We are having a really balmy winter on these days.   It was just  a week ago that we had minus 20 degree.    All fresh snow is gone, and all trails are icy.  So, instead of going to the Coastal Trail, we took the bike path along the Raspberry Rd.  The trail was flat bur completely icy.  We took a walk slowly so that we don't fall. 

Anchorage Coastal Refuge Trail is a 2 mile trail from the Rabbit Creek Shooting Range to the Ocean Bluff View Park.   The trail is really beautiful and "Mostly" flat.  But, it is also very wet.  Especially this year, we had so much rain.   So, I told everyone to wear rubber boots, Extratuff, quiescential Alaskan fashion wear.   Of course, nobody wore these when we met at the Potter Marsh board walk parking lot.  We started with 8 people.   The trail was initially surprisingly dry, but on 1/4 way,  we first found that a right side pond was blocked by beaver.  Trail was getting wetter.  By the next section, the trail was almost like a stream. So,  Sean, Mary, Rita, Nancy, and Cornie, decided to return.  Only Bill,Lyn, and Clare decided to go further.   As we proceeded, the trail was getting wetter and wetter, but they were able to manage without getting really wet.   Once, we passed the difficult wet section, we had straight 30 feet up to the rail road.  From there it was 1/4 mile to the park.  The fall color view from the park was just astonishingly beautiful.  On the way back, we just hiked along the railroad track all the way to the Shooting range.  Yes, we could have taken the this one first, and come back the other way......  But, getting feet wet is one of a fun things in hiking....  

Not many people know  where Stuckagain Heights is.   In a way, the direction is very simple.  From Tudor, take Campbell airstrip Rd. and keep going until the dead end.  But, the road make people feel that they are going in the middle of nowhere.  So,  I got phone call from Bonnie and Kelly asking for direction with a conversation "How do I get to stuckagain height?"  "Ok, where are you now?" "I don't know where I am, but I know I am wrong place...."   While I understand their stress, this definitely makes it diifcult to direct....

Anyway, from there, we carpooled to an another neighborhood for trail to Near Point.  As far as I know, this is one of the most beautiful trail, though it's bit steep at some points.   Especially, because we have been getting rain, the trail was slippery.    But, everyone hiked very well.  We were thinking of doing blueberry picking, but it was bit cold and windy.   Besides, we didn't have big patches.  So, everyone agreed to hike up to the overlook.   All groud plants were already turned colors to yellow and red.  It was very beautiful.  When we arrived at the overlook, it was really windy.  We enjoyed the view.   This is one of the best ways to spend a fall evening.

Today was, our monthly trail cleaning.   But, we were not expecting collecting any trash.  We have never had any trash in this trail.  Sometimes, we wonder how we got into this.  This time, we decided to go other way around.   This is sort of a test.  If we know the trail really well, we should be able to do this.  Needless to say,  we lost a little bit.  But, that's the fun of our hiking.  We tried to look for trash, but all we found was really small one.   It was shocking that Melissa kept finding really really small piece of trash.   By the time, we came back, it started raining.  We just came back in right time.

This hike was supposed to be a nice hardy hike.  But sometimes, other unexpected things happen and throw out all we have planned.  When we arrived at the trail head that are nothing but a newly construction site, we found that the chain was open.  I was not sure why it was open.  When we started hiking into the trail, we found out that there were orange running cables coming out of side rocks.   Bill told me that these were lead dynamite cables!!!   Soon, a red haired lady came and told us that dynamite is about go off in 15 minutes.  So we came back to the gate and waited for the dynamite being detonated.   Everyone was expecting a big explosion where all rocks fly around all over.  However, when it was detonated, there was very small noise and that was it.
No splashy explosions.  We were totally disappointed.   After that, we went to the newly constructed Potter Marsh board walk.  So, in the end, we didn't hike more than a mile.   But, it was relaxing.  In the end, all we need is to go out and enjoy outside.    

