August 13, 2013 - Hiking today!

Ira and Cindy on top of Flattop Mountain

Cindy being Cindy - excited to get started at 8 AM

Yes, that is a seriously steep rock scramble at the top!

Hi everyone,
Here we are on top of Flattop Mountain, on the outskirts of Anchorage.

This mountain is one of the (if not THE) most climbed mountain in Alaska.  So I (Cindy) thought, "So hard could it be, right?"  Well, I have an appreciation now for Flattop Mountain.

It is a short hike and the day was perfect!  Wahoo, here we go. 

It was a wonderful hike, as we started up the mountain at 8 AM (we had gotten up at 4 AM).  There were few people (only a couple of cars) which was nice and trail wasn't bad.

When we kept rounding the next corner, and the next, it appeared there might be some "excitement" getting to the top when we were looking right straight up at a high rock-scrambling area.  "Hmmmm," Cindy thought, "There must be a secret trail to the summit other than THAT!"

It was not to be the case.  It was as steep as it appeared, and because of the very heavy traffic on the mountain, there were "trails" all over the place so you were not certain what the correct trail was.  In some places there were switchbacks, and then you would lose the, but hopefully find them again.  Alaska had some heavy rain for a few days, so some spots were wet and slippery....did I mention this was incredibly steep, too?  It was the kind of steep, that in places you hugged the rock just so you didn't slip over backwards and down the mountain.  Thankfully, we are experienced and know how to proceed with caution.

Well, we made it!  Yes.  And it was worth it.  It was spectacular - that's all I can say.

Now, once we came up over the summit, we noticed there were clouds forming on the far side of the mountain.  No problem, where we had just scaled the rocks, there weren't any - at least that is what we thought until we turned around and looked where we had come from.  Oh, no....the clouds were coming up that side too. 

Ira and Cindy 2/3 of the way to the summit.

When I saw the clouds, we agreed not to stay on the summit very long and get down off the mountain.  We did not want to figuring out how to get down that very, very steep section of the trail in the fog.  And, we didn't think the fog had rain in it, but we weren't sure, not being certain of Alaska weather behavior.  So we quickly took in the views, did some photos, and boogied back down he trail.  It's funny, but the trail was so steep, that when you were on the top trying to look over to where the trail came up, you couldn't even see it.  It's like it had fallen over a cliff and wasn't there.  For a moment, I wondered how I was going to get the heck down out of there.  Well, as my husband always reminds me, and said today, "Don't worry about it, just do it!"  He's right.  Sometimes you just can't over think things, you just have to do them. 

The clouds began to roll in.

And they kept rolling in....

 This is what we saw behind us when we came up over the cliff trail.  And within a few minutes we were fully clouded in.  We had gotten far enough off the steep sections of the trail, before the heavy fog took over.  Then we could find out way down fine.

Part way down the trail, the fog was trying to clear, and it did off and on.  Eventually, it came out in the lower elevations, but the higher

elevations were probably in and out of clouds all day. 

Down in Anchorage the weather was lovely. 

We grabbed lunch and hit a store for our picnic food for tomorrow, when we SLOWLY drive from Anchorage to Seward.  With what we have heard about the scenery on the way down, we'll be lucky to make it before dark. 

Once we got home and showered up it was about dinner time, to we walked another 3 miles (about) to a restaurant and back. 

After dinner, we went down by the Coastal Trail (bike path along Cook Inlet in Anchorage) and watched the water, people, sun setting and just enjoyed the evening. 

And they over took us.

Ira clearly showing is love of the mountains and the moment.  This is how I will always remember him!  Happy on high!

 Tomorrow - Seward!