Day 50 - Yahoo! Tiehacker Mountian

My  final hike of the challenge is done! I did it! I did it! I did it! And what a challenge it has been. Amazingly, after 33 days of consecutive rain early on, it was sunny for my birthday. So Letty and I with the dogs headed up Tiehacker Mountain - a steep but rewarding hike on another Seward area hidden trail. We actually didn't go to the top due to knee problems and overexertion from the past fifty days of hikes. I slipped on the way up and my knee was really sensitive afterwards. We were also a little worried about the dogs on the final steep rocky face. I was also worried about going down when my knee was hurting already going up. But as it turned out, it wasn't too bad especially once we got to the tundra. It was slick so it worked to just sit down and slide - not quite as good as snow but enough to save the knees. All in all it was a wonderful hike - gorgeous day, great company and an excellent adventure.

Bear Glacier from Tiehacker Mt.

Do I look 50 years old?

Day 49 - Divide Ski Trails

Iditarod Trail Again

Being tired from two days of hiking, Bob and I headed out to the Seward Area's locale Nordic ski trails at Divide - or about mile 12 on the Seward High Way. It was late, about 7:00 pm, and a bit rainy but still nice to be outside. As we were walking down to a meadow we spotted a black bear eating berries. He did rear up when Pita growled  but then continued to eat without a bother for us. Meanwhile Pita ran around behind Bob and I where she could safely growl and snort. She even started to dig a hole - may be an escape route? The Iditarod Trail goes through the ski trails at different points and then continues on to Meridan Lake and Long Lake. I sure wish the Forest Service would get a few gates put up at the entrances to the Iditarod. There are already bad ruts from wood cutters driving trucks on what is a non-motorized area. The trails are wet and just can't take the load but there is so much dead wood that it is too tempting.

Awesome Ski Trail Signs

Day 48 - Alpine Trail

The Alpine Trail from Caine's Head is one of my favorite places. The views to Resurrection Bay and over to Calisto are awesome. I guess is helps to think that every time I've hiked the trail, the sun has been out. There are berries - blues, salmon, vine, low bush  - several cascading waterfalls, tundra ponds and then really nice, swimmable glacier kettles with views over the ocean near the top. Again it is a steep route but well worth the effort. We had lunch up high and then headed back to the cabin to pack up for the walk back to Lowell Point along the beach. Too bad we couldn't bring a boat or two but the north winds the day before would made anchoring difficult or paddling back really tough. Probably the best way to utilize the area is to hike or boat to a cabin and then spend several days enjoying the trails in the area before boating back.                                                        

Day 47 - Caine's Head

Reflection

For Labor Day weekend our friends, Mark and Ann, where able to get the cabin at Caine's Head, about 4 miles out along the shoreline from Lowell Point in Seward. It is an Alaska State Park area and is absolutely beautiful. The trail is actually a low tide beach walk; the lower the better to miss some very slippery wet rock crossings. On very low tides it's easier to walk in the water on the kelp and barnacles verses the worn, super slick, sloping boulders. WW2 ruins of Fort McGilvary, an outpost that defended Alaska from the Japanese, are up on Caine's Head. In my opinion there is also the world's most scenic outhouse. It is a rarely used place on the top eastern edge Caine's Head. If you leave the door open you can see across Resurrection Bay to Thumb's Cove, down a few 100 yards to the slamming surf and out the Bay to the Pacific Ocean.  We hiked to the ranger cabin during the evening low with the anticipation of hiking the Alpine Trail in the morning before heading back to Seward.

Day 46 - 4th of July Beach

4th of July Beach

Boats on the hard.

A lagoon looking out Resurrection Bay

I woke up this morning feeling sick. There's been a soar throat, slight fever going around and being a teacher I'm constantly exposed. Unfortunately this is the start of Labor Day weekend (3 days) and I had all kinds of big plans for the end of my 50 day hike challenge. May be the weather will spruce up a bit and I'll get over the cold fast so that backpacking sounds fun rather than a chore. So - instead of climbing a mountain or hiking to a cabin, I opted to walk through the ship dry dock area to 4th of July Beach and back. It's a great little place with lots of gravel roads leading nowhere. The prison is out that way so I suppose some of those roads have been security blocked. May be if the prison wasn't there then there might be some hiking trails into the glaciers behind.

