we did see a bald eagle out there but not this guy. it was soaring overhead on the winds of the arm. turnigan arm that is. the hike we did started at windy point and it did live up to it's name. we walked through the rainbow trailhead and on to mchugh where we'd stashed a car to drive us back up the seward highway to our other cars left behind at windy point. the hike was just over 6 miles i believe.
these are in backwards. i was joined by tanya and maddie, maureen and sandra. sandra claims i gave her no indication of how difficult and long this hike was, but she had also said she had been on this hike years ago and really liked it so wanted to go. i usually just shake my head and know that no matter what, it's my fault. hehe. anyway, it is over 6 miles. we just did a one way. you can go even further on to potter trailhead from mchugh. that would add another 3-4 miles. there is a part right before you get to mchugh with this scarey scree section. if those rocks give way there is a long and very steep fall coming your way. we were very careful. i leashed blossom, which she was bummed about. maureen carried kaya. above tanya looks to be trying to encourage maddie to stay away from the edge.
this is before we hit the worst of it. that last mile or so does take you out on the edge several times. never like that with unstable rock like this. the dogs don't like it on thier feet either. blossom crashed pretty quickly in the car.
this is before we hit the worst of it. that last mile or so does take you out on the edge several times. never like that with unstable rock like this. the dogs don't like it on thier feet either. blossom crashed pretty quickly in the car. we were delayed getting back to our cars at windy as after we all loaded into tanyas car for the short ride to windy we discovered her battery was totally dead. she asked some kind man if he'd be able to assist with a jump and about then these 3 army guys in fatigues showed up and sandra and i hitched a ride to our cars with them. by the time we got back, tanya's car was running. i grabbed blossom out and we all were done for hte day. i'm sure maddie earned some ice cream.
she is quite the trooper. not too many kids her age would be so obliging to a hike of this length and difficulty. there is a pretty long and steep up section. it was a nice wide trail, but it went up for ever it seemed.many people take the trail from mchugh to windy for just this reason.
the scenery and plants along the way were quite beautiful. we had a lovely day. i would have done the swim, but rio was totally glued to me when we did get home. i knew slipping back out again would be stressful for her. got to get her used to blossom and i leaving her alone more with summer here. she could not handle a hike like this one. so i got a bit of extra mileage in taking both dogs in the bog first.
i have kept myself quite busy these last two days trying to start emptying out these two rooms and also trying to pack for this weekends kayak trip. they come to measure tomorrow. suspect i give them money for product soon after that and then i've got to get the rooms prepped and painted before the floors get put down. eek!
above is tanya and maddie and below is a group shot. sandra, maureen, tanya, maddie and i. the dogs aren't always very cooperative with group photo. we got one out of three.
today was a work day for me. got more done and spent some time at rei and freddies. still have a few things i'd like to pick up tomorrow. baked cookies last night and that was mostly what i ate for most of the day. the cookies or the dough. met up with sandra and lesley at simon and siefords tonight for dinner. i know i spelled the name wrong. it's a great place to eat in town. we got free deserts due to it being all of our birthday month. we try to get out to celebrate our birthdays together with a meal. nice to relax and chat for a few hours. i had the steamed clams appetizer and a petit filet mignon for dinner.
the girls and i did a few loops in the dog park today. the temperature read 66F as i drove past. very warm day for us here. the dogs appreciated the chance to cool off in the lake. we rarely get over 70 degrees here even during the summer.
have had a net flix movie for over a week and haven't had a chance to watch it yet. looking forward to getting this floor project done. then i can think about the closets and recarpeting the hall and stairs as well.
sad fact i read in the paper the other day. in congo 48 women are raped every hour. it's officially the worst place on earth to be female. the militia's use rape to destroy villages. so sad what people are capable of doing to one another, how can such hate really exist. those poor women. jsut horrific what some people endure in thier lifetimes. seems all i can do sometimes is be grateful to have been born in a place where i have relative safety and comfort at all times.
when i looked back at the view behind me i realized that it wasn't that far back that we were at the level of the road down there. rainbow trailhead is at the bottom and it quickly goes upwards at a steady pace. i prefer going up to going down for my knees sake. they felt fine on this hike. my hip was mildly achy but not too bad. today i jsut felt a bit sleepy overall.
