Ker-Sploosh!

Anytime we hike up to a lake you can bet money Rocket is gonna want to swim in it. Here he goes!



Swinging by.


And heading out again.


Stretching the legs


Shaking Off he's ready to get on with the hike.

Pass The Fun

This weekend a day of bluebird skies blessed us so we joined some friends and hiked in Hatcher Pass between Fairangel Creek and the Independence Mine. As you'll see the views were stunning as we worked our way through three passes. Both Nicki and I felt this was one of the most scenic places we've ever been to. (Click on any picture to enlarge it.)

Cloudless days in the summer usually mean hot days, so we used all the coolness we could find.


We were greeted by lots of sheer walls on both sides of us as we passed through.




Looking back at the start of the hike you can see the "road" we drove in on.


Valley really hasn't started to shed yet and the heat was working against her.


Lower Fairangel Lake, we gotta get back here for an overnight camp.


On a clear day, it seems like you can see forever.


With snow at higher elevations.


We climbed up to our lunch spot.








With large boulders to negotiate up and down from the passes, the dogs did quite well when allowed to pick their own course.


Perhaps you've seen the bumper sticker "This Car stops at River Crossings"? On hot days we stop for snow banks. The first pass we ascended is in the background.


Dogsled Pass below us.


Jago never too tired to stop hunting marmots in the tundra.


Scenic Schroff Lake.


Valley at the lake, happy to have a moment to take a break. Our last break before the last pass.


Nicki enjoying the sunshine before the pass.


Sitting at Friendship Pass with friends, looking at our last bit "trail" to end the trip.


And finally a view from the last pass. Our cars are at the buildings in the foreground. Palmer and the Chugach Range in the distance.


Not a long hike distance wise, only 5 or 6 miles. With all the up and down and boulder action it seemed longer. Fun day for the funhogs and fundogs.

Sharing

If you and I had to share a bench seat, we'd each take an end then turn to each other and ask "Do you have enough room?". These two have a different idea on how to share.

Moose Encounter of the 2nd Kind

Returning from out hike to Williwaw Lake we encounter this bull in velvet.




After watching him for a moment, he disappeared. There was a guy talking on his cell phone waiting for the moose to leave the trail. He said something after he hung up like "I just called in an airstrike". LOL

Kind of fun watching them in the various stages of their life.

Teaching Shake and Catch with the Fosters

We had a great time teaching Shake and Catch with the foster dogs, well right up until Koda decided to end it LOL Considering these two are extremely food aggressive I am surprised that I even tried this. Watching it makes me chuckle, it was fun while it lasted.

Memorial Day Weekend Day 1

We stayed in town because our foster dog Koda had a hip operation. We didn't think taking him out for 3 days hiking was a good idea so we stayed in town. The first Memorial Day in town for the funhog and fundogs in 35 years!

Here he is holing up on a hot Saturday. You can see the scar on that leg of his, Ouch!


While we were home, this guy showed up needing a new place to live. His name is Cody. Now how weird is that, Foster dog 1 is Koda, and Foster dog 2 is Cody. You try to keep those two straight.


So here I am trying to take pictures of Cody for petfinders.com and five minutes after they meet, its the Takedown!


Then Cody had Koda pinned, or is that Koda has Cody pinned? I am telling you its hard to keep their names straight. Should I start counting to ten?

I don't think that's good for his hips, but I am not telling his veterinarian, nor should you.

There is still a little life in Koda, he's squirming.


But wait, Koda strikes back!


In the end, Cody (at least I think it was him) had Koda pinned. And Koda went back to lounging in his hole. All day long they were taking bitenecks strikes on each other. Pretty damn good luck to have foster dogs like that, don't you think?

So Day 1 of holiday, lots of fun despite not out on the trail hiking.

Blast fromThe Past

I was rumbling around looking for photos for Babe's 10 birthday and I found this. Now you get to see it.


(you can enlarge this photo, as well as all photos in the blog, by clicking on it)

Hot Dog

Today was the hottest day of the summer, it must have been in the 70s and maybe 80s F (18 to 24 C). Too hot for us, Jago and I looked for something with a bit of snow on it.

Great views to the south of us.


And enroute along the ridge.


Up top along the ridge we had trail, trail mixed with snow.


And trail made of snow.


We found plenty of snow to roll around in.

and


after that roll, she pops up smiling.


On they way back down, the Hot Dog followed. You'd thought her tongue would have been longer.


First day of summer is next weekend. Bring it on!

Change of Scene

We are in the midst of a change of scene. Our low lying snow is departing, leaving us with some hiking trails. We received a bunch of snow late in the year so some of our popular spots probably won't be snow free until mid-July, and that might be optomistic.

We decided to head to Falls Creek to see how high the snow level was and to get our first big hike of the year in. this is a shot at the trailhead, its about 8:30 pm


About 1600 feet in altitude, we have enough snow to ski on. Its about 10 pm in this picture.


Heading back down the trail.

Trail of 98

Today we skied our 98th outing together for the season. With clear skies, a cold clear starry night, below freezing temperatures and 10 feet of snow at the trailhead; perfect conditions for crust skiing were awaiting us. No need to worry about soft snow and the dogs if we can return before it softens up. Today we left at 7am and arrived back at the trailhead at noon.

Starting out on nice hard snow.


Taking our first break after climbing 900 feet and traveling 2 miles. There are always good views on bluebird days.




Valley is pondering our next move.


Moving along Center Ridge before we drop down to the valley floor where the traveling is easier and faster.


I am not sure why she is coming back to me but she seems happy to be out today.


View off to the right while skiing on the valley floor.


Moving along on the valley floor. You can see an "undulating surface" which we are traveling on, that was weird, it was like boating on water with wakes.


Skate skiers moving up valley from us. Skate skiing on crust snow is a common thing for some of us to do this time of year. Its like its own season.


Checking another couple of skate skiers out who are closer during our lunch break.


Trotting back. By now the snow has softened incredibly and its a good thing we are on our way back. You can see the skis are making a mark and the dogs are starting to sink in.





The sun is pretty hot, so we took a few breaks to let the dogs cool down. Hot on the top, cool on the bottom.


Valley View.


A great day to be on the snow. I can't believe we are still skiing. Some of the low lying trailheads are free from snow, and they are packed with cars and folks hiking. However we are still out enjoying alot of snow waiting to melt.