Chilkoot Trail 2012

My best buddy and I set out on a trek across the Chilkoot trail on July 23, 2012.  We hiked for 5 days and 4 nights for a total of 33 miles.  The first night we hiked to Canyon City campground.  We were the last ones awake in camp that night.  As we sat on the porch of the warming hut, a bear wandered into camp.  It really scared me, so I talked Ken into sleeping with me inside the emergency warming hut.

The next day we hiked to sheep camp.  This was our campsite at Sheep Camp.  Not too shabby.  And we actually slept in our tents.  :)  We found a hidden place along the creek to take a bath.  ahhhhh all the comforts of home.

The 3rd day we got up early and left camp by 4:19am to set out for the Golden Stairs and up to the summit. What nobody told me was that what goes up, must come down.  And the down was in a snowfield heading straight for crater lake.  Panic attacks set in.  But I eventually overcame my fears (what choice did I have?) and made it across the snow fields.  We hiked all the way to Happy camp in the snow.  It was nice to finally get to Happy Camp.  It was a very hot day with the sun blasting us on the snow.

The Golden Stairs

                                   This is the snowfield that created such panic in my mind.

Happy Camp - it was so hot!  Inside the tent was unbearable til late in the day.







 On the way to Lindeman Lake, we took a swim in Deep lake.  It was so cold you couldn't stay in the water long.  Then we set up our camp a Lake Lindeman.  I made Ken put his tent on the side of the woods beside my tent to protect me from bears.  Thank goodness he is such an awesome friend

Our Camp at Lake Lindeman

 Washing dishes at Lake Lindeman.

The next day we set out early for the 7 mile hike to Lake Bennett.  We needed to be there to have the Beef Stew dinner that we had planned for at the Train Station in Bennett.  The train was scheduled to depart at 2pm.

 A portion of the hike was very sandy like a beach and very difficult to walk in.

We did it!  A very memorable trip that I will cherish for a lifetime!  

Summer Solstice 2011

Summer Solstice is a big deal up here in Alaska. We treasure our sunlight and enjoy our summers with endless daylight. Summer Solstice marks the time when the hours of daylight start dwindling down until in the fall we head back to our darkened nights filled with hopeful northern lights. So many people mark the celebration by climbing our famous peak of 3500 feet called Flattop. 100's of people flock up to the top of this little mountain on summer solstice. And at the top you will often find people playing guitars and once there was a guy juggling fire. This time there was girl skipping around the top hula hooping. Many people choose to wear costumes or hats and beads and feather boas to celebrate. We just simply hiked up to enjoy the view and the people. My friends Nichole, Heidi and Heather decided to join me for this Summer Solstice and so glad they did. It was a fun time. Heidi wanted to kill me soon after it all started, but I think she enjoyed herself in the end.

Callisto Cabin - Caines Head May 2011

We got lucky and scored a two night stay at the Callisto Canyon Cabin in Caines Head. It is about a 5 mile hike out to the cabin. A portion of the trail is on the beach and you can only pass at low tide. So 5:30 am we set out on our adventure after first staying the night in the warm backpackers room at Millers landing the night before. The hike begins on a somewhat of an uphill note. Which displeased Arn beyond belief. LOL. But what goes up must come down. So we winded our way thru the rain forest and finally ended up on the beach. Did we honestly think the hiking would be easier on the beach??? NOT. Every step we took had to be carefully calculated as the sharp rocks that jutted from the beach at low tide were often covered with seaweed and slime. The weather wasn't very nice to us this trip. But ah, this is Alaska. We perservered and still had a wonderful adventure. There is a nice waterfall around the beach from the cabin where we filtered our water. We took a nice 7 mile hike out to Ft McGilvrey on the second day. There was still lots of snow out there. And it rained all the way. We got pretty wet and cold, despite our gear. So after a cold lunch hunkered down in one of the pill boxes at the fort, we decided to head back and explore the south beach area another time. One does not decide to head back early on these trails. As we arrived at our beach trail it was completely impassable due to high tide and there was no way around the surrounding cliffs. So we had to wait out the tide for at least another 4 hours. Cold and wet we sought out shelter. Our luck was holding out. The Derby Cove cabin set up in the woods off of Derby Cove, where we were stranded. We checked it out and nobody was home. So we went inside and started a fire in the stove and warmed up for the next few hours out of the rain. We met the occupants of the cabin on the other side of low tide coming out as we continued our hike back to our cabin. We told them their cabin would be prewarmed for them. Finally back at our cabin we got our fire started and got warm to settle in for the evening. Callisto Cabin is a very neat cabin not far off the ocean front. You can see the sea lions and otters playing in the ocean from the cabin windows. And the cabin itself is pretty cool too. Has a carved eagle hanging from the porch and some other nice touches inside. We met the builder of the cabin as we hiked out the next day. He said it was built in 98 or so with funds from the Exxon Valdez settlement. Good use of those funds if you ask me.

Gull Rock Hike - 2011

Headed out for an overnight hike with Arn and Nichole. We chose Gull Rock as our destination. Hadn't been out there for about 3 years. It is about a 5 mile hike out to the end of cook inlet just the opposite side of Anchorage. It is a nice spot. Where you can camp out on the cliffside and watch the sunset. If you are really lucky you will get a nice boretide to watch roll in to the inlet. We saw lots of Bear Scat! And one bear about 50 feet off the trail. Thank goodness Ruger is a good dog and just stared him down with knowledge that this was a beast we must not mess with. Had a wonderful dinner out on our cliffside campsite. And a spectacular fire. The weather held out for us and we didn't get rained on til the night and on our hike out. All in All it was a good hike and as always a nice chance to get back to nature. :)

Springtime in Denali - 2011

They offer free drive in to Denali in the springtime. So we took em up on it and set off for a Denali trip to never forget. My friend, Heidi join me and Arn. We looked for some cabin or motel to rent, but as it was still late April, nothing was open. So we said "what the heck?" Let's just camp. So camp we did! 11 degrees was the key phrase to remember. It was a beautiful drive out there. We didn't see much wildlife until on the Parks Hwy on our drive home when we saw a herd of caribou of about 15 or so 'bous.

Snowmaching with my buddy. Feb 2011

I finally got to go and do a little snowmaching. What a fun time. My best buddy hooked me up with a snowmaching tour. What a blast! Now don't get me wrong. I DO NOT have a need for speed. So getting these powerful machines up to 40 mph was all the speed I desired. But what fun cruising all around the back woods of turnagain pass. It was so beautiful out there dodging in and out of the trees climbing higher and higher on the mountains. SWEET! And I even got a pink helmet to wear.