The past week had been overcast and chilly with temperatures hardly ever breaking 50 F. On Friday morning the mountains were all shrouded by thick gray clouds. But around noon, the cloud cover dissipated to reveal snow covered peaks. Was winter back? It certainly looked and felt like it.
I planned on doing a hike on Sunday anyway. The problem was that I still had not received my shipment from Virginia and I was limited in terms of hiking gear. I did not have any really warm clothes with me. So I did a quick trip to the store and bought a soft shell hoping that would be enough for my purpose.
On Sunday, a colleague of mine picked me up at my new apartment (yeees, I am not homeless anymore!) and we drove a loooong 15 minutes to the "Rabbit Lake" trail head located in the Chugach Mountains, also a State Park adjacent to Anchorage. It was rainy and extremely windy. The snow was very patchy at the trail head but it rapidly became thicker. About a mile into the hike, the rain turned into snow and the occasional white patches became a thick carpet, which swallowed our steps sometimes as deep as mid-calf.
We only saw two other hikers who, because of the weather, decided to "downsized" their day hike to a mountain called "Suicide Peak", to follow our plan and only make it to Rabbit Lake. The wind was pretty bitter and I could hardly use my fingers to even take pictures. Oh! Was I glad I bought that shell the day before!! There was no way I could have lasted more than half an hour without it.
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| Can you spot the two hikers? |
The hike was very easy, with about 1,200 ft of elevation gain over 4.25 miles. It would have been a stroll without the snow. We could not see the trail so we ended up walking on snow-covered uneven ground, which made it a bit more challenging. A good thing in my book.
After about 2.5 hours, we made it to Rabbit Lake in howling winds and flying snow.
Despite the inclement weather, the scenery was amazing and looked like a winter wonderland. We took two minutes to grab a bite and immediately turned back, eager to get out of the violent wind. By then, my fingers refused to feel, move or grasp. I still managed to take two more pictures and then stuck my handcicles in my pockets, promising myself not to take them out until I had recovered some sensation.
Being able to reuse our footprints and also taking advantage of a tailwind (Yes, it does make a difference) we flew on the way down only stopping here and there for an occasional photo.
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| Narcissus-flowered anemones poking their heads out of the snow. |
The whole hike took us about 5 hours and by the time we made it to the car we were cold, wet and chilled to the bones. So we rewarded ourselves with a giant burger and home brew at one of the many "animal-named restaurants" of Anchorage. This one was called the "Bear Tooth" (but there is also the Moose Tooth, the Whale's Tail, the Crow's Nest, Krazy Moose, Slippery Salmon, Rustic Goat, Papa Murphy's...etc.) and it serves the BEST fries I have ever had: Cilantro Garlic Parmesan Fries. Yummmmm!!! I hear those are good for you. The garlic and Cilantro cancel the effect of the fat and cheese. So hike in a frigid cold or not, I shall return.... just for these fries, which are undoubtedly one of Anchorage's best hidden treasures!
