Family Hikes

My niece Laurel asked me to organize some Family Hikes this summer, so I have been putting together various hikes each weekend. People can join is or not, as their schedule allows. This gets me out on the trails again after a long hiatus (I didn’t hike at all while taking care of mother for 7 years), so I am happy regardless. And I get to see my family on a regular basis!

A humorous side note: the one who asked me to organize all these hikes has not gone on a single one yet!

We started the season off with a nice stroll along the Matanuska Lake Trail System. We went at a 2-year old’s pace, with lots of sticks and rock throwing along the way.

We followed that with a hike along the Matanuska River Walk Trail, an easy stroll with fantastic views of the river peeking periodically through the trees.

The next week, Kelly and I walked the old railroad trail from Moose Creek back towards Palmer. You can’t go the whole way any more as the river has eaten away the middle section of the trail. But the portion that is left is still a beautiful walk.

I did the same trail the following day with Katy, but this time we did it from Palmer walking towards Sutton. Henry had fun with his new binoculars and hiking pack – adventuring in the tall grass.

Eklutna Lake was scheduled for the following weekend, and again Kelly was able to join me. She is a fast walker, just like I am, so we really traveled going much farther along the path than I’d ever been before. We treated ourselves to some ice cream on the way home.

The Crevasse-Moraine trail system is not my favorite, by any means, but it is nearby and convenient. We all had other obligations that day, so our hike was a brief one. But we were together, we were outside, and we were moving. That’s a win in my book!

Our most recent hike was just this past Tuesday. Bryan was out of coffee, so Noel and I used that as an excuse to take a little road trip out to Girdwood (about 1.5 hours south) to get some from his favorite little coffee shop. And while we were there, we went ahead and hiked up to Virgin Falls to stretch our legs and give the pups a break from the car. Such a gorgeous hike, with a spectacular waterfall at the end!