had to toss in another picture of blossom and i from yesterday. thought they turned out cute...definitely a candidate for christmas cards this year.
sandra thought it may rain in seward for our planned hike so i suggested we just go to a rain forest and take our chances. so we headed to alyeska for a jaunt on winner creek trail. it takes off just behind the hotel there and works it's way through the rain forest to the winner creek. that creek runs very fast and looks dangerous to me. it's 2.5 miles to the hand tram so 5 miles total. of course, first i walked blossom and rio in the bog. parts of the trail are wood steps/boardwalk. rio has a real hard time with these.
this is the hand tram. the trail continues on for another mile or so past the tram. i'm not big on heights so i've never crossed the tram. don't think blossom would like it either. i was feeling queasy just watching the other people shimmy across the creek. probably didn't help that whenever i was in any sort of aerial apparatus as a kid my brothers would be sure and rock it back and forth just to scare me more.
though it remained cloudy overall, we did get patches of sunshine and blue skies. felt great! i think it was the same in anchorage. we probably would have done fine in seward. i may head that way tomorrow. i do have things to do and should do. if the sun shines though....
first you cross a bridge, i was willing to do that. then you hike a bit more to that tram. of course, we stopped for a few pictures here. i wouldn't let blossom near. when we were at the hand tram there were people below who's dog had somehow ended up on the wrong side of the creek. the creek moves very fast and it really was upsetting to think that. blossom was kept on a leash at all times today.
i did eventually let her into a small section of the creek that was off to the side and so she could wade out there. kept her leashed still. okay so i'm a paranoid dog owner. i just can't imagine watching her zip down a creek and be powerless to do anything to save her. can't even think about it really. what can i say..i love my dogs. did watch a piece of some show on animal planet about pet hoarders. i think many of those people start out with good intentions and it just all gets away from them. this one poor guy was hoarding cats and losing everything else in his life. he finally turned himself in to animal control and asked them to take away the cats. the house was disgusting, they lifted the sofa there was cat poop several deep under there. they also found a few dead and decaying cats. he had so many he didn't even notice them passing. i feel quite sane at this point. i have 2 dogs and 2 cats. four pets keep me busy and they are costly to care for...trying to care for households of animals could overwhelm anyone.
proof of blue skies.
it's very lush in there. some mosquito's but not too awful today.
there is a tram at the alyeska hotel that runs up to a restraunt. i guess it's used by skiiers all winter, in the summer it's mostly tourist traffic. apparently, blossom can only ride down on the tram in a kennel. it just means that we must walk up the ski hills to the top of the mountain. the ride down is free for both of us. tempting. i shall have to make the journey up the hill soon. the height thing will still be a factor, but seems better than the hand tram. there is some good hiking up at the top with a glacier to explore.
after the walk, we stopped by the bake shop for a late lunch. they only take cash, but the food is good. wish we'd gotten there before 1p as their potatoes are really good and we missed them.
so just a small hill to walk up. this is the ski resort in alaska. there are other, smaller ones like the pictures i had in yesterday. many people do the backcountry type i guess. alyeska is a popular place to live or have a cabin. i'm sure for the ski fan living at the base of such a hill is awesome. i've never done much downhill skiing. it was always too expensive.
after lunch we explored a few roads. we ended up driving up the road to the crow pass trailhead. i've drivin up there as we had hiked as far as the glacier before the weather got totally crappy. i really didn't notice the sights along the road though. i must have been very focused on the backpack ahead. there is a sweet little spot that is the old crow mine. it's all fixed up and maintained. we'd spent our cash at lunch.
looks pretty cool. they charge $5 to walk around. they also let you do gold panning for a cost.
of course, i didn't notice the sign that said $5 but now that i can see it, it's quite funny. a little slam on sarah palin it seems. hehe.
got a few pictures of the fireweed and the hanging glacier in the background.
the fireweed always looks good in pictures.
waterfall at the trailhead for crow pass. the parking lot was pretty full so lots of people making the trek. you can cross over the mountains and end up in eagle river at the nature center. i think it's like 26 miles to cross over. there is a river crossing, a few other obstacles. of course, there are crazy people who run the thing and they have a race across. i think those people run it in like 3-4 hours or some crazy thing.
here is a closer picture of the hanging glacier. they are so beautiful.
not much else accomplished today. just goofing around all day. the to do list continues on and on and on....
beautiful flowers on the sides of the road. the road up is pretty much one lane. we had a few close passes.
on the way home, we spotted several mountain goats. they are often spotted at windy point. there were some down fairly close to the road so we got a few pictures.
will dispense with poetry tonight so i can sleep. apologies. i'm sleepy though.
