Virgin Creek Falls

Hi there!

A hike had been planned for on our way back home from Barn Hunt trials in Soldotna (more about that in Saturday’s post), but an asthma attack prevented us from doing any activity that required any sort of lungpower. Not to be deterred, we veered off the highway at Girdwood and made our way to Virgin Creek Falls trailhead. I’d read snippets about the hike walk from a facebook group where someone had mentioned it in passing, so a quick google search provided us with semi-accurate directions.

We parallel parked along the dead-end road amongst the four or five other parked hiker vehicles, with the emergency brake on, since it was a modest incline, and dabbed a bit of bug spray on our faces. The mosquitoes are still sparse, but they are here. As we dutifully patted out necks and hairline, we watched three men and a woman in front of us get out of their rental car and assemble trekking poles for their hike, don rain jackets, and day packs. I glanced at my stretch pants and brand new tennis shoes and had a fleeting thought that maybe I needed more gear than the camera in my sweatshirt pocket and the bug spray now perfuming my neck. Nah.

Fiddlehead ferns!

Slowly, we followed the tourists across the road to the trailhead, allowing them to get ahead of us, so we didn’t hike at their heels. TheMother and I expressed our thoughts about the two houses (un)lucky enough to be situated right at the trailhead. I’m not so sure I would enjoy having a bunch of hikers traipsing past my house all the time. A bored looking gray husky lounging on the nearest house porch didn’t even have enough interest to stir when Fly rushed past in her haste to get going.

About 30 feet into the woods, I overheard the stout female tourist exclaim that she would go no further and the men could go on without her, but she was coaxed along and soon the group was out of sight. Seconds later, I saw why she had balked: there was still snow on the trail and what wasn’t snow was a field of roots. Granted, the snow was hard packed, nearly ice, but I could understand why someone with possible knee or ankle issues would hesitate.  After this short section, however, the trail was more amenable and gently ascended with the aide of a boardwalk and some logs cut in rounds for stepping pavers. The path was soft, but not mushy, snow free, and the air was cool, slightly humid, and quiet. Large moss festooned trees grew all around, it is a temperate rainforest after all, and the sound of rushing water could be heard to our right.

The only bad section of the trail, right at the entrance, of course.

Sure enough, a minute later, we could look down and see the creek as it foamed and rushed its way downhill. It was a steep cliff, so I kept Fly close, because she isn’t the most graceful of woodland creatures. We stopped for a photo op and the tourists passed us headed back toward the trailhead. Finished already?

Yes, they actually were finished. Another minute or two of hiking walking awarded us with views of the waterfall. Seriously, it is that easy of a hike and just as short. Perfect for visiting friends and family who want to experience an Alaskan hike without all the effort and hazards and occasional dull scenery. Or, it would be excellent as a pit stop during a long drive to get some fresh air and stretch the legs.

It's like Narnia here.

There were some high school girls down at the edge of the water taking glamor photos, senior photos maybe, but Fly and I navigated our way down beside them and snapped a few quick pics while the girls were re-setting themselves. Fly was more interested in chewing driftwood branches than she was of the rushing water and I was glad that the loud and swiftly flowing water didn’t make her fearful.

Other hikers were descending the trail from further above the falls, so it is possible to continue the trail for more of a hike with substance, but the falls destination was all we had set out for today and we were pleased with our one mile out-and-back stroll through the mossy woods.  Fly found signs of squirrel activity on our way back down and she was able to get a rush of hunting adrenalin before loading back into the truck for the remaining two hours of homeward traveling.

Squirrel?

Squirrel sign.

"Do I have anything on my face?"

A Weekend in Soldotna

Hi there!

There was a Barn Hunt trial in Soldotna this past weekend, so TheMother and I packed the truck with camping gear and headed down for a weekend of rats and exploration with Fly.

Fly was in her heat cycle, so she had to compete last in every group in which she was competing.  This was a total bummer, because it meant she and I had to wait for forever and Fly, the princess and used to being catered to, was not patient.  She barked the entire weekend, from the back of the truck, waiting, waiting, waiting.  KBDs do tend to bark when they are bored.  However, it is at least neat that Barn Hunt allows females in season to compete at all, since so many other AKC events do not allow participation, so we can’t complain too much about having to go last all weekend.