September 1st is of course a memorial day weekend.   So, I was not expecting many people coming to the hike.  But, we had a good many people.   The trail was mostly flat, so that we were able to go fast.  We started from lake to paved trail and then took a small trail through the woods.  This confused everyone, which is entirely my job description.  From there we moved back to another trail.  It is funny that everyone is desperately trying to figure out where we are heading.  We made couple of mistakes in the route.  But we came back right on time.
After that we had hotdogs and burgers to clean out all left overs for the picnic.

One great thing about Anchorage is that we hardly get sustained rain all over town.  Sooner or later, rain stops.   So, it is always better to go out, get rained for a while, and enjoy the beauty of after rain scenary.   We had s such hike this evening.
When we arrived at the Upper Huffman parking lot, it ws raining hard continuously.  While the city side is about to clear up, the moutani side was still covered with black clouds.   We have never cancelled our hike because of weather.  So, after a few discussion, we decided to go anyway.   From the upper Huffuman, we droved to the Canyon Rd.  The road was a better shape almost all the way; however, it was really rough on the last 200 yards.   When we started hiking into Rabbit lake, it was still raining, though we couls see signs of improvement.  As we started hiking, the rain was getting less and less.  And, asd dark clouds disappears, bright orange sun came back, shining wet leaves.  Some of the leaves were beggining to change colors, while some were just about to bloom!!  This was entierly strange mixure.   Because we had such a cold summer, some section of the hill had just had snow melted, which brought spring flower bloom.   On the other hand, other section of the hill has been snowless for months, bringing fall colors. 
When we arrived at the overlook, we were able to see the both north and south suicide peaks.  And, rainbow started to appear.  We hiked into the rainbow and came back  from the rainbow.   It was such a magical moment, we cherish.

Russian Jack Park is a small park in a city, so that no one think that this park is big enough to host a hike.  However, it is still big to wander and wonder.   When we hike closely, there are many small side-way trails meandering through woods.  We hiked all over, and I don't think we did not take the same trail twice.   When we came back, Bill noticed me that we hiked about 3.5 miles.  Nobody ever thought we had that many trails here....
 

This is a memorable grand Kincaid Park.  3 hours of hike planned and lead by Linda.  I am glad that I was not responsible for this.  I was also happy to see Julie coming back to the hike.   Seeing old hiking friend, that's the best thing about this group.
We started from Raspberry road parking lot to the beach.  On the way, we saw 5 moose.  They were apparently not happy to see us. Julie and Kelly wanted to go back, but we stayed until they leave.  Once we were on the beach, it was an easy walk.   Walking through the beach and coming back to bluff.  By the time we finished this, we were already back to the parking lot.  7 miles for 3 hours.  It was a great evening hike.

This year, whenever we come to Bear Valley, something always happens.  This time, it was a rain.  It was raining really hard when I was driving Seward Highway to the Bear Valley.   I was thinking that it would be a rainy hike.   However, when I arrived at the Ray Storck Park, there was no trace of rain.  It had not been raining at this place.  Since we had a small group, we were able to pack ourselves in two subarus: mine and Julie's.  But somehow, my car had 6 people while her car had 4 people.  I had no idea why this happened!!   Once we arrived at the parking lot, we started hiking up.  Surprisingly, the trail has been well maintained.  GreBat thing about this trail is that we can see most of trail from bottom to the top, so that we can see where everyone is.   I just took off to the top in 35 minutes, followed by Seiji, Junko, Sean,  Bill, and Sylvia.  After, followed by Julie and Kelly.   Total eight of us were able to reach the summit.  It was windy and cold, so that we had to start coming back, picking up Linda.
The view was really wonderful.  Bill told us it was 1.9 miles round trip with elevation gain of 1100 feet.  Good excercise.
After we came back to the park, we looked at the mountain we hiked.  It did not look a steep mountain.   Thus, goes visual deception.  Yes, It was really steep, and we had a great fun.

