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Posts tagged hiking

The dog that saved me

root glacier dog wrangell national park alaska-DeNoiseAI-clear

Root Glacier (Alaska)

Less than an hour before this photo taken, I came face to face with a bear on the trail to this glacier. Unlike other bears I have met in the wild, this one didn’t run the other way. Instead, it started up the trail toward me. I know, you’re supposed to “get big” when you are in a bear staredown, but my natural instinct was to back up. The dog in this photo was 50-100 feet behind me on the trail and decided to get between me and the bear. That scared the bear off, and so I’m still here to tell the story.

Tree sweaters

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Mossy trees on the South Sister/Moraine Lake Trail (Oregon – September 2023)

Alaskan Spirea

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Crow Creek Trail (Girdwood, Alaska)

Waterfalls near Girdwood

Crow Pass Trail Waterfalls

We attempted what AllTrails calls the “Crow Pass, Crystal Lake and Barnes Mountain Trail”. The weather wasn’t great, but the views were still spectacular. We didn’t make it to Crystal Lake for a couple of reasons. One was that the clouds were low enough that we wouldn’t have been able to see the lake or any of the views from up there. The other is that you had to fjord a couple of minor waterfalls to continue on the trail, and we didn’t have waterproof shoes or poles. I would love to do this one again someday in a more prepared state.

We didn’t see any bears, but we did see some mountain goats and arctic ground squirrels.

The elevation gain at the outset and near these waterfalls was killer.

The Edge Nature Trail

12-photo photomerge from the edge nature trail alaska glen highway panorama glacier matanuska-DeNoiseAI-low-light

12-photo photomerge from The Edge Nature Trail including Matanuska Glacier on the left

The trail itself, without the view, was a spectacular grove of mostly quaking aspen which I imagine are even more beautiful in September when the leaves change color.

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The Edge Nature Trail sign on The Glenn Highway

Lookout Point Trail in Richardson Grove State Park

california redwoods

Redwoods framing trail on Lookout Point Trail

On our way to the Hog Farm Hideaway, we spent a night camping in the redwoods. After setting up my tent, I went for a walk and saw a sign for “Lookout Point Trail”. The lookout was supposed to be just .3 miles ahead. With my bad back I figured I could still easily do it so I set off. Alas, I took a wrong turn and ended up doing more than a mile loop before finding the lookout. The lookout has long since become obstructed by trees so you can’t really see much, but the trail was spectacular if you like redwoods.