It really is amazing and surprising how quickly daylight returns to Alaska. We slept in until 9:00am Saturday morning and had to close the curtains because there was sunlight coming through! One glimpse out the window revealed that today would be the perfect day to climb Saddleback; a mountain just a few minutes from our house that overlooks Eagle River. Daniel and I climbed it on a rainy day in waning sunlight, and Samantha and I climbed it in complete fog. I have been wanting to reach the top on a clear, sunny day because the vantage point from the top is perfect! We donned our snowshoes once again, hopped in Matt's truck, and up Mile Hi Road we went.
The first part of the hike is on narrow switchback trails through the woods. It's a very steep incline, and the narrow trails made it tricky to navigate with huge snowshoes and poles. We were sweating by the time we reached the first opening in the trees, so we were glad for the excuse to stop and snap some photos! This is Eagle River, and Anchorage is past the mountain on your left. You can see some of its high-rise buildings just above where that mountain flattens out.
After you leave the trees, the landscape opens up into a rolling hill of sorts that form a sort of valley between two peaks (hence the name "Saddleback"). It was on this hike that my friend Meghan watched a baby moose be attacked and devoured by a bear, and I imagine that it was in this part of the hike that she witnessed that. The trail headed off toward the left peak, but Matt and I followed some snowshoe tracks toward the right-hand peak, which is the one that I've climbed both times prior.
Although the sun is high in the sky (well, for the winter...this is about as high as it gets right now), the Eagle River Valley remains dark because of the mountains that surround it.
We watched a group of guys that were ahead of us seek some adventure and try to scramble up this snow-slope instead of sticking to the more exposed part of the peak. It took them about 20 minutes to work their way up those last 20 feet! The snow up top is just powder, and your snowshoes slide can't dig in because it just falls away beneath them.
Eagle River from a better vantage point. The puff of smoke that you see toward the top of the photo is just outside Matt's base, so that you get an idea of distance. The ocean is on the horizon.
You can see how the wind (that is usually fierce up here) has all but cleared the snow from most of the peak. Today was the perfect day for this hike not only for the sunshine, but for the absence of wind!
Eagle River from above. You can see how most of it is still in shade even at 2:30 in the afternoon! At the edge of the sunlight you can see Walmart, and our house is in the sun just three streets over. One more
Looking down the Eagle River Valley away from the town and into the Chugach Range.
Butt-sledding down was probably the safest, and definitely the fastest, way to descend! There's a much lower risk for broken bones when you don't fall head over heels down the steep incline. Be careful to keep the poles up, though, or they will dig in and flip you over real quick!
The setting sun...
It's been awhile since we've taken videos with the camera, so we forgot that you can't flip them on the computer...you'll have to watch these with your head turned to the side! Matt took this first one as we sledded down the hill that you saw me snow-shoeing across up above (the rolling hill part).
...and back down again after I fetched Matt's gloves! Next time we hike this in the winter, we are strapping sleds to our backs. Anyone want to join us?
