Twin Peaks Trail Attempt

Hi there!

For my 15^th hike of the 52 Hike Challenge, I selected Twin Peaks trail for it’s awesome views of Eklutna lake and because I had previously hiked part of it last summer and wanted to do the entire hike. 

As far as we got last year: the first bench.

TheNurse and Kona met Fly and me at the lake’s parking lot and we eagerly found the trailhead and began the slow, steady climb up the side of the mountain.  The path is easy, though always at an incline, as it makes long switchbacks ever upward through the thick trees and shrubbery.  Not long into our hike, a girl coming down the trail said there was a bear wandering all over the trail up ahead and that we should be careful.  So, on we hiked and did find several bear scat piles, which Fly sniffed with only a hint of interest.  Then a family with two small children and a dog on a leash came down the trail and informed us that there was indeed a bear up ahead and that there was a cub too.  Hmm, I didn’t want to mess with a momma bear, so TheNurse and I had a brief discussion about what we wanted to do and it was decided that we would continue on and see what we saw; Fly had never met a live bear before and I wanted to know if she would be bold or afraid.

We put the dogs on leashes, just in case, though I didn’t like the idea of Fly not being free in case of emergency battle.  Not three minutes later, we heard a huff from the thick bushes to our left and Fly began barking.  Bear!  The black bear made a charge; Fly made her own mini charge of a few steps before the sow stopped short (either a bluff charge, or Fly stopped her, I don’t know) and huffed at us again.  Fly continued to bark as we slowly backed down the trail several yards, letting the momma bear know we got her message to keep away.  I looked behind me to see TheNurse and Kona quietly waiting for us further down the trail, so Fly and I slowly backed down to meet them.  It was quickly decided that our hike up the mountain was ended, so we disappointedly trudged back down to the lake.

To salvage the evening, we decided to do a bit of exploring and follow a trail around the blunt edge of the lake to see where it would lead us; it was a beautiful walk and ended with even more magnificent views of the lake.  To make it more special, we had the area to ourselves – a rarity here, because the lake is so popular.

The dogs swam and ran and enjoyed themselves immensely.  A momma moose brought her calf down to the water to drink and they swam across the narrow channel and disappeared up the trail.

TheNurse watches Kona swim.

Kona wants Fly to swim!

All in all, it was a lovely evening and we managed to get in about three miles of hiking.  Also, I am extremely pleased and proud of Fly and her bravery with the bear; I am certain that she will do fine with bears in the future.  Fly and I will be back another day to retry the Twin Peaks trail.