it's 5am and i'm awake so i'll load a few pictures. why am i awake at 5am. was put on call last night and i never sleep well when i'm on call. it's looking good that i won't be called in tonight. always fear i'll sleep through the phone call asking me to come in. yesterday was a wet and lazy day. reading a book that has my attention so all day i just wanted to read and sleep. the one time i tried to get outside and walk the dogs it started to pour on me. just encouraged me to curl back up with my book. love a rainy day and the laziness that it allows. happy to have a life where i can just chill and have a lazy day every so often.
was joined on this late fall hike to hidden lake this past week by amy and tanya. between us we had 4 dogs, ecco, blossom, boddhi and indy. they had a great time. alaska is wonderful in that it doesn't take too much effort to get to amazing places. i'd never been to hidden lake before. i think we just got to the first tarn and had we left earlier it looks like there is another lake further up the valley. to get there you go to the glen alps trailhead. best to go mid week....too crowded on the weekend with the flat toppers. hike the powerline trail back to this bridge, cross over and head up.
the dogs all seem to like to join in on the photo ops. tried to just get a picture with blossom and i, but the boys joined in. came out cute. the dogs all had a blast. lots of fresh water for them to drink. stupid me hadn't brought any water and very little snacks. never a good idea on any hikes in alaska. we met up at 12:30 and finished our hike at 5pm. not sure how many miles it is, will have to look for my next post. we guessed we walked 5-7 miles. the dogs, of course, must have done double that. i complained of the uphill, as i always do, but it's always worth a bit of uphill agony for the views at the top.
tanya's car battery died, again, so i gave her a ride home. on the way from her house i had to stop for this cute and large bear crossing dearmoun. blossom saw him from her front seat spot and barked like crazy. not a great habit for her to have gotten into, but now that she's seen a few bears she knows they are not dogs and feels they are worthy of a good barking at. this guy quickly scampered off into someones yard. bears are a part of alaskan life. people have been late to work because of a moose kill in thier front yard. can't really leave your house if there is a bear with a dead moose by your car. i laugh as part of the traffic reports in anchorage will include moose and bear activities. i grew up in los angeles so those traffic reports were of a totally different nature.
i think the tarn we hit was right over that first bump, where the shadow stops. you can go further up to that second bump and i believe another lake will be there. the lake is hidden until you are right on it.
there is fresh snow on the mountain tops where we were hiking and as we hit that first bump to the tarn it was actually snowing ever so slightly on us. the flakes were more like small hail, but white. the snow is continuing it's trek south and soon it will be all white everywhere for several months. did get out to the garden and got some done in prep for winter. the list is not nearly complete though. some just leave it all for the next spring. i like to get it straightened up so it's not a mess when the snow melts.
i think most gardeners will tell you to leave it til spring, depends on how lazy i'm feeling. blossom enjoyed her day out, rio was at home watching animal planet. this would have been too much for the old girl.
part way up there was this beautiful creek. you can see it coming all the way from that top lake. quite picturesque. amy stops for a photo op...the dogs, well they just stop between wrestling sessions.
my body is a bit sore between this weeks hikes and gardening. got some laps in and spent some time in the jacuzzi last night, which i think helps. on wednesday i met up with lena, amy and tanya and we did a walk out campbell airstrip. rio joined on that one. so i think we had 6 dogs.
blossom generally hikes back with us and the boys run off and wrestle. she is almost 6 years old so i think her wrestling days are behind her. every so often the boys gang up on her and i'd have to rescue the poor girl. she tries but they just overpower her.
this is the tarn up there at the first hump. the clouds are at the second hump where i suspect another, larger lake it. tanya was our leader on this one, but i think it had been several years since she'd done this. i'd do it again. you get up to the tundra with minimal effort. i love the lichen covered rocks up there. saw a lichen book i want to buy, it's pricey. i think i have some points i could use towards it. just have to figure out how to get them to cross over. i've done it before but can't recall how i did it. that would half the price.