Day 45 - Al's Trail

On a ridge trying to find Burr Haden Trail

 Another beautiful day in Seward and we decided to go to Burr Haden, an unpublicized trail that a guy named Al maintains. We'd been on the trail several times with other people but I guess we'd didn't pay attention to the driving directions because we never found the true trail. Instead we wondered around behind Al's house admiring his handy work and wind chimes hanging from several tree branches. We walked up and down the creek bed and up on to two separate ridges figuring we'd eventually run into the trail. After several hours we gave up and headed home. Since I made a phone call or two to find that we were extremely close but on the wrong drainage and ridge lines. At one point we were on the trail but didn't bother crossing a make shift bridge. Crazy - but at least I have another hike for weekdays when time is limited.

Day 44 - Exit Glacier View and Nature Trails

Exit Glacier

What a busy day! Today was open house for our school which for teachers generally means staying at work until 7:00 pm. I was so hungry that I had canned chili provided by the PTSA, a granola bar and a can of pineapple at home before quickly heading out for a hike. I'd saved the Exit Glacier Trails for this occasion, knowing I need something shorter (2.5 miles) and easily accessible. For me it's important to walk these trails at least once a summer due to the rapid recession of the glacier. The trail is different each year because of melting. The washout plain has really changed too. Ten years ago I remember taking the girls to the glacier base. They swam in little kettle holes full of crystal clear water that had warmed from the black rocks absorbing the hot sun. Today the plain is almost completely flat with several brands of river flowing of the glacier. A coyote met me on the trail, then proceeded to sit down in the bushes a tiny bit off the trail. I tried to take his picture but he blended in so much with the surroundings that I could find him in the view finder of the camera.

Day 43 - Seward Water Front Trail - Iditarod

 For my hike I actually went for a run-hike right out the door of our house down to the bike-walking trail along the beach front. You might ask, "What about the wilderness," but actually this paved bike trail is a registered National Historical Trail that stretches more than a 1000 miles to the north and, I'm proud to say, starts right here in Seward. Most people now days think of the dog mushing race but actually the Iditarod is a trail used to for trading by indigenous people. Later gold seekers used the trail in the winter, after being dropped off from ships in the ice free Resurrection Bay. As the gold rush continued the trail was connected to the gold fields of the Iditarod Region and then up to Nome. Portions are now used by the Alaska State Railroad or paved as high way, but lots of it still exists or has been relocated for recreational use such as the Iditarod Dog Sled Race. During these 50 hikes I've hiked many portions - at least up to mile 20 and then again picking it up at Portage and Girdwood. That is why I decided to hit the pavement today, starting at mile 0, the same as countless others before me.

Day 42 - Resurrection River Trail

Resurrection River

This has been the first day that I've actually hiked by myself; well other than Pita, the dog. It was a beautiful day in Seward with warm temperatures and sunshine. Most my friends had already headed out the door by the time I finished with running club coaching. So Pita and I went down another Seward local favorite trail, Resurrection River Trail. It actually connects with Upper Russian Lakes where I started my 50 hike challenge but the trail is very bushy with lots of bears and creek crossings. It was my intention to hike all the way through but family obligations ..... So instead I did an out and back for several hours with the dog. And what an evening - just perfectly still and warm. Gorgeous!

Day 41 - Afognak Beach

Afognak Beach Walk

Only nine days left to hike! It's getting tougher now because I just started coaching elementary running club so my time is limited for after school outings. Afognak Beach is a place my students taught me about. It is at the head of the Bay and circles around to a cool picnic spot in the bite of a cliff and then around to a point. There is a little Indian trail above the point that goes back into the woods and towards the road. I think it was probably made by fishermen dodging the parking fee at McDonald's spit. Regardless it is a nice little hike on a beautiful sunny day.

