Lane Basin Hike

I attempted another group hike last week. I have to admit, I was a bit overly confident about my abilities on this one. As in, I was not able to complete the hike! I had to call it about half-way through the evening. But the part that I did do was, as always, just stunningly gorgeous – and I’m really happy that I got out and attempted to hike that night. So all in all, I count it as a win.

The group met at the parking lot about 2 miles in on the Archangel Road up in Hatcher Pass, where we had a brief safety moment and went over the planned hike. Then we started on up the hill. That was my undoing. I do not go uphill very well, and this one was a good 2 miles long! But the group was very understanding and did not make me feel too bad for ruining everyone’s hike – they just took each stop as an opportunity to snack and/or take in the views.

I am thinking I might ask my partner to take me back there one day so that he and I can attempt it together. I really would like to go all the way to the end and back, and maybe with him I won’t feel so self-conscious about having to stop all the time. Also, his truck can get us quite a bit closer to the actual trailhead, thereby deleting over half of the incline hiking!

The Alaskan Botanical Gardens

Just for fun a few weeks ago, I organized a family outing at the Alaska Botanical Gardens in Anchorage. Such a cool place to wander the trails and look at all the plants and sculptures and whatnot.

It’s quite the place, consisting of 110 acres of Boreal Forest, eight acres of cultivated gardens, and interconnected nature trails. The Garden houses over 1,100 varieties and over 150 distinct species of plants hardy to the region. There’s a Perennial Garden, an Herb Garden, a Rock Garden, a Subalpine Rockery, outdoor classrooms, and usually even a plant sale at the entrance where you can purchase some of their plants to bring home with you.

One of my favorite things to see is the glacier erratic that was pushed down from the Chugach Mountains by a long-retreated glacier. The big boulder wears a coat of mosses and lichens in a myriad of colors. It even has a tree growing out of it! Another favorite is the Herb Garden that showcases a variety of annual and perennial culinary and medicinal herbs..

If you haven’t been – you really should go!

Visiting Mother

Mother is doing well in the Pioneer Home. She seems quite happy each time we go to visit and really loves having company. She is still confused and doesn’t really know where she is or how she got there. But the people at the home take good care of her, and she has quite a few friends who stop by on a regular basis to check in on her. Sometimes she doesn’t know who I am specifically but always knows I’m family and that I love her, so that is good enough for me.

I stopped by the other day, along with Kelly, Katy, Henry and Eloise. She had been sitting out in the hallway, so I just pulled up some chairs and joined her there. She likes to survey all the goings-on from the windows in front of her room: they are replacing the roof on the building, so there are construction workers crawling all over the place. It keeps her very busy supervising the whole project!

I try to bring her a few items to decorate her room with each time I go, as she does love to decorate and also loves “stuff”. It not only gives her something to do, but also I think reminds her of “home” and helps her to feel safer and more comfortable. I am heading back there on Wednesday this week to have dinner with her – I will have to think of something I can bring her this week.

Hard Apple Cider

We’re trying a new thing this year: making our own Hard Apple Cider!

As you know, each year we get boxes of apples from a local orchard that my sister knows, and each year we make applesauce, apple pie filling, apple juice, and pretty much anything else we can think of in order to preserve all those sweet little things.

A few months ago, my partner bought everything you need to have to make wine, cider, and/or beer from his massage therapist (who just happens to be the sister of my best friend Kat and is the one who sold us our pool table). He bought a few books about it, talked to a few other people who dabble in this hobby, and finally felt comfortable giving it a try.

We knew we were going to be making this at some point in our future, so we have a good 2 or 3 dozen jars of juice in our pantry just waiting for us. This first time, though, we’re just going to make a small batch, just to see how it goes. Once we get the hang of it, we’ll make bigger batches and might someday even use up all the jars we have waiting for us!

It’s not done yet, but I have to say it’s working so far. The jars on our counter are happily bubbling away and are – I must admit – quite smelly. It’s not really a pleasant aroma, either. Hopefully the end product will make up for it.

Sister’s Train Ride to Seward

Losing my brother to cancer back in 2017 has made me realize just how important family is, and how much I appreciate the siblings I have left to me. I am doing everything I can to bring us all closer together so that we can cherish each moment we have all that much more.