had to toss in another picture of blossom and i from yesterday. thought they turned out cute...definitely a candidate for christmas cards this year. 
sandra thought it may rain in seward for our planned hike so i suggested we just go to a rain forest and take our chances. so we headed to alyeska for a jaunt on winner creek trail. it takes off just behind the hotel there and works it's way through the rain forest to the winner creek. that creek runs very fast and looks dangerous to me. it's 2.5 miles to the hand tram so 5 miles total. of course, first i walked blossom and rio in the bog. parts of the trail are wood steps/boardwalk. rio has a real hard time with these. 
this is the hand tram. the trail continues on for another mile or so past the tram. i'm not big on heights so i've never crossed the tram. don't think blossom would like it either. i was feeling queasy just watching the other people shimmy across the creek. probably didn't help that whenever i was in any sort of aerial apparatus as a kid my brothers would be sure and rock it back and forth just to scare me more. 
though it remained cloudy overall, we did get patches of sunshine and blue skies. felt great! i think it was the same in anchorage. we probably would have done fine in seward. i may head that way tomorrow. i do have things to do and should do. if the sun shines though....
first you cross a bridge, i was willing to do that. then you hike a bit more to that tram. of course, we stopped for a few pictures here. i wouldn't let blossom near. when we were at the hand tram there were people below who's dog had somehow ended up on the wrong side of the creek. the creek moves very fast and it really was upsetting to think that. blossom was kept on a leash at all times today. 
i did eventually let her into a small section of the creek that was off to the side and so she could wade out there. kept her leashed still. okay so i'm a paranoid dog owner. i just can't imagine watching her zip down a creek and be powerless to do anything to save her. can't even think about it really. what can i say..i love my dogs. did watch a piece of some show on animal planet about pet hoarders. i think many of those people start out with good intentions and it just all gets away from them. this one poor guy was hoarding cats and losing everything else in his life. he finally turned himself in to animal control and asked them to take away the cats. the house was disgusting, they lifted the sofa there was cat poop several deep under there. they also found a few dead and decaying cats. he had so many he didn't even notice them passing. i feel quite sane at this point. i have 2 dogs and 2 cats. four pets keep me busy and they are costly to care for...trying to care for households of animals could overwhelm anyone.
proof of blue skies.
it's very lush in there. some mosquito's but not too awful today. 
there is a tram at the alyeska hotel that runs up to a restraunt. i guess it's used by skiiers all winter, in the summer it's mostly tourist traffic. apparently, blossom can only ride down on the tram in a kennel. it just means that we must walk up the ski hills to the top of the mountain. the ride down is free for both of us. tempting. i shall have to make the journey up the hill soon. the height thing will still be a factor, but seems better than the hand tram. there is some good hiking up at the top with a glacier to explore. 
after the walk, we stopped by the bake shop for a late lunch. they only take cash, but the food is good. wish we'd gotten there before 1p as their potatoes are really good and we missed them. 
so just a small hill to walk up. this is the ski resort in alaska. there are other, smaller ones like the pictures i had in yesterday. many people do the backcountry type i guess. alyeska is a popular place to live or have a cabin. i'm sure for the ski fan living at the base of such a hill is awesome. i've never done much downhill skiing. it was always too expensive. 
after lunch we explored a few roads. we ended up driving up the road to the crow pass trailhead. i've drivin up there as we had hiked as far as the glacier before the weather got totally crappy. i really didn't notice the sights along the road though. i must have been very focused on the backpack ahead. there is a sweet little spot that is the old crow mine. it's all fixed up and maintained. we'd spent our cash at lunch. 
looks pretty cool. they charge $5 to walk around. they also let you do gold panning for a cost. 
of course, i didn't notice the sign that said $5 but now that i can see it, it's quite funny. a little slam on sarah palin it seems. hehe. 
got a few pictures of the fireweed and the hanging glacier in the background. 
the fireweed always looks good in pictures.
waterfall at the trailhead for crow pass. the parking lot was pretty full so lots of people making the trek. you can cross over the mountains and end up in eagle river at the nature center. i think it's like 26 miles to cross over. there is a river crossing, a few other obstacles. of course, there are crazy people who run the thing and they have a race across. i think those people run it in like 3-4 hours or some crazy thing. 
here is a closer picture of the hanging glacier. they are so beautiful.
not much else accomplished today. just goofing around all day. the to do list continues on and on and on....
beautiful flowers on the sides of the road. the road up is pretty much one lane. we had a few close passes.
on the way home, we spotted several mountain goats. they are often spotted at windy point. there were some down fairly close to the road so we got a few pictures.
will dispense with poetry tonight so i can sleep. apologies. i'm sleepy though.
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