Day 40 - Lost Lake

Lost Lake 

Long behold the weather cleared so I jumped in a car with my early morning friend Letty and headed for Lost Lake. It is a 15 mile traverse from Kenai Lake to Seward that climbs up to a high bench full of small ponds, glacial kettles and meadows. The jewel of the area is the large and elegant Lost Lake. As the name implies, it is amazingly hidden behind hills and dales. Over to the east you can see the Chugach laden with hanging glaciers and steep rock faces as you walk through the brightly colored tundra. To the west are more mountains and steep gorges.  Not many people were using the trail this sunny Sunday, surprisingly. It is one of the most popular in Alaska usually with lots of people running or mt. biking. The running race that does the traverse took place the previous weekend so the bushes had been cut back and it seems as if they even moved some large rocks off the trail. Once on the high point it is a long, gradual slope with a perfect view of Resurrection Bay to the other trail head on the Seward side. The view of the ocean, I think, makes going North to South the best direction.

Day 39 - Victor Creek

50 m wide snow bridge over Victor Creek

Raging Victor Creek

Another rainy day in Seward. Bob and I went for a hike at Victor Creek, a trail about 23 miles up the high way from Seward. Right now the Forest Service is redoing the trail so it's a lot wider and muddier than it use to be but not as steep. After about a mile of thick brush and trees along the raging, white water creek you come to V-shaped valley above tree line that is full of tall grasses, devil's club and alder. The weather was down right snotty at that point and very wet. We turned around because Bob didn't wear rain pants and picked berries down towards the trailhead instead. We met a woman that works for the Forest Service that said you could cross a snow bridge at the end of the trail (3 ml), bush wack and come out on Mother Goose Glacier for some fantastic scenery. This day you sure wouldn't have had any views with so much rain, wind and cloud cover.

Day 38 - First Lake

2nd Lake

Anyone that lives in the Seward area knows this trail. It is a short little trail around two little pond-like lakes behind AVTEC, the vocational college. Lots of people use the park for picnics, swimming and dog walking. A matter of fact it is such a short little thing that Bob and I decided to go ahead and hike up to one of many waterfalls in the area and back around to the Jeep Trail. There are lots of old logging trails left from the 1800's as well as trails of modern adventure seekers. Sometimes I even use the back trails to come back home but have had black bear encounters on several occasions. Salmon actually spawn in the creeks coming into the lakes. You can really get lost back in there.

Day 37 - Iditarod Trail at Nash Road to Glacier Creek

Start of the Iditarod - ocean shore across the street.

 

 

 

Big bear tracks!

The clouds moved in unfortunately so it was a good day to head for the Iditarod Trail - another section in the Seward area. The only problem with this trail is bears. They are everywhere back in the bush and along the salmon streams. We saw lots of bear sign and surprised a black bear by a bridge. The dogs started chasing him but didn't really bark a warning. The trail is pretty flat and has several stream forges but nothing terribly dangerous (other than furry friends). I'd never hiked this trail, only skied it in the winter which is when the majority of the gold seekers would have also passed via dog sled. I'm not sure how long the trail is but it took us over three hours to go out to Glacier Creek and back to the cars even though we thought our pace was at least 3 mph. It's a fun mt. bike ride but we were glad to be going at a slower, louder pace with dogs due to the bears. Who knows how many we scared into the bushes without ever seeing them.

Day 36 - Marathon Bowl

Pita looking up the Bowl.

The view coming down from the Bowl.

It is still sunny and gorgeous. What a place I live! Today Bob and I went up Marathon Bowl via the Jeep Trail. The Bowl is a glacial cut in Mt. Marathon and another local, staple hike. There must have been 20 people up there on this amazing day. It only takes about an hour and half up but you can keep hiking to a small, glacial lake at the head of the creek. This is also a great place to ski in the spring, after avalanche danger is over. What a day!

Day 35 - Airport Beach

Me hiking towards the outlet of Resurrection River.

Bye Alli! We love you.

