We recently learned that the man who runs that site has moved out of state! Well, that’s sad for us, but it is good to know that the site will still be maintained somewhat. Thanks Chugachman! Sorry to see you go. We appreciate all your hard work!

See you on the trail!

Bring your calendars, maps, and favorite hiking book(s) as we plan out as many events as possible from late April through September, 2010. We would like sot see some step forward to serve as contacts for specific hikes because we won’t be on all of them and we need to provide as many opportunities as possible. But even if you don’t want to be that point of contact, we encourage you to attend to make sure we get your hike on the schedule!

We also will discuss the possibilities of a few hikes away from the Kenai Peninsula, and a “Photo Shoot” hike where we get a nature photographer to take us on a hike where we shoot pictures, learn camera techniques, and enjoy a shutterbug hike together.

If interested in coming to the planning meeting you can respond multiple ways. 1. Comment here 2. Respond via the Contact Us page on this site 3. Go to our group page on Facebook and joint the Event there or 4. Tweet us @KenaiHiking_com.

See you on the trail!

But we are hoping to have our first planning session for our summer hiking schedule in mid March. We will let you know that date as soon as it’s on the calendar. We will be sending invites out to some of our hikers to join us in planning our year! Details will be posted here sometime in February!

See you on the trail!

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.

But for the next several weeks, we will be tweeting:

Carter Lake Trail Pic

“You know you live in Alaska when…” tweets via Twitter. Follow @KenaiHiking_com to participate.

We will post a follow up here once we have gathered some of the joys, the groans, the shivers and the amazing Alaska-Life comments from local friends.

The website is now being frequented by many non-Alaskans. Following these tweets will give them a glimpse of what living in Alaska is REALLY like!

Stay warm.

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

If interested, let us know now on the contact form or tweet us @kenaiHiking_com. We will work out the details this winter.

Hasn’t Fall weather been incredible. We “hung up our boots” just a bit too soon. Just because we are not blogging, doesn’t mean we aren’t enjoying the outdoors.

See you on the trail!

As we announced the site slow down for the winter, we realized that we had never given an update on Raphe, our Whippet. Raphe (short for Rapheal) shows up in many of our pics from various hikes. He has hiked everywhere with us the past several years.

Back in mid-September, Raphe ran into a tree stump while running full tilt in the back yard. He was cutting a curve an Mach 2, and his hind quarters swung a little wide and rammed into the stump. It pretty-much crippled him for a couple of weeks.

But slowly, he has been getting movement back! He can now go up and down stairs without too much problem, and he can once again hop up on the sofa at home. And he is even running . . . . sort of. Not the graceful “cheetah-like” stride he was used to (IMHO the dog version of Eric Little), but an awkward “see-saw horse” shuffle. But it’s getting better every day and the pain does not appear to be there as it was originally. Maybe, just maybe, he will be on the trail in the spring for some shorter day hikes.

Of course, he may not hike any more. That’s OK, too. Thanks for asking.

We won’t post too much on Raphe here throughout the winter. But we are now on Twitter @KenaiHiking_com and we will tweet an update there from time to time throughout the winter. (In addition, we will integrate twitter notifications into hike event information next season so, if you tweet, you might want to start following us)

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