Hatcher's Pass Hiking on the Way Back to Anchorage

We couldn't decide what to do on our last day of this trip, but we'd never been to Hatcher's Pass in the summer, only in winter to ski. So reading up on some hikes, we camped overnight at the bottom at the Gold Mint Trailhead - but did the Reeds Lake hike first off of Archangel Rd.





We didn't get all of the way to the lakes. Two things about this hike - first, we started after it had been raining all day and sometimes pretty hard -- it didn't rain the WHOLE time we were hiking, but everything was so wet and the trail so narrow that we were soaked by the time we got back - well, really within the first 15 minutes or so of this 3 hr. hike. It is a fun hike, and we'll go back again - pretty socked in by fog and mist, so not so many pictures -- the water was gushing down pretty violently -- and by the time we got to a boulder field with the water rushing down just underneath it, we didn't see a way to get Kira across. The ranger told Brian the next day that it is a spot that routinely canines refuse when the water is as high as it is right now.

So we overnighted at the Gold Mint Trailhead and then went up the next morning (yesterday) to Independence Mine and did the relatively short trail to Gold Cord Lake. What a treat though! The main treat for Kira was to find snow again - she's in heaven with snow in July!



You can see the ice still on the lake on the 9th of July!



Sigh . . . and then we came home - to do laundry, clean up and get ready for another RV trip next week - to McCarthy this time! And we spied some more places to hike back at Independence Mine another day - maybe without Kira this time! Independence Mine was a gold mine most active in about the 1930s to 1950s. There is good historical information there and a number of buildings still standing.

More Exploring!

One of the campgrounds where we stayed had an unexpectedly good hike to "The Overlook" -- we were the only people there overnight again, though we saw one other in the morning. It was a State Recreation Site, and they had a 1 mile "Nature Trail" but the Overlook hike was longer and quite steep. The view at the top was so worth it, and the sun had come out by then with enough of a breeze at the top that there were no bugs.



It was just one of those days that you wondered, "Why didn't I bring lunch and a book?" We were content there for quite a while but wanted to move on to the next place (headed back from Chicken now) so we descended and packed up!

We'd brought fishing gear, so we did fish a couple of places along the way.



Ironically, Brian caught a grayling in one place that we completely didn't expect to, the Grizzly Campground, where we ordinarily wouldn't have chosen to stay - still, we were parked right by Grizzly Lake, only one other camper was there (not primitive camping at all, so cabins, etc., all unoccupied mid-week.) We rented a canoe and paddled a little, came in for a rainstorm, then went out again in the morning and paddled - Brian through in and caught a pretty good-sized grayling on the first cast.



Kira isn't crazy about being in the canoe, but this is more of her favorite spot! She starts out across from us in her own bed, and sometime during the night, she hops over with us. She was a good sport for the week though and hiked every day with us.

On The Road to Chicken, Alaska

We had a week out in our 18.5 ft. Chinook, 1977 sturdy thing that she is, especially with Brian taking care of her - including adding a marine propane heater that was just right for warming it up in the morning! We headed north last Thursday and climbed Lion's Head on the way up. We found the campgrounds to be very full, of course, with the 4th of July holiday. But there are always spots in Alaska and good ones too!

This was the view out of our window in our "leftover" and free spot on Alascom Rd. just north of Sheep Mountain. No services, but we're self-contained - so glad there were no spots left!

We continued on Friday and met up with Loogpla Cowden and her guy, Curt, for lunch on the road just north of Glennallen - then continued on to stay on the Nabesca Rd. in the Wrangell Mts, while they continued west to Delta Junction - we were told we might not  find a spot on the Nabesca Rd., but did and also did a pretty good hike there, 7 miles round-trip up to the Caribou Cabin - kind of a monotonous hike in that it's up a gravel maintenance road, and we didn't have time (or maybe energy) to go beyond there for what is supposed to be a great ridge hike. The view was gorgeous though, up and back.

Saturday we camped at a BLM site - we were the only people there besides the host, and besides the mosquitos, another really great spot. The "host" didn't know why the 4th of July campers hadn't made it up that far. Very nice outhouses and free firewood!



Then we got to Chicken, a tiny spot far enough north that it wasn't getting dark at all. So Chicken, we understand, has a Chickenstock Festival every year (think Woodstock) but this year it's been delayed til August due to the Coronavirus. Things were pretty closed down but we managed to score some old Chickenstock t-shirts for grandchildren presents and to have a nice lunch out on a sunny patio.



I'm glad we went, and the terrain was different and striking enough to be worth it all in itself - but the roads were terrible enough that we decided not to do the many miles further on Top of the World Highway (dirt road) to Eagle.

A Full Weekend in Anchorage - even still pretty much isolating

Once we had the salmon in the freezer yesterday, we went for a bike ride, Brian pulling the bugger with Kira, and me pulling myself, which seems like enough work. In fact, it felt like so much work, we checked my tires when we got home, and they needed air - I was glad to get that explanation.
In the morning, I was still trying to empty out freezer space, and I had A LOT of bananas in there, so now we have banana scones, banana muffins, and banana bread! Then I froze some of it for when we take our trips in July, so it ended up taking up room back in the freezer anyway! Our small chest freezer is almost full with shrimp and salmon now, so the refrigerator freezer can hold the rest.