 

Not many people know about trails at Bartlet High school.  The trails consist of many small loops, which makes you confuse where you are.  But good thing is that all trails are color coded and mapped.  Also, the trail has many ups and downs.  That's what I like about the trail. I was very happy to see Rosie.   She is a trooper.   I was also happy to see Lyn coming back to New Zealand. 
We started red trail to steep blue green, to purple, back to blue green, to orange, to green, to blue, back to green, to orange, to blue green, and to red trails.  Wow, this is really complicated.  Total distance 3.5 miles, with numerous ups and downs...  Nobody knew where we were hiking, and suddenly we were back to where we started!! 
After that Judith invited us for her house to celebrate her birthday.  Happy birthday Judith!!

The day was gorgeous with hot and blue sky.    It was definitely a perfect evening hiking day, until 5:00 pm.  At 5:00 pm, we had a shower and thunderstorms.   Anchorage hardly had thunderstorms, so that it was a rare treat.   However, this also means that we would be hiking under the shower!! 
Well, not quite.   The thunderstorm has already passed by 6:15.   When we met at the O'Malley trail head, rain has already stopped, and blue sky was coming back.  We had a small but strong group.  Today's hike was lead by Linda, so that I was not responsible to any mishaps during the hike.    Her menu was taking Gasline, Hemlock Knob, Blueberry Hallow, and White Spruce.   This is a grand cours,  but backward route is probably better for view.  We also had Julie with us.   She has been sending me e-mails while I was out of town, so that it was fun to finally meet her.   I also learned that Julie has a small dog.  Now, we have 3 small dogs in our hiking.  It would be fun when all three show up for hiking.

Tthe trail was bit wet, but I was realy surprised how dry the trail was.   As we started hiking, clouds were moving away more and more, and blue sky came back completely.   When we were at the Blueberry Hallow,  Linda asked if there is a bridgeon campbell creek between Glen Alps and Prospect Heights.   There is always a rumor about an existence of a bridge.  It is a good question, and it makes sense to have one. 
As we hiked further, the mountain view was getting better and better.   I have to say, it was one of the best hiking days through out Summer. From there, we took White spruce back to the trail head.  Lind did great leadin.  I am very proud of her.  
After we finished hiking, I stopped at Freddy.  When I came out of the store, the mountains were covered with black stormy clouds again.   We were very lucky to be at the right place at right time.  Those who did not come really missed the rare opportunity.   
 

Finally, I was back from Nome.   It was really nice to see everyone again.  The day was somewhat cloudy, which reminded me the weather I had in Nome.  It was bit cool, but it was  definitely warmer than Nome.  Today was, as usual, our Mize loop cleaning up day.  But, needless to say, we did not find significant amount of trashes.  I was really happy to see Yvonne coming back and hiking with us.  She has been absent about  6 months.  But, oh boy, she hiked really fast., as fast as a bullet train.   I could not catch up with her.  On the way, we saw a moose.  It was really a delight to see them.  I always enjoy seeing them, whenever they show up.  
After the hike, we had an icecream at Taste freeze to reward ourselves for cleaning up the trail.  We really did not have any trash, but hey, still we did our duty....

 

It has been raining since in the morning, so that I did not expect to see many people.  Besides, Dela was going to lead the hike today.  When I came to the trail head, Linda and Sean were already there.  By the time it was time to go, there was no trace of Dela.  Where is Dela the leader?   Sean suggested that we should wait another 5 minutes.  As soon as we decided to wait, Dela came.  This evening, we planned to hike the Middle fork trail.  The trail was really wet and flooded. The Campbell creek had high water.  We were supposed to go to the middle fork trail, and then, Bill proposed to go to take the side trail.  The trail was narrow and we bushwacked through the trail.  On the trail, Sean lost his glasses.  We searched through tall vegetation to find it.  Fortunately, Linda found it.   The trail was really slippery and wet; however, this is the fun of Thursday hike: going through new trails and enjoy surprises.

