Rabbit Creek Trail

Sunday I went for a hike on Rabbit Creek trail. It wasn't marked so I chose to stop where I saw all the other cars parked.

I chose to go up the left trail and got pretty tired going up a steep slope of rock. My achilles were getting so stretched that I actually needed to stop several times to get them to relax.

Near the top it got a little steeper and much more rocky. I decided to turn around because I was concerned if it got even more steep, I'd be stuck.

I was carefully picking my way back down in a crab walk fashion when I saw another hiker approaching from below.

She asked what I was doing. I told her about how high I'd gotten and was worried about coming down from higher. Turns out when you get to the top there is another trail which comes down the other side of a gully.

I'd been watching a bunch of other folks on the "down" trail without realizing I would soon be joining them. They were in the vicinity of three large moose, but based on their conversation, clearly had no idea that the animals were very close to them.

Here is a guy having some fun as we approached the peak:

I asked her if there was a name for the hill we were on, and it turns out we were climbing up the back of Flattop mountain! So I wasn't on Rabbit Creek trail as I had intended.

If I'd driven 100 more yards or so I'd have seen the start of Rabbit Creek trail.

Here is a view of Anchorage from the top:

The woman who let me tag along turned out to be from Minnesota and went to the school that the Mrs. attends now. Small world.

The next day I took a day of rest from hiking and my quads were so stiff it was painful going up and down stairs.

I've never been much of a hiker. I should say I've never gone out of my way to hike. But being this close to mountains with this abundance of trails has really turned me onto hiking.

Until we get more snow, it will be my workout. Next year I'll have studded tires for one of my bikes to add some variety.