A Little Cross Country Skiing

 I've mostly been digging out after all of the big snowstorms from last week. 30 to 40 inches in my yard still. I have been skijoring up and down the roads with Baby pulling and making me go faster. We do most of our walks on skis lately. Today they finally opened up the road to Hatcher Pass after closing it for a week due to avalanche danger. So even though it was 10 degrees below zero in town, I wanted to see if it might be a little warmer up there.  It was as warm as plus 5 in some places due to the usual temperature inversion typical for this time of year. But it was still really cold up by Independence Mine due to some pretty strong wind. So we went down and tried skiing on Archangel Road, a little farther down the hill. It was still cold there but at least there was no wind. It was rather poor skiing conditions because it had not been groomed and the snow is several feet deep. I was able to stay in some ski tracks and snowmachine tracks made by others for a while. But most of them turned off the trail so I followed a snowshoe trail, which was not as rough, but also was pretty deep and not much better than simply breaking trail. Baby gave up very soon after we started because her feet were cold. She rode most of the way in my backpack. We only covered about a mile total, but it was gorgeous out there and nice to be out in nature. 

Mirror Lake Trails Hike

 Another beautiful winter hike today with the Walkabouts. It was still pretty cold, 11 degrees when we started. The sun never did reach us. Baby was doing great for a while. But once we got out on Edmonds Lake, she started to get cold. The snow was not packed down like it had been on the actual trail, so I finally had to put her in my pack. I don't like her being cold and uncomfortable. See seems to enjoy riding in the pack. I think she stays quite warm because I first put her into a homemade bag made from 3 layers of warm fleece. Then I put her into the pack. She always seems quite comfortable there. We ended up walking the entire perimiter of Edmonds Lake. We were looking for a trail some of the others had walked before, that came off the lake. But we only found one that lead back to the road. So we ended up back on the trail where we had first entered the lake. There are many trails and loops in that trail system so we followed a couple of others then went back to the trailhead. It was quite beautiful with the snow covered trees. I think it would have been wonderful to be out there on the lake on skis too.

Twin Peaks Trail

 Fantastic hike on Twin Peaks Trail to the second bench with the Valley Wanderers. The trees were loaded with snow and even the drive up the road was amazing. Baby did fine until about halfway to the first bench when she started letting me know I needed to carry her. The snow was a little too deep for her tiny legs. She rode the rest of the way on my back, warm and cozy in her doggie backpack. The extra weight slowed me down, but I also got a better workout, I suppose. The lake is still open and I feel tempted to take my kayak out for a final ride of the year. But I'd probably regret it because it would be very cold out on that lake.

Archangel Road Ski

 Beautiful day cross country skiing on Archangel Road with Pam and our dogs. It was only 6 degrees at home, but up there, it was 25 degrees! It almost felt balmy. I was actually warm for a change. Baby ran and walked the whole way without being carried even once. That was so much nicer than when she has to ride in my pack. She likes running with her doggie friends. The snow conditions were absolutely perfect and recently groomed. 

Eklutna Lakeside Trail Ski

 Cross country skiing today up at Eklutna Lake with my friend Diane. It was very cold, only 8 degrees at home and in Palmer. I wore four layers of coats. Baby wore her warmest coat, but she was still cold. She ended up riding in my backpack where she could stay warm and cozy. Diane's huge black German Shepherd, Tobi was totally indifferent to the cold and kept Diane far ahead of me most of the way. The snow was wonderful powder, but not quite as deep as I would have liked. The rocks often had very light coverage and we had to be careful not to catch a ski and topple over as we skied over them. Happily, I remained standing. On Thursday I woke up to 8 inches of snow, and it looks like this area got about the same amount. At those temperatures, it was very light powder. The lake is still open and reflected the beautiful golden sunrise that continued through to nearly sunset during this short Alaskan winter day. The trees were heavily coated with snow, making the whole scene look like a Christmas card in every direction.

Eklutna Lakeside Trail

 We've had several recent snowfalls, so I decided to grab my cross country skis and see how the snow conditions are at Eklutna Lake. What a disappointment! There is practically no snow anywhere up there. Just a few small piles in the trees, but the Lakeside Trail is about 90 percent ice. Not nice ice that you could ice skate on either, but rutted, rough lumpy ice. Even with my micro spikes on my boots, it was at times, difficult walking. I was wearing my snow boots because I had planned to wear my ski boots. But I found that the spikes worked well with them so I figured I would just walk, in spite of the ice. But, Baby my dog, quickly got tired of dealing with the ice. It seemed a little odd because she doesn't seem to have problems walking on snow. Maybe the ice was sharp on her feet. I ended up carrying her in my backpack. She seemed pretty comfortable with that idea. I only walked to the one mile marker and back. It was beautiful as usual, but the sun never reached us even though it was a totally cloudless day. I guess I will need to go elsewhere if I want to ski.

Matanuska Peak Trail

 I hiked today with the Valley Wanderers. Our original plan had been a snowshoe hike at Independence Mine. But they changed it due to freezing rain. Instead we hiked the Matanuska Peak Trail intending to go to Stonehenge. The trail was in great condition, with hard packed snow. I had been feeling exhausted all week and considered passing on this hike. But since the trail is so close and I felt I really needed the exercise, I decided to go. All was well for the first mile, but as it got steeper, I found I wasn't able to keep up with the other three ladies. I am generally slower than most of them normally, but today I was really dragging. I was very glad that Baby was happily running ahead and it didn't look like I would need to carry her. That really slows me down. When we got to the 9000 foot marker, the others decided to hike along the trail to check out a large landslide instead of heading up to Stonehenge. That part of the trail was deeper snow and not packed down. I could see right away that Baby was having trouble and I would need to carry her. At that point I decided there wasn't much point in continuing, so I let them know I was going to head back. It was pleasant descending and Baby was still doing fine. It wasn't the best day to be out there anyway because it was overcast and obscuring the mountain peaks, plus it was snowing lightly. I'm really glad I went and I hope I can get a little faster and in better shape because I love hiking with those folks. But I don't like being too slow, because I feel like I'm dragging them down. I think I'm just not quite in the winter mode yet. It's so much more complicated than summer hikes. But I really love the snow covered scenery.