beautiful and green throughout hte walk though.
we cross this creek before we start making our way up. great opportunity for the dogs to get a layer of mud off. they also got in at mchugh creek which was helpful. blossom can sure hold alot of mud in her coat.
sandra and maddie bring up the rear. maddie is always helped along by a tale and sandra can tell a good one.
the rapture has been moved to oct 21st. chatted with my sister today. she laughed when i told her that i figured god was probably quite able to keep a secret and i hadn't gotten the impression that we would be told the time and date of the rapture. that wasn't the impression i got from my readings in the bible. this guys said that as it turns out may 21 was spiritual judgement day so we've apparently all been judged and it's thus decided who comes and who doesn't so no point preaching at this point. guys gotten millions in donations. sometimes i think i ought to start up a religion and cash in. it's crazy that people buy into these nut jobs and give up everything they own in the hopes of salvation. seems so absurd that anyone would fall for it, but people do over and over. eternal salvation and a good diet, either of those things will get you rich if you are convincing enough.
apparently 1 in every 6 american kids has a developtmental disability. the report suspects that many of these are due to misdiagnosis or over diagnosis. you think? everyone is great and if they aren't we will give them a pill. some of it is just behaviour issues or even...shocker....bad parenting. i suspect people often don't have the time to bother trying other options, it's easier to just medicate.
on other news, they want to add a second parking area to glen alps trailhead in town here in anchorage. people keep parking illegally on the road in a fire lane and then get ticked that there are expensive tickets on thier cars. climbing flat top is very popular. there are loads of other trailheads though. perhaps they should encourage people to just alter their flattop plans if the lot is full and try exploring the other trailheads.
liked the view shot in black and white.
maddie really is a great kid. she's out for the summer. guess tanya and family will be at the same yurt we're at starting the day we leave. maureen will be paddling halibut cove as well, but in a different cabin. i've never been there so excited to check it out.
everyone enjoys coming up the hill. haha.
apparently noone told maddie if she makes faces like that it could freeze that way. i remember being told that when i'd make goofy faces. kids crack me up!!
blossom and i enjoy a short break.
maureens dog kaya obliges me for a photo op. such a cute pup! could tell he got tired that last bit, but really, for a smaller dog, he did great!
loved this one of maddie and tanya.
in this one we were jsut getting started and maddie was enjoying the strong wind action at windy point.
as i approached the area of the big pond in the bog i could hear the birds all going nuts so i went to the look out to see if i could see what was up.
the birds were all going nuts and then i glanced over to where they seemed to be swooping and squaking and noticed this large bald eagle maybe 30 feet to my left. the gulls kept doing fly by's and screaming at this bird. he looked innocent enough, but then i'm not what he finds interesting as a meal. those birds wanted him gone and they were not giving up. all of the bog birds seemed to be united in thier goal.
the intruder must be forced out. ducks, maggies, geese, gulls all on a mission to rid thier area of the dreaded bald eagle.
wish i'd been smart enough to put this all on video as the pictures just dont' do this incident justice. i was loving it. laughing my arse off. the eagle finally swooped off his branch he hit the water, but i don't know if he got anything or not. check out his wing span compared to the little gull chasing him.
all the birds were up, above are canadian geese.
the birds all chased him around and around in the bog area and he finally gave it up and moved on.
got another treat in the bog yesterday morning as this cow moose had some new baby moose. saw her the other day getting a sip of water in the bog and she must have delivered soon after that. these two can't be more than 48 hours old. so cute!
a few people have already been kicked getting too close or spooking mama moose with new calves. depends on the moose i've found, but best to err on the side of caution with all these new babies popping out.
we were pretty far off and they had the trees and brush to hide in. not the best pictures but i'd like to keep taking photos and not be ticking off some mama moose.
we took off from windy point, but many people stop to look for mountain goats/sheep there. these look like sheep to me, rams. saw them just as we were taking off for our hike.
the devils club is bursting out all over. from the looks of it, this trail will get thick with it soon.
had forgotten that i was still in black and white for the shot below. it is actually a macro shot of a common orange lichen. looks pretty funky up close.
we were very excited to see all the little wildflowers that were blooming already out at windy point. had my macro, but it does require a steady hand and a steady plant helps as well. with the wind that wasn't without challenge. these turned out not too badly.