Copper River King Salmon for dinner on the grill, and we have rhubarb growing right next to the grill, so we had a very pretty strawberry rhubarb galette for dessert. Good thing we had the bike ride to get ready to that!

Today we took a longer bike ride, and we were reminded again of how much we love the trail system in Anchorage for biking ourselves and for enjoying how many families are out biking, picnicking, how may little lakes and creeks and streams there are that we bike along and around. A beautiful 2 hour bike today - and no pictures! I forgot my phone - next time! It's been in the high 60s and sunny, sunny, sunny! My perfect weather!

Dip-Netting for Salmon on the Copper River

June 11, 2020

I wasn't there this year, so I'm only passing along the experience and the pictures! But I was at home waiting for the Copper River Reds to come in and pack the freezer for many weeks to come. Here is a picture of Brian fishing - it was a light year this year - 12 salmon apiece for the guys that went, and Brian caught a king that they split four ways. We had a piece of king salmon on the grill last night - probably two inches thick and VERY tasty. I should have taken a picture of THAT!

The year that I went there were 3 of us, and we brought home 55 salmon - and a king too, I think, if I remember correctly. This year Brian took plenty of clothes, because the year I was there it was really cold - I would have given anything for a winter hat and gloves and even a winter coat instead of a raincoat - and that was in June! The folks across from us that year were in full sun and stripping down while we were freezing! This is from 2017 - it looks dark and cold, but I AM smiling. 

One of the best parts of this trip is the scenery on the way up - no prettier place, probably in all of Alaska.

We've planned to take two trips in July, one to Denali and the other we're still undecided about, so stay tuned for more pictures!

Weekend in Hope, Alaska

Actually, weekend was more of an overnight, but we did get to hike two days! We camped in our Chinook along the Resurrection Creek last night and hiked the Resurrection Pass Trail, which we've done several times. I wish we'd get further along the trail, but we went out an hour and a half and turned around and came back. It's such a great spot along the stream, and the hike is a nice graduate uphill but still enough of a hike so that you feel like you did something - about 2 hours, 40 min. total.
Brian wants to come back and bike it, but we tried that once, and I was not stellar - he'll get a lot further without me - and he won't have to listen to me whine either!

We cooked a salmon filet and grilled vegetables for dinner - and we all slept well and were up early with the sun!

We had never done the hike to Hope Pt., and the trail, which was very steep, straight up, when we first moved here was made easier (but still substantial!) with switchbacks in 2012 or 2013 we were told. Kira was not at all thrilled to be hiking two days in a row and made two or three attempts to persuade us to turn around and go in the other direction - but in the end, she hung in there. There are great views of Turnagin Arm, Cook Inlet, and the mountains along the Seward Highway on the way up and from the top - well, we aren't really sure that we got to the top, but we were running out of water for Kira and went 6.4 miles - it said the actual top would have been 7 miles.

Love the different greens! 

 Quick stop here for water and treats for Kira - actually at first I thought this was the top.

 Next time we want to go back to the Palmer Creek Road - we did that with bikes partway and hiking the rest of the way 2 or 3 years ago, and it's a gorgeous drive up into an Arctic valley. with the Chinook we'll be able to drive in further, and we ran into someone who told us about another hike to two lakes - we hiked up to the old mine the last time - every hike we do here is unbelievable, and even the drive there in back is stunning. Another weekend they can never take away from us!

Hiking and Biking - The Weather's Been Great!

It's been our perfect idea of weather here in Anchorage - 60-65 degrees, cooler at night, sunny most days. Last weekend we had intended to go out in the Chinook at least overnight, but we got waylaid with "cleanup" in a number of ways - including selling our 1994 Winnie Minnie and deciding to keep our 1977 18Plus Chinook. I put the ad on Facebook Marketplace at 9 o'clock at night, and it was sold at 9 am the next morning! So what we did instead:

Just before the weekend, we'd been meaning to climb Flattop - it's that early season test to see how out of shape we are! And it turned out to be not too bad! Very popular hike here in Anchorage, and easier now to do from the recommended "backside" where new switchbacks have been constructed (off Canyon Red.) We met a couple at the top - and found out that she is from Buffalo, NY - not too far from where we lived in upstate New York. They've been hiking in the Adirondacks too, where we climbed the 46 high peaks over time!

And then Sunday, a hike TOWARDS Rabbit Lake - we didn't go all of the way. Kira was very excited to see how much snow was still there on the trail - and it's still a beautiful hike and a beautiful day.

Biking has been perfect this spring, but we always have to keep a lookout for the moose on the trail!
We ran into this one over on the Campbell Creek trail and waited patiently until he moved in his own time to the other side of the bike trail and was at least facing the other way. We had company - there were 5 of us by the time he moved! The picture of Brian biking with Kira is from earlier this spring, but she was in the bugger with us when we ran across the moose so I included it!