looking back you get some lovely views of anchorage and fire island. briefly as we hiked in i caught a glimpse of denali peeking out. we hiked towards the clouds, but did get some blue skies.
the colours are mostly post prime, but still beautiful. will post the rest of these next week and i still have pictures from hanging valley to post....another favorite fall hike.
several pictures from the small falls on the creek before we headed up.
it was the only time i flipped to black and white....i also tried some longer exposures. always playing...never bother with a tripod though. way too lazy to haul it around and mess with it.
this next one is a bit over exposed, but i liked the colours in it.
for how late it is in the fall, it was fun to still see some flowers blooming way up there.
i hear the rain coming down. hopefully, i will wake at a reasonable time and get a few errands run. just figured out that my car is due for it's emissions check and registration...dang. they keep talking of phasing out emissions checks. it's a waste of money for most of todays cars. a bit of a scam. not nearly as many crap cars in anchorage i've noticed. perhaps living in the land of winter people are more likely to keep cars that are more dependable. i also want to get the dogs bathed. blossom has the stink on. my old favorite dog wash is taking self service again. they suddenly stopped which totally sucked. they used to have like 6 dog wash stations and they were always busy. seems like they'd just remodeled the place and then they just shut her down. they have moved and only have one dog wash station. hopefully, they will rebuild and add more. may have to check it out.
will read a bit more and hopefully sleep in. almost 6 am so chances of being called in diminish with every passing hour.
3 nights of work seems so much less daunting than 4. 12 hour shifts are great but they can also be tiring. love that i get away with 3 shifts/week. not sure i could adjust to regular work hours like everyone else does. i love all my days off.
powerline pass is a zone of moose love about this time of year. not sure we saw any males though i thought there was one that skated into the bush before i got my zoom on him. lots of females. in the next few weeks the valley will fill with bulls, cows and photographers hoping to get some great pictures of bulls in rut.
guess i shall return to bed, read "the gargoyle" and hope to sleep a few more hours. a lazy day is great, but hopefully, today is more productive. the to do list is too long for too many lazy days like yesterday.
it's 5am and i'm awake so i'll load a few pictures. why am i awake at 5am. was put on call last night and i never sleep well when i'm on call. it's looking good that i won't be called in tonight. always fear i'll sleep through the phone call asking me to come in. yesterday was a wet and lazy day. reading a book that has my attention so all day i just wanted to read and sleep. the one time i tried to get outside and walk the dogs it started to pour on me. just encouraged me to curl back up with my book. love a rainy day and the laziness that it allows. happy to have a life where i can just chill and have a lazy day every so often.
was joined on this late fall hike to hidden lake this past week by amy and tanya. between us we had 4 dogs, ecco, blossom, boddhi and indy. they had a great time. alaska is wonderful in that it doesn't take too much effort to get to amazing places. i'd never been to hidden lake before. i think we just got to the first tarn and had we left earlier it looks like there is another lake further up the valley. to get there you go to the glen alps trailhead. best to go mid week....too crowded on the weekend with the flat toppers. hike the powerline trail back to this bridge, cross over and head up. 
the dogs all seem to like to join in on the photo ops. tried to just get a picture with blossom and i, but the boys joined in. came out cute. the dogs all had a blast. lots of fresh water for them to drink. stupid me hadn't brought any water and very little snacks. never a good idea on any hikes in alaska. we met up at 12:30 and finished our hike at 5pm. not sure how many miles it is, will have to look for my next post. we guessed we walked 5-7 miles. the dogs, of course, must have done double that. i complained of the uphill, as i always do, but it's always worth a bit of uphill agony for the views at the top.
tanya's car battery died, again, so i gave her a ride home. on the way from her house i had to stop for this cute and large bear crossing dearmoun. blossom saw him from her front seat spot and barked like crazy. not a great habit for her to have gotten into, but now that she's seen a few bears she knows they are not dogs and feels they are worthy of a good barking at. this guy quickly scampered off into someones yard. bears are a part of alaskan life. people have been late to work because of a moose kill in thier front yard. can't really leave your house if there is a bear with a dead moose by your car. i laugh as part of the traffic reports in anchorage will include moose and bear activities. i grew up in los angeles so those traffic reports were of a totally different nature.