i'm not always the best wildflower identifier, but i know the one below is lupine. in some areas at the right time of the summer there will be purple fields of colour that are just amazing. love lupine.
tanya is my friend who is good at the wildflower identification. my friend quinton lives in wyoming, but he is good at plants in general.
great day of hiking with friends. hopefully many more long walks with friends as the summer progresses.
she is quite the trooper. not too many kids her age would be so obliging to a hike of this length and difficulty. there is a pretty long and steep up section. it was a nice wide trail, but it went up for ever it seemed.many people take the trail from mchugh to windy for just this reason. 
the scenery and plants along the way were quite beautiful. we had a lovely day. i would have done the swim, but rio was totally glued to me when we did get home. i knew slipping back out again would be stressful for her. got to get her used to blossom and i leaving her alone more with summer here. she could not handle a hike like this one. so i got a bit of extra mileage in taking both dogs in the bog first.
i have kept myself quite busy these last two days trying to start emptying out these two rooms and also trying to pack for this weekends kayak trip. they come to measure tomorrow. suspect i give them money for product soon after that and then i've got to get the rooms prepped and painted before the floors get put down. eek! 
above is tanya and maddie and below is a group shot. sandra, maureen, tanya, maddie and i. the dogs aren't always very cooperative with group photo. we got one out of three.
today was a work day for me. got more done and spent some time at rei and freddies. still have a few things i'd like to pick up tomorrow. baked cookies last night and that was mostly what i ate for most of the day. the cookies or the dough. met up with sandra and lesley at simon and siefords tonight for dinner. i know i spelled the name wrong. it's a great place to eat in town. we got free deserts due to it being all of our birthday month. we try to get out to celebrate our birthdays together with a meal. nice to relax and chat for a few hours. i had the steamed clams appetizer and a petit filet mignon for dinner. 
the girls and i did a few loops in the dog park today. the temperature read 66F as i drove past. very warm day for us here. the dogs appreciated the chance to cool off in the lake. we rarely get over 70 degrees here even during the summer.
have had a net flix movie for over a week and haven't had a chance to watch it yet. looking forward to getting this floor project done. then i can think about the closets and recarpeting the hall and stairs as well. 
sad fact i read in the paper the other day. in congo 48 women are raped every hour. it's officially the worst place on earth to be female. the militia's use rape to destroy villages. so sad what people are capable of doing to one another, how can such hate really exist. those poor women. jsut horrific what some people endure in thier lifetimes. seems all i can do sometimes is be grateful to have been born in a place where i have relative safety and comfort at all times.
when i looked back at the view behind me i realized that it wasn't that far back that we were at the level of the road down there. rainbow trailhead is at the bottom and it quickly goes upwards at a steady pace. i prefer going up to going down for my knees sake. they felt fine on this hike. my hip was mildly achy but not too bad. today i jsut felt a bit sleepy overall.
beautiful and green throughout hte walk though. 
we cross this creek before we start making our way up. great opportunity for the dogs to get a layer of mud off. they also got in at mchugh creek which was helpful. blossom can sure hold alot of mud in her coat.
sandra and maddie bring up the rear. maddie is always helped along by a tale and sandra can tell a good one.
the rapture has been moved to oct 21st. chatted with my sister today. she laughed when i told her that i figured god was probably quite able to keep a secret and i hadn't gotten the impression that we would be told the time and date of the rapture. that wasn't the impression i got from my readings in the bible. this guys said that as it turns out may 21 was spiritual judgement day so we've apparently all been judged and it's thus decided who comes and who doesn't so no point preaching at this point. guys gotten millions in donations. sometimes i think i ought to start up a religion and cash in. it's crazy that people buy into these nut jobs and give up everything they own in the hopes of salvation. seems so absurd that anyone would fall for it, but people do over and over. eternal salvation and a good diet, either of those things will get you rich if you are convincing enough.
apparently 1 in every 6 american kids has a developtmental disability. the report suspects that many of these are due to misdiagnosis or over diagnosis. you think? everyone is great and if they aren't we will give them a pill. some of it is just behaviour issues or even...shocker....bad parenting. i suspect people often don't have the time to bother trying other options, it's easier to just medicate. 
