The First Hikes

So as promised, I will try to document some of our first hiking experiences. We try to do at least one hike a week and check out all the trails in the area. There are many we have heard great reviews on and are looking forward to attempting this summer. Some of which are longer so we are building up our endurance with the shorter hikes!

The first few weeks I (Andrea) arrived in Alaska, there was still a lot of snow on the ground. We didn't attempt any hikes until the snow melted and we had a camera to document, share and remember our experiences. After Brad came back from his trip to Minnesota and driving back along the ALCAN, the snow had melted enough for us to do some of the lower altitude hikes.

Hike #1:

Went out to Potter's Creek Trail, south of Anchorage along the Turnagain coast. Took a hike for about an hour then turned back since we only had the morning hours for our first hike of the season. Here's a map of where we hiked. Hiked at Potter's Marsh heading south.

We took the trail south and had a great view of the coast. I think we brought the camera for this one. I think these are from this hike:

We did see a few moose on our little adventure. Quite an adventure actually. There happened to be a mama and baby moose on the trail. At first they were off the trail a bit and we could skirt off the other way to avoid them. On the way back though, they were on either side of the trail and we had to walk between them! Nervous moment since mama's can be pretty protective. But mama stayed bedded down and baby kept on munching so we crept by!

Hike #2:

Did a little hiking around what's called Powerline Trail. There are numerous branches off this trail and we only took one or two branches. This trail goes for miles and miles and, well, follows the powerlines! The powerline trail itself isn't that interesting, it's all the branches off into the mountains and valleys that are what's exciting! Totally forgot to bring the camera for this one, so we can only share a trail map.

The map is kinda tiny. If I were a pro blogger, like one of my sisters, I would know how to put some kind of link on it that you could enlarge it with only a click... but alas, my blogging skills are so limited. I am just a grasshopper! Maybe you can see in the map, this second hike started at Prospect heights access and took us along part of the powerline, and on to one of the branches that overlooked the hillside into a valley. The branch was called the South Fork Rim. The map also shows the most recent hike we took...

Hike #3:

Flattop Mountain! A very popular hike here. We did it once when we visited in September of 2007. This last weekend was perfect weather for this one. Brad's cousin Carl and wife Sara were able to join us and we started out at 8:30pm Sunday evening. A little muddy along the way, and areas where the snow still hadn't melted. But we made our way along the side of a hill, and the trail cut us through a little dip to the mountain side where we wound our way up. A great hike to keep your heart rate up. And the last few hundred feet were more like rock climbing than hiking. My adrenaline, not the pace and incline were what kept my heart rate up at this point! Then at the top was a nicely place bench to rest at before the down hike. As it's name suggests, it is flat at the top, and looks like a desert! Then after the scary hike up, Sara and I braved the snow covering one side of the mountain. Instead of trying to climb back down, we slid down the snow sided mountain! What a rush, and a quick way to get down. And what a relief to not have to climb down!

Here we are on the way up.

And a view of the side of the mountain

A view from halfway up

And we made it to the top

A view from the top

And here is our evidence of victory in sliding down the mountain. The snow covered side we slide down is viewable in the background!

And there we are! We'll have our fun in Alaska, on top of mountains!