Skater's Cabin & An Attempt at Thunder Mountain Trail

Graham took some days off work after getting home so we could all spend some time together.  And so it was that Thursday...Addy was in school and Graham and I intended to sneak off and go on own hike. Something more challenging than the girls are up to yet.  But Cora wouldn't hear of it...going on a hike without her!  How dare we!  So we took a detour and went to check out a place called Skater's Cabin.

Owned by the Forest Service, this cabin is not one for overnights but for warming.  This stove makes it a popular place to be when you're out on Mendenhall Lake in the winter.

My reflection picture.  I'm thinking the darkness of the reflection has something to do with the fact that while the water looks clear in the picture, it's actually full of glacial silt and a light gray in color.

Photo credit for the next one to Cora!

Graham and I enjoyed some hikers sense of humor at the trailhead...the writing on the map says "It's not WHAT Juneau, it's WHO Juneau."

And, of course, couldn't forget a picture of Cora, the happy hiker.

That afternoon, Graham and I did get away for a hike.  We headed out to Thunder Mountain, one of the mountains closest to our house.  The trail guide said it is 3 miles with an elevation gain of 2,700 feet!  We had a 2 1/2 hour time limit so we set out to just see how far we could get.  This picture doesn't do it justice but the hike was as the description stated "a steep and arduous climb."

We're Alaska wilderness newbies..we freely admit it.  We wear our bear bells at all times, we carry our bear spray...but this little bird is what scared us the most.  Tucked inside a fallen tree's stump, it flew up to a branch about eye-level just as we came to it.  Thank goodness no one was around because they would have laughed their you-know-what's off if they saw how high we both jumped.  We think it's a willow ptarmigan, the state bird of Alaska.  Another member of the welcome committee, apparently.

We hiked as far as we could but didn't make it to the top.  Maybe next time.  But the fresh air, the hike, and the time together were good for the body and good for the soul.