Breaking a sweat

Falls Creek

I have been here for a week and even though the weather has be superb -sun and blue bird skies- the temperatures have not broken above about 65 degrees F so "breaking a sweat" required a little bit of effort. My little solo hike of the day did the job.

In the past week, all the driving around to find an apartment and a car prevented me to get any exercise at all. I had been sitting on my butt so much that I felt like I started to grow roots... and also to get a little insane.  It was time to get moving and at the same time to explore the great outdoors.

Since I had a late start, I picked a hike close to Anchorage: Falls Creek trail.  I drove 15 minutes to the trail-head and with no idea of what to expect, I started hiking. 

It was nice and cool... and also very steep.  The trail followed a creek from the start, located by the road next to Turnagain Arm, all the way to its source, about 6 miles up and 3,000 ft above.

The creek was a great companion all the way up, except unlike me, it did not have to worry about going up but only to happily keep tumbling downstream.  Because of its steep gradient, the trail rapidly led me above tree line.  I was immediately rewarded with a spectacular view on a V-shaped valley guarded by tall peaks.

Arriving above tree line

I was so enthralled by what laid before me that I almost forgot to turn around.  Fortunately I remembered looking back and captured a stunning view of Turnagain Arm.  The view was still hazy because of the smoke produced by the wild fires that had started 5 days ago, and which were still not contained.  Because of temperature inversions, Anchorage had been waking up in a cloud of smoke every morning for the past week. Cough! Cough!

Turnagain Arm from the trail

 As I kept going up, the pitch of the trail tapered off and the a broader U-shaped valley opened up, revealing a landscape of glacial origin.

Northern reindeer lichen

I admired many different species of plants and flowers, the most of amazing of which was a thick lichen-like specimen (apparently called "Northern reindeer lichen") covering large areas with snow-white and fluffy patches.  I obviously have a lot to learn on Alaskan botany!

Narcissus

About an hour and a half into the hike, I had to cross my first patch of snow. No fresh tracks were to be seen: obviously, nobody had walked this trail recently. It was neither steep nor difficult but the trail was nowhere to be found on the other side of the patch.  So I decided to simply follow the creek straight up. 

My guide on the last leg of my hike.

At times, the stream would disappear under snow, at others, it would spread itself into a thin film of water gliding over rocks.  I was obviously getting closer to the source as it seemed like the stream had not had a chance to cut its bed, yet. Instead, it was wandering around, as if looking for depressions in the landscape that would lead him to its definite path to the sea.

Last stretch before the source of Falls Creek.

My efforts were rewarded beyond expectations as I arrived in a gorgeous funnel-shaped bowl protected by high peaks.  The bowl, that was supposed to shelter the lake that is the source of Falls Creek, was still snowed in. 

Snowed-in lake - Source of Falls Creek

I found a nice comfortable rock and sat down for a few minutes listening to the silence. I figured the encasement of the place would probably make for a great echo.  I let go a yodel to give it a try and in return, got one of the best echoes I have ever experienced, one being on Horse Shoe Mesa in the Grand Canyon and the other (which I think can never be beaten) is at Echo Park on the Yampa river.

Once the silence returned, I let it sink in.  I enjoyed the solitude of the place. I had not experienced that level of remoteness in a while.  I sometimes crave it and at least now I know that around here, I will always be able to find it whenever I want to.  There seems to be a plethora of far away places to choose from only minutes from Anchorage.

After savoring a juicy apple, I took one last look around and started to tumble down... not literally but almost. On the steep parts of the trail, I got the urge to run rather than walk. So I did.  What took me 2.5 hrs on the way up took me just over an hour on the way down.  I made it back to my car at 3 pm, which meant that I STILL HAD 8 HOURS OF DAYLIGHT ahead of me! YOOHOO!!! Let's start the second part of the day!!!


Girdwood and Alyeska

Since I still had a full day in front of me, I decided to drive to Girdwood, a little town located 45 min South of Anchorage and also the location of Alyeska, the big ski resort especially famous for offering the best heli-skiing in the US.



I drove along Turnagain Arm, stopping here and there to watch the scenery and read the various educational boards that were planted along the highway.  I read about native culture, beluga whales, salmon...etc.  It is true you learn something every day!





At some point, I spotted a bunch of SUPers in the water so I pulled over to to find the parking spot markers spray-painted with some words of wisdom: SURF OR GO HOME.  I think I am going to get along just fine with some of the people who live around here.



The SUPers were sitting on their boards.  I could not say they were baking in the sun, it was only about 60 degrees and the water was probably much colder than that.  They might have been waiting for the bore tide, but that would have meant soaking in that water for at least three more hours.  Burrr!

SUPers in Turnagain Arm

I finally pushed to Girdwood and Alyeska.

I'll be baaack... in the winter

Girdwood, originally named Glacier City, is surrounded by no less than seven permanent glaciers, which seem to attract crowds.  I decided to come back at some point to explore the area and of course to get a little taste of Alyeska in the summer.

Despite all that daylight still available, I realized that I was more tired than I thought and decided to go back to the city.  The sun setting at 11+ pm makes it very tempting to stay up until 12 or 1 am but this is already starting to catch up to me! But now is the time to make up for the dark winter days to come!  

MUST-SOAK-SUN-NOW!