It’s looking like rain! Well, we’re going to give it a shot none-the-less. We all need to get out and away for a while. It’s like a computer that has a hard drive being defragged to make it run better. Extended time away is our “defrag time”. Hope you have a chance to defrag this weekend, whatever your plans.

See you on the trail!
Wondered

Crescent Creek

There will be a Going Away picnic for Dan and Sue, Saturday June 19th from 4 to 8 pm. All of KenaiHiking.com friends are welcome to attend. Bring some food to share. The event will take place at Jon’s house. Submit a Contact form here on the website if you need more information, or call Carmen.

A LETTER TO DAN AND SUE:

KenaiHiking.com was first started four years ago. It was an effort to “publish” in some form or another the summer hiking schedule of Dan T and myself. The hope was that, if we could get our schedule out – so people knew about hiking plans soon enough – we could get others to join us on our hikes, committing long before other things had a chance to crowd a weekend hike out of a busy summer schedule.

For years, just the fact that each of us knew that the other was going on a particular hike would be enough motivation to get up on a rainy day or get out early when we really wanted to sleep in. Many times other people showed up for these hikes, but some times they didn’t.

Up on Fuller Lakes 2006

Well, in a way, all that is coming to an end this summer. Dan T and his lovely wife, Sue, will be leaving Alaska. After 23 years, they are moving on! Yeah, I know. People don’t move away from Alaska, do they? They move TO Alaska! But Dan and Sue have a higher calling to continue their ministry elsewhere. Well I guess we need to get out of their way!

There are certainly many friend like Dan who have become a part of my hiking adventures. My wife, for one! But KenaiHiking.com was a means to an end, and it will continue even after Dan and Sue have moved on. What better tribute to Dan?

Crescent Creek

Dan and Sue, you will be missed. We know you will continue pounding out the miles wherever you go even though it will be hard looking up from the trail beneath your feet and not seeing some of the wonders of the great wilderness of Alaska. We have the memories of some good times, we surely do. You are just outside the frame of many of the pictures I have taken along the way, but you were there, nevertheless.

Look down only long enough to keep your footing sure. Look up all the rest of the times. Enjoy your new home as much as you can even though it’s not Alaska. Thanks for the times on and off the trail. God speed, as you hike new trails and make new friends. The rest of us? Well, we think we will stick around these parts. We have some more hiking to do!

Wondering Wanderer
i.e your friend, Gary

We will give him a good “shakedown” hike by taking him with us on the Turnagain Arm Trail hike scheduled for May 15.

What’s your opinion about dogs on trails? When are they good, and when are they a pain. Any experiences with your dog – or someone else’s dog? Bear encounters ever made worse by the presence of a pet? I would like to know.

While we are pretty sure he will never get back to his pre-accident condition, he is actually running just a bit! It starts out graceful but he soon reverts back to this little Gallup-shuffle. But it’s great to watch!

We’re not even sure if he’s in pain anymore when he runs. While we certainly don’t intend to push him (we are happy he can just get around on his own) he is really happiest on the trail.

We have recuited our son’s dog, Cutlass, to whip this whippet back into shape! What do you think? Doesn’t she look up to the task?

Apologies if you think the site is going to the dogs for the winter. We hope you are staying active. We look forward to seeing you on the trail next spring.

Two pictures I took of the information board. First one, top half is a BEAR warning. Ok. Yeah, yeah. We know.

Second one is from a sign nearby on the same board showing a camper cooking something yummy over an open campfire flame. Wait! (pause) The camper! (gasp) it’s. . . It’s a BEAR!!

What do YOU think he’s eating??

So, we are to beware of BEARS unless they are nicely clothed, cooking dinner, and they ask us nicely to join them. I don’t think so!

Just wondering.

Wanderer

I’m not a huge “animal fan” although I enjoy other people’s pets. But I am a great fan of MY animal(s). If you look back thru all the pics I have uploaded, Raphe usually in a few shots. I sure hope he will be on the trail again next year.

Summer is over. Kenaihiking.com slows down a bit. But I hope you all stay active thru winter. I am so thankful for the beauty of God’s creation.

See you on the trail

Kenaihiking.com’s Wondering Wanderer

Sound out! Let us know by commenting to this post. What on earth were you up to?

My wife and I worked in our yard and ate hot dogs cooked in our firepit–fueled by “tree droppings” and other brush from our clean up efforts. Now that’s what I call recycling!

But as it turns out, everyone else was just getting a later start (and probably captured some better sun, too!).  On our the way back down from the saddle we encountered 20+ people on their way up, in at least 3 or 4 groups!  Hence the title of this post.  As we encountered each group, it was enjoyable interacting with others who were as determined as we had been on our climb.

At one of the difficult spots on the way up or down (we were heading down) I found myself on a side-hill deferring to others hiking up. I looked directly over at a gentleman plodding his way up the near vertical rock face. We smiled and exchanged pleasantries.  But it was a bit surreal.  I was on the way down, all that effort behind me, looking over at what I probably looked like several hours earlier!

It was chilly on top but we were prepared!  See the Picture Gallery for added pictures.

Next hike is Bird Ridge Trail on Turnagain Arm,  June 13th. If you are planning on going, be prepared for an EARLY START at rally point.  We would like to get as many as possible on this hike. It’s a great day hike with incredible high elevation views of the Arm. We will send out final info on this hike no later than Thursday, June 11th. Remember: Final info goes out only to registered subscribers. Please RSVP as soon as you determine you are planning on joining us via the RSVP form to the right.

This pic is of our dog, Raphe. He’s the un-official KenaiHiking.com mascot, I guess. Raphe is a regular on our hikes and you usually see at least one shot of him in each set of pictures  we post. Raphe is a Whippet.  No body fat – alot of speed.  But he’s a smart trail dog and has learned to pace himself. As you can see, he gets pretty tuckered out. This pic was from the evening of the Skyline  hike. He usually doesn’t get so wasted from such a short day hike.  But he wasn’t feeling good this day.

We appreciate people who bring dogs on the trail who know how to behave around other people and other dogs.  There were several dogs on Skyline. But they all were very well behaved and made it for a more enjoyable experience.

Hmmmmm . . . .Where did those new Summer '09 Hikes Go??

Even if you don’t want to be the main contact on a hike, but you’re itching to get a few people together and hike someplace – - -  let us know.  We would be happy to post the info and see who responds.

In addition, if you are doing something real soon and you don’t think there’s much time to “advertise”, please let us know that as well. We can certainly contact all registered members via e-mail. We will give it our best shot. Our first scheduled Hike is still several weeks out.  but if you can’t resist, then have at it. Just let us know so we Bave the option to join you!

Guess what I found myself doing the other day? Shoveling snow off my front yard and into the driveway! Only in Alaska!. What crazy things have you been doing to try to hurry summer’s onset? Post a reply to this, as a comment.