One way I do that is to have what I call Sister’s Dinner once each month! We meet up at a different restaurant once a month, just to chat about whatever is going on with us at the moment. No agenda, no stress, just sisters enjoying each other’s company.

For the month of July, I decided to up my game a little bit – and organized a day trip out to the little fishing town of Seward by train! My partner drove us in to Anchorage where he dropped us off at the train depot at 5:30 in the morning. We boarded the train at 6:30 – got into Seward around 11:30 – got back on the trail around 6:00 and were back to Anchorage at 10:15 to find Noel’s husband Hank waiting to take us home.

It’s a long day, for sure – but we had a great time together. Laughing, talking, window shopping, eating, drinking, the whole bit. We even had time to visit the Seward Sea Life Center!

Rhein Lake with my Sister

My sister doesn’t get out much, just with life as it goes sometimes, so my partner and I decided to inviter her to go camping with us one weekend. He booked the cabin at Rhein Lake specifically with her in mind for several reasons:

• it’s very close to where you park your vehicle, so she wouldn’t have to hike in for miles carrying heavy loads.
• It’s a newer cabin, being constructed in I think 2022 – so it would be a nice experience for her
• It’s quite close to the lake, giving her the opportunity to take her paddle board out for a spin

What I had apparently forgotten about, however, was the gazillion mosquitoes that live in the area. I truly hate mosquitoes! The world does not contain enough bug repellent! Thankfully, I had my Thermocells for the cabin (which turned out to be unnecessary since each window came equipped with an intact screen) and my partner packed several bug sprays of various brands for use when I stepped outside.

Normally my partner and I will head out for these little weekend getaways on Friday evening – spend the day Saturday exploring the area – and then head on back home on Sunday. But for this trip, we kept it a bit shorter. Out on Friday, back home on Saturday. In retrospect, it might have been a bit more fun if we’d allowed more time – but it got us out there, and that was our objective.

We hiked in. We unpacked a few things. We strolled down to the lake to check it out. We came back to cook our dinner and play a few games (cribbage and/or Phase 10). We went back to the lake to set up the paddle board. She took it out for a paddle around the lake while Bryan took his canoe out to look for some fish. We went back to the cabin to turn in for the night. The next morning, we took our time with breakfast and the whole “waking up” process. Packed up our gear and headed back to the truck.

We had a great time, I think!

Mutuk Marston to South Fork

I was so pleased about my Palmer Rail Trail hike that I went ahead and signed up for another hike with the same company – this time for the Mutuk Marston to South Fork trail. I had no idea where that was so was quite nervous about it. I just hoped that their descriptions were accurate and that I could indeed actually accomplish the hike.

Packing was a bit easier this time, since I had that first hike to use as a go-by = I brought some carrots & hummus, some tofu jerky, my water bottle full of electrolyte replacements (watermelon flavored), and even brough along some left-over sourdough pancakes from breakfast (with oatmeal and chocolate chips) to nibble on. I even remembered to pack my bandana this time: my nose runs almost constantly when I hike. Bothersome, but what can you do about it?

We met up at the parking lot of the Palmer Visitor Center where we consolidated gear into one vehicle, then drove out to the Eagle River Walmart parking lot to pick up one more person. From there, we headed on out to the Arctic Valley ski lodge where the trailhead is located. Kierr, the founder of Revel Trek Tours and our main guide for the day, left us at that point to drive to the South Fork Eagle River Trailhead where we would end up. She walked up from that point and met us at the halfway point (or nearly so) as we made our way down to her.

That left us with Susan, a very able guide, who took us up and over Hunter Pass. Elevation Gain was only about 850 feet since we started so high up the mountain. Elevation Loss was more like 1,400 feet which made me very thankful they decided to do the hike in the direction we did! I could not have climbed up 1,4010 feet – not and live to talk about it later!

The scenery was stunningly beautiful up there! The wildflowers were in full bloom, with fields on both sides of the trail just covered in brilliant colors. We took our time, taking millions of photos and just drinking in the amazing atmosphere.

All in all, I had a fabulous time and would highly recommend this trail to anyone!