Rendezvous Peak in the Arctic Valley

This is a favorite hike and one we hadn't done in a while.  We thought we might also get blueberries, and we did see people spread across the hills, but we didn't see any where we were hiking.  When we got out of the car, it was 50 degrees (down from 65 when we left Anchorage), and the wind was just howling, so I'm not sure what the wind chill factor was - I do know that we scrounged around and found anything that we could that had gotten left in the pack or the car from last year -- a winter hat for Brian, a pair of gloves for me, and we both had brought rain gear that sufficed for wind gear!  

And yes, that's a patch of snow there on the side of the mountain - never melted during this summer, which is fairly typical, and this was also a cool summer.  The pictures don't even nearly do the wildflowers justice.  Rendezvous is a fairly mild hike with a pretty gradual rise and then very steep sections near the end. 

There are stunning views as you look back over the city of Anchorage and Cook Inlet -- the Arctic Vally is about 20 miles north of the city. 

It's always steeper to get to the top than I remembered, but not as steep or as difficult, actually, as the High Peaks that we climbed in the Adirondacks, which were more of a challenge to pull yourself up over ledges and boulders.  It was really blowing at the top, and there is this circle of rocks piled up that Brian hunkered down in here for a snack and some water . . . wish we'd thought to bring hot tea -- who knew?!

This was actually last weekend, but I haven't had time to load the pictures or even find the camera, which as it turned out, was still in the car with something thrown over it, hiding it!   This weekend was busy with Freshmen Convocation, and although we thought we'd do a hike today or possibly go out on Kakwik for shrimp, we settled for a bike ride.  We've been doing a loop up and around the university on a paved trail that we'll be skiing on in just a few months -- last year was November 4th, so only two months away - hard to believe!  Still, it's starting to feel like soup weather -- it must be, as I made soup twice this week!  And blueberry cobbler tonight, but I had to buy the blueberries!