This trail is much rougher than the nearby Herbert Glacier trail, even though they start near each other. It follows the Eagle River toward the Eagle Glacier. The Eagle River Much of this trail (like many in the area) is on boardwalks. They vary from planks on them ground to bridges with some broken and others in great shape. They were slippery. Some had roofing shingles or nets on the for traction. Netting to Give Traction on the Planks Along one section near a pond we saw two porcupines on the trail. Unfortunately, they hid in the bushes a couple of feet off the trail as we passed and I didn't get any good pictures of them. A Pond Along the Trail There is a forest service cabin down a spur trail about a quarter mile away from the main trail. It can be reserved for the night. At a viewpoint past the turn for the cabin we had a great view of glacier and waterfalls across the river in a side valley. Eagle Glacier Up the Valley From here the trail gets r...

Thunder Mountain is not far from the shore and forms part of the once side of the Mendenhall Valley. There are two trails up the mountain which merge about half way up. The one I took is from the valley and is rougher. The trailhead for this trail is about a quarter mile from where I'm living now. There are is an short wetlands ecology trail there as well. The trail starts off on a boardwalk and quickly changes to planks.  Planks Through the Welands Once a the trail crosses a creek it becomes very steep until the junction with the Heintzleman Ridge Route trail. After the junction the route gets a bit easier until the  tree line. Most of the trail is marked by ribbons with multiple ribbons at the junction.  Red Bellied Sapsucker  Once I got up to Heintzleman ridge there were great views into Lemon Creek Valley. Lemon Creek Valley Heintzleman Ridge I took the trail out to the top of Thunder Mountain where there are views of Admiralty Isla...

On the west side of the Mendenhall River (the opposite side from the visitor center where the buses take the tourists) there is a trail that goes to the Mendenhall Glacier. It is considered the country's most accessible glacier. A three mile hike on the West Glacier Trail, then the Ice Caves Trail will get you to its edge. Along the sides of the glacier there are ice caves big enough that you can walk in. The GPS track of this hike. The trail starts on the left. On the way out I hiked up the Mendenhall Lake Edge Trail which is an unofficial trail with lots of flowers.  Flowers on the Lake Edge A Bird Along the Trail This trail runs splits off from and rejoins the West Glacier Trail; it is mainly a walk along the edge of the lake. When the lake level is up, this trail is underwater. After rejoining the West Glacier Trail, I took a right turn onto an "Unmaintained Hazardous" trail, which is a rough trail marked with cairns that leads to the side of the glacier....

The Herbert Glacier trail is an easy 4.5 mile trail about 16 miles north of the Mendenhall Valley in Juneau Alaska. The trail is a compacted gravel trail which many people bike. It follows the Herbert river up to the Herbert Glacier. Pond Along the Trail Near the end of the trail, we left it and walked across a wash, crossing a couple of streams, to get closer to the glacier. Herbert Glacier We came upon the main flow of the creek feeding the Herbert River and were not able to cross it so we went up along it. This part of the hike included a bit of rock scrambling and going through bushes. It was a welcome challenge after the smooth trail. Creek by the Glacier We did not find a place to get across the creek, so we did not get the glacier itself, but we had some close views of it. We also looked at the class 5 rapids in the creek. Layers in Herbert Glacier Herbert Glacier The main trail is great if your looking for something easy with great views at the end. Most oth...

I am in Alaska for the summer so there will be posting some hikes from here. I'll still post some past trips, but with all the hikes and rides I'm doing here, there may not be many.

