossing the little bridge over the creek. It was a very enjoyable little climb and run.

Muktuk Marston- Rendezvous Ridge Loop

I was so happy to get to do this interesting loop with the Valley Wanderers, but at first we were very disappointed. When we got to the trailhead at Arctic Valley, it was raining and totally fogged in. That was not in the forecast and it had been lovely down in the valley. We decided to just head back down to the Sleepy Dog Coffee Shop and discuss other hiking alternatives. Halfway down the road, the lead car pulled over because she could see that the clouds were breaking up. After a brief chat, we decided to go back and give our hike a try after all. The Muktuk Trail is a new trail and we really wanted to check it out. It's a very gradual climb up to Hunter Pass along a wide easy path traversing the ridge. As we progressed along the trail, the clouds continued to lift and it was quite pleasant. But once we got to Hunter Pass, we were totally in the clouds again. That was disappointing because the view from up there is amazing. We continued on up Rendezvous Ridge, through the fog all the way to the pass between Rendezvous Peak and Mount Gordon Lyon. We couldn't see much of anything until we started down the trail between the two peaks descending along Arctic Valley Ski Area. Once out of the clouds it was sunny and nice, a little muddy in places, but good weather. Still a fabulous hike, even with the clouds and fog. I would like to do it again and see what I missed!