In the evening, we had time to explore around a bit of Soldotna and we took a stroll along the Kenai river.  There were some ice and packed snow bergs in the river, as an example of the late spring we are having. 

A carved wooden statue of a fisherman out front of the visitor’s center caught Fly’s eye and she didn’t trust that fellow one little bit.  She growled and barked at him for quite awhile, until I called her off of him; even then, she wouldn’t turn her back for a second.  Some evil vibes coming off of him, I guess, and he did look rather fishy (see what I did there?).

After two days of Barn Hunt competition, Fly successfully earned her Open title (RATO) and earned points in another title area called Crazy 8s.  She is the first KBD in the nation to earn an Open title!  It wasn’t all awesome though, because Fly has suddenly decided that she doesn’t want to go through the hay bale tunnels (a requirement).  Tunneling was the final element Fly would have to do during each trial and the spectators held their collective breath each time: waiting to see if she would tunnel or fail the trial.  It was so quiet each time Fly and I entered the ring that you could have heard a needle drop into the proverbial hay and each time she successfully tunneled before time ran out, the applause was loud and profuse.  We will have to work more on tunneling, so it isn’t such a nail biter at the next Hunt.  The two judges were very nice and loved Fly: exclaiming how beautiful she was.  Fly is the first KBD that they had ever seen or judged in Barn Hunt, so it was terrific to educate more people about this awesome dog breed.

Mornings in Soldotna were colder than I had expected, we woke to frost, but the sunrise was gorgeous and worth a frosty stroll through the woods.  I loved how the gossamer light filtered through the trees and made the mornings that much more special.

On our way home, we stopped in Portage to look at the glaciers, but they were too snow covered to fully view and enjoy their lovely blue color.  We did get to see two swans, who honked at Fly and didn’t appear to be concerned with our presence at all.  They leisurely swam in front of us and flaunted their graceful beauty with shameless ease.

Reed Lakes Trail

Hi there!

It’s Trail Tuesday!  Let’s talk about a gorgeous, must hike trail that offers sweeping mountain views, geologic curiosities, a peek at a glacier, wildlife, lakes, lazy crystal-clear streams, and waterfalls.   Reed Lakes Trail is the unimaginative name for a trail in the aptly titled Archangel Valley up in the old mining area known as Hatcher Pass.  We won’t go into the specifics of Hatcher Pass in this post, because I’m too excited to get to the glorious details of Reed Lakes!

I have hiked this 9 mile out-and-back trail countless times, in various seasons, and love, love, love bringing new hikers to this place, because I enjoy hearing the gasps, oohs, and ahhs as newbies see all the wonderful sights. 

Ready to hike?  Let’s go!

To begin, the parking area is terrible.  It’s not very big, so there is now, finally, an overflow parking lot before the bridge and I recommend parking there.  It makes the hike a bit longer, but if your vehicle is not a truck, it will probably scrape bottom on the many large boulders filling the tiny trailhead parking area.  Also, if it’s a nice day the small lot will be full anyway.

The trail is nice, wide, maintained, and mostly flat for about two miles.  You’ll pass the old remnants of a mining base for Snowbird Mine: there used to be a cabin that was a nice destination in the winter, but it’s gone now, so now all you’ll see is mostly scattered metal parts and some old wood chunks.  Then the trail forks – left for Snowbird Mine and right for Reed Lakes.  Take the right, of course, and you’ll cross a few short bridges.  The trail climbs uphill from here and switchbacks up, up, up the slope.  There will be some cute beaver ponds below, on the right hand side of the climb, and those are a nice Plan B destination if it is raining and the trail is super muddy/slippery.

Just before the top, there is a nice, large flat rock to the left of the trail where I usually have a snack.  It overlooks a nice waterfall down below the trail.  Be sure to take in the view from the top of the switchbacks and regain your breath, because the boulder field is next to tackle. 

The trail leans to the left and onto a lengthy boulder field; this part becomes treacherous in the winter.

These boulders are large and I always feel like I’m doing parkour feats while scrambling over and under and around them.  Choose a path that suits you: there really isn’t a best way, just head upstream through the valley.  You can hear, and sometimes see, the stream running underneath the giant rocks.  It’s pretty awesome.