A big day for our family; we cut the apron strings for Allison, taking her to the airport for her first flight to college. Again it was a beautiful day and such a hard day to leave scenic Seward. This has got to be one of the most amazing places in the world on a sunny, calm day with the ocean and mountain views. I'm sure Allison will miss our majestic, little village and we sure will miss her.  After teaching (1st day for students) and before jumping in the car for a 4 hour drive, Bob and I went to airport for a quick hike (probably be my shortest hike of the series) along the water. It was so nice!!! The drive to Anchorage and back was long, emotional but also so gorgeous. We had a rare sighting of a pod of endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales. Way cool!

Day 34 - Marathon Creek

Forgot the camera again after a harried day planning, scheduling and generally freaking-out getting ready for the first day of school with students. Generally I should have worked every day this summer to be prepared for a new school year. The day was absolutely perfect too with temps in the mid-60's, sun and calm winds. My yen-yang surfaced with the yearn to stop everything and get outside while my practical side told me to stay inside and work, work, work.  Compromising - later in the evening Bob and I went up to Marathon Creek and followed the old road up to a point where you'd need to forge the overflowing white water stream (really a river at this point). Midway through there is a place where avalanches from both sides, one off Marathon Mt. and one off  Bear Mt., collided forming this massive snow bridge over the river. I wish I had the camera to take a picture showing the amount of snow still existing in late August. We just walked across. There is so much water in the creek - it is deep when it should be at it's lowest level. I wonder if we get an early snow with melting rain after wards if Seward will flood.

Day 33 - Mt. Marathon Race Trail

Karol - always a front runner

I just couldn't do this challenge without including Mt. Marathon race trail. Mt. Marathon is the setting for the second oldest running race in the US - behind Boston Marathon. Every 4th of July nearly ten thousand people converge on our little town to watch this incredible, unbelievable race up and down a big honking mountain that looms over Seward central. It's really steep like 46' or something and remains steady at that angle all the way to the top. The amazing part to me is watching the racers go down - it may take near an hour to get up but some of the racers go down in 12 minutes or so. They literally fly - like my first born, Allison, who had the 3rd fastest down time for a female. Scary but really fun to spectate. So today I had the honor of going up the mountain with a true Mt. Marathon icon, Karol Fink. She did the Lost Lake race the day before (another 15 mile trail I have to complete before age 50) so I didn't feel too bad slowing her pace. It's great to go with a racer because they know the best paths and Karol is just an awesome person to hang with too.

Day 32 - Iditarod Trail, mile 12 to Bear Lake

Mark and Bob before torn fish head trail litter changed their moods. 

Imagine brown bears on hind legs standing behind us.

Today is a Saturday but it is the first week of school for teachers but you're never given enough time to get everything together for the real "first day of school" when students arrive eager to meet their new teacher and anxious to view their new classroom. So - like most teachers, I choose to come in on weekends to get my work done. It was still a partly sunny day without rain so I put in five hours and took off with Bob and fellow teacher Mark Fraad for a hike down the Iditarod Trail from mile 12 to Bear Lake. The trailhead is a little dirt road on the Seward Highway that is marked for Troop Lake Trail, a thin, short path off the Iditarod. Who knows why the park service decided to advertise the lake verses the historical, nationally recognized Iditarod? I guess trout are really important to some people. Anyways - this section of the Iditarod is "bear city" and sure enough we came upon a brown bear sow and her club down at Bear Lake. Mark was getting his iphone out to take our picture when he looked up to see them both about 30 yds. behind us standing on their back legs. He yelled, "OMG - look at those bears!" I turned around just in time to see their rumps as they quickly disappeared. Pita, the dog, did nothing. I just wish Mark had clicked the picture sooner and the bears would have been in the background. That would have been really cool! I'm not sure this is the best trail to take in August judging by the fish head and bear scat litter along the lake shore.

Day 31 - Seward HS Crosscountry Trails

MacKenzie finishing

Isabel finishing.

Todays hike was in my own backyard on the high school cross-country trails. There is a nice, forested, wood chipped trail that winds around the track and school for 1.5K. So I hiked around several times as I watched my daughters and the rest of their team mates run races. It was a gorgeous day and a heck of a lot of fun wandering around as the harriers speed through the corners and downhills, panting up the hills and kissing victory at the finish line. In addition with a team of 46 runners there are many people to walk with and socialize.  Fun day for sure and thank goodness for more sun.