Mt Baldy Trail Head

This next week we are going to split up in two groups. The older kids will go up the mountain and the younger kids will walk up to the farm. The farm walk is fairly easy and low elevation gain. The older kids will be going half way up the front of Baldy. Quick elevation gain compared to previous hikes. If you have both older and younger children it would be okay to let your older child go with the older group and the parent stay with the younger group.

Directions to Mt Baldy Trail head -

Take the exit toward Eagle River
Turn right at the yield sign coming off the exit
Go straight through the light on Old Glenn Hwy through town.
Turn right at N Eagle River Loop Rd at Tesoro and Williams
Turn left at W Skyline Dr right after the Skyline church, Skyline road changes name every corner all the way to the top. Keep going till you get to the end of the road and there will be a gate across the road and a parking lot. Should be about 2.2 miles from the beginning of skyline to the end of the road.

Hope to see you there.

How to get to the Bear Mountain Trail Head

Our Hike is again Thursday @ 10:30. Hope to see you there. It's in Peter's Creek area.

How to get there:From Anchorage, take Alaska HWY 1 north past Eagle River- Take the exit toward Peters Creek - 0.2 mi
- Turn right at Ski Rd - 0.7 mi
- Turn left at Whaley Ave - 0.2 mi
- Whaley Ave turns slightly right and becomes Tulwar Dr - 0.1 mi
- Turn left at Seika Dr - 0.3 mi
- Turn left at Solleret Dr - 0.3 mi
- Solleret Dr turns right and becomes Thornton St - 0.2 mi
- Turn left at Malcolm Dr.
- End of the Road is the corner of Malcolm Dr. and Seirra Mesa Cir.
SPECIAL NOTE: The hiking trail is called Big Peters Creek “Chugach State Park”. You’ll travel down this trail about 50 yards give or take and you’ll see a small trail on your left heading into the woods. Bear mountain hike is not well published, but the trail is pretty well established up this hike.

Thursday, June 19- Thunderbird Falls

Our hike on June 19 (I know this is a bit of a late post, but if you get to see it before we hike, then you will benefit!) will be to Thunderbird Falls. We will meet in the parking lot at 10:30. It is a State run park trail, so there is a fee to park there (I think it is $5), or if you have a Parks Pass (that you can get from the Parks Office in Anchorage- but probably not for this hike if you don't already have it) you don't have to pay.

To get there, you just head out towards Palmer and Wasilla along the Glenn Highway. On the right, there will be an exit for Thunderbird Falls (I believe it is the one after the Mirror Lake Exit, but before the Eklutna Exit). Take that and it should take you right to the parking lot.

There are outhouse facilities available at the bottom of the hike, by the parking lot. This is what it says on the parks webpage about this hike:

Thunderbird Falls TrailAccess: Mile 25, Glenn Highway, Thunderbird Exit, follow signs one mile to trailhead parking.Travel Means: Foot.Distance: 1 mile or 1.6 kilometers one way to view of Thunderbird Falls.Elevation Gain: 100 feet or 30 meters.Difficulty: Easy - rolling terrain with boardwalk and viewing areas.Special Features: Birch forest on steep hillside overhanging Eklutna Canyon. Views of 200 foot high Thunderbird Falls.Winter: Often, the falls freeze, producing ice sculptures. <http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/units/chugach/trails.htm>

We hope to see you there!

Pics of Chugiak High School Trails Hike

Our hike on Thursday, June 12 was to the Chugiak High School Cross Country Trails. This is part of our group as we decided which trails we were going to walk. We chose one that had lots of ups and downs. I was at the end of the group, so I didn't get that many pictures!
This is the Suttons- or part of the family anyway! They are troopers. Bringing their twin babies, their little girl in the jogger, and then two others who are big enough to run on ahead and keep at the head of the pack!
See, I was at the back, so I only got backs of everyone else! I think this was the start of the ups and downs!
The mosquitos were bad! So I guess that means that summer is officially here! The kids love to run on ahead and wait at the fork in the path. What good little runners they all are.
At the end of the hike, the Bundys and the Suttons had a picnic in the parking lot to keep away from the mosquitos. There were some others that ate on the soccer field as well.

Pics from Nature Center Hike

Our informal class given at the Nature Center on hiking safety. We learned to stay in a group, and have an adult as the forward hiker, that no kids are to pass.
At the viewing deck. What a gorgeous view! The kids loved running around on the deck, and then climbing up on the sides and looking down into the water. The parents got a chance to visit a bit more, without trying to keep up with the kids!
See, they loved looking down in the water!
Heading up the trail from the viewing deck. This is our hike organizer, Carolyn. And all 3 of these moms have a baby on their backs!
This was our place to stop and snack or lunch before we turned around to head back. It was a good turnout and a nice hike!

Chugiak High School Trails June 12

This week we are meeting at the high school for our hike. We had a great week last week and a great turn out. We went over hiking safety and etiquette. Thanks everyone for coming. We had kids from 7- 4 month olds. So there is a big range in ages and they all seemed pretty happy. I don't think the older kids were bored at all. Hope to see you guys there tomorrow. Pray for clear skies. I will post some pictures later I just need to get them from my sister.

Check out the Calendar

Please check out the Calendar. I have some open Thursday so if anyone has ideas of places to add let me know.

Thanks

Hiking Thursday June 5

Hello, We are starting our first hike tomorrow. Please come join us at the Eagle River Visitor Center at 10:30 sharp. Ute a naturalist will talk to us about hiking safety, right at 10:30. So please be there and ready by that time if you would like to hear what Ute has to say, she will only be about 10 minutes and then we can start our hike.