I haven't posted any 14er hikes this year, so here's one. Three of us hiked up Mt. Yale, about 10 miles west of Buena Vista, Colorado, in early-mid October. It is one of the collegiate peaks in the Sawatch Range. At 14,196 it is the 21st highest mountain in Colorado. Colorado did not get much rain this summer, but in October the skies started to open up. The mountains had a nice dusting of snow making for some nice views when we were there. We started at the Denny Creek Trailhead and went up the Southwest Slopes - the standard route. The trail roughly follows Denny Creek until the one turn we had to make. There the trail got a little bit steeper. The further in we went, the steeper the trail got. Near treeline we started going though the snow. It never got more than a few inches deep. A GPS track of the route helped out where we couldn't see were the trail went. There is a reroute on the trail starting just below tree line, but with the snow it was hard to follow and we end...

This hike was to the same location as the last one in my last blog. The difference was, there was no snow, so we stayed on the trail and after the middle lakes we went up and did not visit the first one. We started on South Boulder Creek Trail and turned onto Crater Lakes Trail. There is a sign at the junction. The trail to Crater Lakes was a bit steeper than the South Boulder Creek Trail. The trail took us to the northern middle lake first. (On the snowshoeing trip we went to the southern one first.) Moffat Tunnel passes under this lake.  Crater Lake #2 North The other is close, only separated by a small ridge (about 20 ft high).  Crater Lake #2 South After taking a short break we went west and took the trail that curved along the west end of the northern lake. It turned west and started climbing up to the upper lakes. On the way up, there were great views of the two lakes we were just at.   View of the Two Middle Lakes from the Climb Up to the High Ones The nex...

After Inkwell Lake there was some more above treeline rock scrambling. Two of us headed over towards Doughnut Lake, which is in a separate drainage from the other until below Arrowhead Lake. We found a great spot which overlooked both Doughnut Lake and Arrowhead Lake. We could also see Love Lake, which is about 200 feet above Arrowhead. Doughnut Lake Arrowhead Lake (or is it Right Turn Arrow Lake) Love Lake is just to the right and above the point of the arrow. After using a few climbing moves to get down, we regrouped near the shore of Arrowhead Lake. We went along the right shore, which ended up being the harder side to go around. After Arrowhead Lake we began to enter what the trip organizer called the Heart of Darkness, the forested hidden bottom of the canyon. We were not sure what we would find in there. We still had a bit more downhill to go, but now we had to deal with downed trees. Between Arrowhead and the next lakes, Rock Lake and Little Rock Lake, there was some steep ...

Rocky Mountain National Park has a road called the Trail Ridge Road, which goes above treeline for several miles. At its Forest Canyon Overlook, you can see several lakes in a side canyon. Many people stop and stare at them, but they get few visitors, since there is no trail to them. I have seen these lakes many times and have been wanting to get over there to walk around them. I finally got my chance last weekend. We started at Milner Pass, hiked up Mt. Ida, down along the Forest Lakes, across Forest Canyon and up to Forest Canyon overlook. After Mt. Ida there was no more trail. We started early and the moon had yet not set. Moon Over the Never Summer Mountains After summiting Mt. Ida we climbed down a rocky slope to a saddle. We could see our ultimate goal, a few miles away on the other side of the canyon. We also saw one of the lakes that can not be seen from the overlook, Highest Lake. It would have been a climb after the saddle so we did not visit it. Azure Lake, the second hig...

This trail starts from the Rainbow Lakes campground, crosses into the Indian Peaks Wilderness and quickly climbs above treeline. The trail goes along the border of a restricted area where part of Boulder's water supply comes from. Looking Up the Valley at the Divide The trail continues to climb until about 12,600 feet where it levels out. After about a mile and a half of going along this ridge, I came around a corner and saw South Arapaho Peak. South Arapaho Peak I had seen it from a distance, now it was right there. When I saw it that close I knew had to climb it, again. Even before getting on top of the peak, the views were great. Mt. Neva, just to the south, is a fun mountain to climb. Mt. Neva and Lake Dorothy About half an hour later and 700 feet higher I was on the peak. While I was taking a lunch break a marmot came up to where I was. A Marmot Begging for Food I was also able to look down on Arapaho Glacier. Arapaho Glacier On the way back down, there were a c...