i think the tarn we hit was right over that first bump, where the shadow stops. you can go further up to that second bump and i believe another lake will be there. the lake is hidden until you are right on it.
there is fresh snow on the mountain tops where we were hiking and as we hit that first bump to the tarn it was actually snowing ever so slightly on us. the flakes were more like small hail, but white. the snow is continuing it's trek south and soon it will be all white everywhere for several months. did get out to the garden and got some done in prep for winter. the list is not nearly complete though. some just leave it all for the next spring. i like to get it straightened up so it's not a mess when the snow melts.
i think most gardeners will tell you to leave it til spring, depends on how lazy i'm feeling. blossom enjoyed her day out, rio was at home watching animal planet. this would have been too much for the old girl.
part way up there was this beautiful creek. you can see it coming all the way from that top lake. quite picturesque. amy stops for a photo op...the dogs, well they just stop between wrestling sessions.
my body is a bit sore between this weeks hikes and gardening. got some laps in and spent some time in the jacuzzi last night, which i think helps. on wednesday i met up with lena, amy and tanya and we did a walk out campbell airstrip. rio joined on that one. so i think we had 6 dogs. 
blossom generally hikes back with us and the boys run off and wrestle. she is almost 6 years old so i think her wrestling days are behind her. every so often the boys gang up on her and i'd have to rescue the poor girl. she tries but they just overpower her.
this is the tarn up there at the first hump. the clouds are at the second hump where i suspect another, larger lake it. tanya was our leader on this one, but i think it had been several years since she'd done this. i'd do it again. you get up to the tundra with minimal effort. i love the lichen covered rocks up there. saw a lichen book i want to buy, it's pricey. i think i have some points i could use towards it. just have to figure out how to get them to cross over. i've done it before but can't recall how i did it. that would half the price. 
looking back you get some lovely views of anchorage and fire island. briefly as we hiked in i caught a glimpse of denali peeking out. we hiked towards the clouds, but did get some blue skies.
the colours are mostly post prime, but still beautiful. will post the rest of these next week and i still have pictures from hanging valley to post....another favorite fall hike.
several pictures from the small falls on the creek before we headed up. 
it was the only time i flipped to black and white....i also tried some longer exposures. always playing...never bother with a tripod though. way too lazy to haul it around and mess with it.
this next one is a bit over exposed, but i liked the colours in it.
for how late it is in the fall, it was fun to still see some flowers blooming way up there.
i hear the rain coming down. hopefully, i will wake at a reasonable time and get a few errands run. just figured out that my car is due for it's emissions check and registration...dang. they keep talking of phasing out emissions checks. it's a waste of money for most of todays cars. a bit of a scam. not nearly as many crap cars in anchorage i've noticed. perhaps living in the land of winter people are more likely to keep cars that are more dependable. i also want to get the dogs bathed. blossom has the stink on. my old favorite dog wash is taking self service again. they suddenly stopped which totally sucked. they used to have like 6 dog wash stations and they were always busy. seems like they'd just remodeled the place and then they just shut her down. they have moved and only have one dog wash station. hopefully, they will rebuild and add more. may have to check it out.
will read a bit more and hopefully sleep in. almost 6 am so chances of being called in diminish with every passing hour.
3 nights of work seems so much less daunting than 4. 12 hour shifts are great but they can also be tiring. love that i get away with 3 shifts/week. not sure i could adjust to regular work hours like everyone else does. i love all my days off.
powerline pass is a zone of moose love about this time of year. not sure we saw any males though i thought there was one that skated into the bush before i got my zoom on him. lots of females. in the next few weeks the valley will fill with bulls, cows and photographers hoping to get some great pictures of bulls in rut.
guess i shall return to bed, read "the gargoyle" and hope to sleep a few more hours. a lazy day is great, but hopefully, today is more productive. the to do list is too long for too many lazy days like yesterday. 
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