on other news, they want to add a second parking area to glen alps trailhead in town here in anchorage. people keep parking illegally on the road in a fire lane and then get ticked that there are expensive tickets on thier cars. climbing flat top is very popular. there are loads of other trailheads though. perhaps they should encourage people to just alter their flattop plans if the lot is full and try exploring the other trailheads. 
liked the view shot in black and white. 
maddie really is a great kid. she's out for the summer. guess tanya and family will be at the same yurt we're at starting the day we leave. maureen will be paddling halibut cove as well, but in a different cabin. i've never been there so excited to check it out.
everyone enjoys coming up the hill. haha.
apparently noone told maddie if she makes faces like that it could freeze that way. i remember being told that when i'd make goofy faces. kids crack me up!!
blossom and i enjoy a short break. 
maureens dog kaya obliges me for a photo op. such a cute pup! could tell he got tired that last bit, but really, for a smaller dog, he did great!
loved this one of maddie and tanya.
in this one we were jsut getting started and maddie was enjoying the strong wind action at windy point.
as i approached the area of the big pond in the bog i could hear the birds all going nuts so i went to the look out to see if i could see what was up.
the birds were all going nuts and then i glanced over to where they seemed to be swooping and squaking and noticed this large bald eagle maybe 30 feet to my left. the gulls kept doing fly by's and screaming at this bird. he looked innocent enough, but then i'm not what he finds interesting as a meal. those birds wanted him gone and they were not giving up. all of the bog birds seemed to be united in thier goal.
the intruder must be forced out. ducks, maggies, geese, gulls all on a mission to rid thier area of the dreaded bald eagle.
wish i'd been smart enough to put this all on video as the pictures just dont' do this incident justice. i was loving it. laughing my arse off. the eagle finally swooped off his branch he hit the water, but i don't know if he got anything or not. check out his wing span compared to the little gull chasing him. 
all the birds were up, above are canadian geese.
the birds all chased him around and around in the bog area and he finally gave it up and moved on.
got another treat in the bog yesterday morning as this cow moose had some new baby moose. saw her the other day getting a sip of water in the bog and she must have delivered soon after that. these two can't be more than 48 hours old. so cute!
a few people have already been kicked getting too close or spooking mama moose with new calves. depends on the moose i've found, but best to err on the side of caution with all these new babies popping out. 
we were pretty far off and they had the trees and brush to hide in. not the best pictures but i'd like to keep taking photos and not be ticking off some mama moose.
we took off from windy point, but many people stop to look for mountain goats/sheep there. these look like sheep to me, rams. saw them just as we were taking off for our hike.
the devils club is bursting out all over. from the looks of it, this trail will get thick with it soon.
had forgotten that i was still in black and white for the shot below. it is actually a macro shot of a common orange lichen. looks pretty funky up close.
we were very excited to see all the little wildflowers that were blooming already out at windy point. had my macro, but it does require a steady hand and a steady plant helps as well. with the wind that wasn't without challenge. these turned out not too badly.
i'm not always the best wildflower identifier, but i know the one below is lupine. in some areas at the right time of the summer there will be purple fields of colour that are just amazing. love lupine.
tanya is my friend who is good at the wildflower identification. my friend quinton lives in wyoming, but he is good at plants in general.
great day of hiking with friends. hopefully many more long walks with friends as the summer progresses. 
probably a bit disjointed so i apologize. i feel a bit disjointed right now. it's almost 2am. it's light til almost midnight so you just keep doing stuff and then suddenly see a clock and think, oh crap i should get ready for bed. you lose track of time up here. the light is out for hours and hours. it could be 11pm when you look outside and realize you haven't watered the garden, so you go out and water. there is no way to know the time of day. it's just daylight. had friends up visiting. my friend looked up at the sun and guesstimated the time was about 2pm so we had plenty of time to do this or that. i then pointed out to her that the sun is no help in telling time here. the time was actually 7pm.
Beautiful pictures--always like taking a break and visiting. I didn't know about the women of Congo--I do wish we could eradicate the existence of rape;it's just not conceivable that it's logical to anyone. Me, too, feel thankful and relieved and yet it keeps me from hiking by myself or with my girls.
ReplyDelete