Wolverine bowl trail head is one of unmarked trail head.  Explaining location of this trail head is not easy.   That's the reason we meet at Bicentennial Park at North Bivouac trail head.  Unfortunately, somehow, the trail head sign was also missing...  This made further more difficult to meet....
Anyway, we had about 7 people coming to the hike.   I was especially happy to see Caron and Sim whom I haven't seen for a long time.  It's always nice to see old hiking friends.  The trail was easy going along the ridge of the Campbell creek.  We took further down the creek.  The trail was mostly dry.  When we came to the Wolverine trail we encountered a lot of people as if we were walking on a major highway.  As soon as we came back to the Wolverine bowl trail at the side of the bridge, we met Mike and Licia!  Apparently, they were late and were looking for us.  When we came back to the trail head, it was already 8:30 pm.  We really had fun.

During salmon run season, Bicentennial Park is notorious for high bear activities.  Last week, a 15 year old cyclist was mauled by brown bears, so that some of the trail was closed.   This prompted huge public debates about bear issues.  To me, having bear is standard of life in Anchorage.   No matter what, precautions are always needed.  
Because of this bear scares, we had few people coming to the hike this evening.  Still, our group size was bigger enough to make bears shy away.  Besides, we had two babies (Ava and Christopher) crying all the way.  Baby cries do not bother me at all.  Besides, they act as natural bear alert system.  We don't have to call make noises. :D.

Today was also Melissa's lead.  From the trailhead, we took a Lynx trail and crossed the airstrip and took a dog mushing trail.   The trail was wide enough for trail stroller to go through.  Most of the time, the trail was mosquito free (well in Alaska standard).   We took a dog mushing trail.   It was widened significantly.  We took a picture in the middle of the trail, with Chugach mountains in the back.   After that we came across the Viewpoint trail and headed toward the Coyote trail.  On the way, we came across the Rover's run where the girl was mauled.   There was an orange sign indicating that the trail was closed.   This, to me, is a part of living in Alaska.  Needless to say, big group with babies loudly crying, we did not see bears.  From Coyote trail to Lynx and we came back to the trailhead.  That was a fun trail.

Kincaid Park has several trails that are not described in a map.  This evening's hike was to explore one of such trails.  The trail goes along Kincaid bluff and beach.  
Since it's an evening before the July 4th and the weather looked about to rain, we had small number of people.   We took a ski trail and soon into a side trail.  The trail condition was very good.  Usually, grass covers 5-6 high, but this year, the grass hight was really low.   This made it easy to find the trail.   The trail just went ups and downs all the way.  We had little showers on and off, but we did not mind them at all.  After long laborious hike, we finally reached the beach.  Well, in Anchorage standard.  Kelly and Paula did not know that we had a beach in Kincaid Park.   It was a nice hike.

Ruth Arcand  park is truly unknown little gem in Anchorage.  Again, we had one participant who lived around this neighborhood for a long time and has never realized its existence.   The beauty of this trail was almost flat, which Rosie appreciate very much.  Yes, Rosie, I wrote it "flat" for you!!

We did not see many regulars on this hike, probably because it's July 4th week.  Many people have already left for vacation, and probably (as Bill says) they know that the park is infested by mosquitoes!!    Yes, we needed bug dope, but mosquitoes were not as bad as we thought.  As long as we keep moving, we were not bothered.   From the parking lot, we started trail in counter clockwise.  At every intersection, I pointed current location on the map.  After we crossed a bridge, we took a side trail that goes through dense woods.   We had couple of wet spots, but it was not really bad.  Melissa's Kleco was ecstatic to find those spots so that he was able to cool off.  Needless to say, his mom, Melissa was not happy about it.  Wet smelly dog in a car. Oh, this is really bad...   Megan had some difficulties in going through wet spots, but she was a trooper.  We are very lucky to have her.   Once we were out of the side trail, it was a time to take pictures.   We had a beautiful mountain view.  That's always amazes me about this park.  After taking pictures, we hiked further on the trail that goes along a golf club.  And again, Bill tried to take us to a wrong trail, despite the fact we had an accurate map in hand!!  Oh well, getting lost is also the beauty of this park.  When we came back to the parking lot, it was 8:00 pm.  Bill shouted 3.7 miles.  That was a good hike.