Joy

When the weather Gods cooperate in Alaska, it's silly not to heed the call.  On Friday, I saw the weekend forecast calling for bright blue skies, low temps in the upper 20's and highs in the lower 50's. These are the perfect conditions for a spring hike up the Pioneer Ridge Trail.  The key is to leave early enough and be fast enough that it is frozen on the way up and only slightly muddy on the way down, but also make a departure time reasonable enough that getting out of bed isn't impossible. Once I found a willing friend, I knew exactly how I wanted to spend my Sunday morning.

We started out at 6:00 on frozen ground and eased our way up through the forested switchbacks. By the time we hit 1800 ft of elevation and a little over a mile of hiking, we needed hiking spikes to grip into the hard ice packed trail.

In the winter, the first picnic table (2,200 ft.) is usually the turnaround point, so it wasn't surprising that the trail between the two picnic tables was a mixture of moose tracks, post holes and old snowshoe tracks in a variety of steep, uphill directions. It was a deep snow year and the trail markers kind of disappeared through this section of trail, but having done this trail before it wasn't a matter of being lost just a matter of the easiest path to get past the alders and willows.

The above treeline, snow blown ridgeline at 2.800 feet was a welcome sight.

Black bear prints in fresh snow

The trail signs were easily visible and the trail itself was rocky and exposed in several areas on the eastern side where the wind and sun hit, while the western part of the ridgeline collected the snow and cornices had formed. Just as I was getting back into a comfortable hike, I spotted the fresh prints of a small black bear. An uneasy feeling and dread creep over me. Gone are the days where bears sleep peacefully. We followed the tracks "just to have a peak" and thankfully only saw the numerous mountains, a gravely glacial river, and the Knik Glacier.

Then the never ending hike continued - calf straining and heart pounding, but there's the constant views of scenic mountains and down below, thousands of feet is the familiar landscape of home to keep my mind occupied as my keep legs moving.  At last, it's one last hump to the top of the ridgeline and finally, the valley is 5,360 feet below.  It's pure joy.

South Pioneer and North Pioneer Peak in the background.

And, the joy is only sweeter as we turn around and make our way downhill!