Finally, mercifully, the boulders will end and, as a reward, you’ll find yourself in wonderland.  The mountains are gorgeous.  There is a crystal clear, absolutely perfect, sandy bottomed, lazy stream that winds it’s way through a wide valley.  One hot day I will bring a tube and my swimsuit and float along through this section of paradise.  The trail follows this beauty and then begins to ascend again.  Listen for cheeky marmots whistling at you and look for white Dall sheep way up on the rocky slopes.  I’ve also seen brown bear in this section, so keep an eye out for those beasts too.

A short switchback session later and you will crest another hill.  Get excited because you are about to see Lower Reed Lake below and on your right hand side.  If it’s early June, and the spring was rather cold, the lakes might still be a bit frozen.  Regardless of their status, they are lovely.

Continue up the trail to find a large waterfall.  Depending on the time of year and the amount of snowmelt, the waterfall may be huge and gushing, or modest and easy going.  It makes a great photo-op either way.  The trail will lead up to the top of the waterfall, so you will be able to enjoy it for a while.  I love gazing at the rocks the water flows over – they’re smooth and rounded by the endless water polishing the edges.

Then, the trail follows the stream at a gentle incline to the end of the valley where Upper Reed Lake is nestled at the base of a ring of mountain peaks.  This is my second favorite section of the trail: the little streams, the nearness of the mountains, the mosses and lichens - it’s rather peaceful.  Before you get to the lake, keep an eye on the rock face above your left shoulder to see a large greenish smudge high up on the mountain.  It’s a visible copper deposit.  How cool is that?

In the summer, on a windless, sunny day, the lake is heartbreakingly beautiful.  It’s a divine Alaskan-blue lake with shallow edges and a deepish center.  A rocky mountain ridge frames the lake; the center peak is named Lynx Peak.  People camp on the flat places in front of the lake.

This is a good base camp for adventures to Bomber glacier (more about that in a later post); there is a little footpath to the left that goes about half way around the rim of the lake.  If you still have time and energy, follow the footpath and climb up for a nice high view of the lake - the view back down the valley is wonderful.  

Generally, this trail is more populated in the late afternoon, so go earlier and chances are good that you’ll have the lake to yourself.

Sunnahae

Hi there!

As you may have read previously, I was traveling for work in Southeast Alaska.  The flights are long and bumpy and make a lot of “milk run” stops at various airports where some passengers get off the plane and other passengers continuing on to other destinations are forced to sit and wait on the plane.  It makes for a very long day of travel (10 hours, just in Alaska). For this reason, I am always happy to have a hike planned for when I am finally free of the confines of an airplane and can stretch my legs and get my blood circulating.

While I was on Prince of Wales Island, I had free time to hike up a popular local trail called Sunnahae, in Craig.  I’ve hiked it before, but not while there was snow.  This time, I came prepared with my hiking boots, microspikes, and pack.

City of Craig

The beginning of the trail has an immediate incline, so hikers get a taste of how the trail is going to be - right from the get-go.  There are a multitude of switchbacks that weave through the large rainforest trees; the trail is well maintained and easy to follow.  I googled the hike and it is listed as “strenuous” but I don’t think it is, if hikers go slowly and take lots of breaks.  It isn’t a technical trail, simply steep. 

After all the switchbacks, the trail turns into a series of flights of stairs; from the base of them, they seem to go on into eternity.  The view from the top of the stairs is worth it, though, and there is a little waterfall tucked around a corner.

This little thing greeted us at the top of the stairs.

Then the ‘new trail’ begins and makes a slow incline along a wide path through the alder trees.  We could see that some weather was blowing in and sure enough, a blizzard swept up behind us and enveloped us in fluffy, beautiful, white flakes.  It made taking photos a bit difficult.  The trail became increasingly more challenging as the depth of the snow increased and eventually the trail was a tiny footpath of packed snow with deep, enveloping snow on either side of the trail.  One false step would mean a boot full of cold snow.  I was really happy to have my microspikes, because the trail was pretty slippery.

Eventually, at the top, we hit clouds and couldn’t see the view below us, which was disappointing for all the effort we’d put into the hike, but it was still exhilarating to be up in the clouds with the snow falling and the crisp air smelling of cedar trees and the ocean.

Ptarmigan tracks

Wing prints

Snow - ski pole deep

As we descended, the snow ceased and the sun came out from the clouds, making the views of the big trees and the ocean glorious.  The entire hike was fantastic and totally worth the 5 miles of thigh burn.

Pointing out landmarks

Craig

Working on his pose.