In anchorage I meet up with the group that will be visiting the Kenai peninsula over the next week. Charlie and Kim are guides living in nearby Girdwood. Gustolvo is a fellow traveler who lives in Rio De Janeiro. The van is packed and we head east to Girdwood and a trailhead to Crow Pass Trail, a section of the famous Iditarod Trail. After a quick check of gear and a short bear defense talk (stay together and make noise / bear spray as last resort) we are ready to start. We learn that a portion of the trail beyond where we will go is closed due to recent "grizzly activity" - so, food for thought . I consider wearing my lighter trail shoes instead of big clodhoppers but Charlie recoomends not, and I follow his recommendation. A short while after we start, the trail turns rocky and twisting an ankle is a real possibility, so thank you Charlie.
We climb into the clouds and pretty soon we are totally socked in, with only sounds to hint at rushing streams and waterfalls beside the trail. It is a 2000 foot climb in four miles, but a steady pace gets us to gradual leveling and just then the fog lifts and we see where we are. Stunning craggy peaks all around us, and a still alpine lake sits in a small valley, surrounded with snowfields and a rocky meadow. We cross the outflow stream from the lake to a perfect lunch stop at a small forest service cabin. But after lunch, the cloud lowers and the mountains fade away again. There is not much point in continuing to the pass for the view of the glacier in the neighboring valley, so we start back down the trail. Going back we are on a slightly different route and cross several rocky streams, rushing with runoff from the snow on the steep slope on our left. We end the day in good spirits.
We climb into the clouds and pretty soon we are totally socked in, with only sounds to hint at rushing streams and waterfalls beside the trail. It is a 2000 foot climb in four miles, but a steady pace gets us to gradual leveling and just then the fog lifts and we see where we are. Stunning craggy peaks all around us, and a still alpine lake sits in a small valley, surrounded with snowfields and a rocky meadow. We cross the outflow stream from the lake to a perfect lunch stop at a small forest service cabin. But after lunch, the cloud lowers and the mountains fade away again. There is not much point in continuing to the pass for the view of the glacier in the neighboring valley, so we start back down the trail. Going back we are on a slightly different route and cross several rocky streams, rushing with runoff from the snow on the steep slope on our left. We end the day in good spirits.
Oh my gosh, that last picture is breathtaking! I'm sure that's just the beginning.
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