Continued from the previous page . . .

MORE PHOTOS OF WILDFLOWERS

There were numerous flowers along the Little Su, through the woods, and especially in the meadows – all the usual wildflowers I’ve seen this month and in profusion:

Here they grew larger in some places than I’ve ever seen them before.

Many of the cow parsnips, for example, were over my head, at least seven feet tall:

 

 

 

 

Some of the lupines were chest high, which on me is at least 4½ feet high. I’ve never seen lupines so tall!

Pink fireweed brightened several areas:

 

 

 

Fireweeds often mixed with other wildflowers in colorful, natural bouquets:

 

Wild blue geraniums, shown above and below, were also common:

Geraniums and a cream-colored Indian paintbrush

Mountain bluebells and a wild blue geranium

Here, in no particular order, are photos of some of the other flowers blooming along the trail, ponds, and stream today:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have I convinced you to hike this trail if you're ever in this area of Alaska??

I’m tired tonight. I twisted my right ankle once and fell into some flowers (soft landing) at about four miles but kept going. My ankle is a little sore but not swollen. Cody seems just fine. This is the longest we’ve hiked in a good while.

I wore my old Asics trail running shoes. That was a good choice. I didn’t need the grippy soles of my new Merrills so much as the lighter weight, flexibility, and good-draining mesh on the old shoes. I got them really wet and dirty through all the mud and muskeg.

CHECKING OUT THE SIGHTS ON THE OLD GLENN HWY.

It took me a little over an hour to reach the trailhead in the morning via the Glenn Hwy. through Palmer. On the way back I detoured around town on the Old Glenn Hwy. so I could get a picture of Knik Glacier and the overflowing Matanuska River:

It’s running high and fast today, the cement-color typical of glacial streams carrying a lot of silt. News articles show homes along the river that are threatened. At least one trailer house was washed into the river and others are threatened along the Old Glenn Hwy.

This is more of a close-up of the Knik Glacier. I didn't try to drive or hike back any closer to it today:

I liked this field full of pretty lupines and other flowers, with a backdrop of Chugach Mountains in the distance:

The road crosses the Matanuska River, makes a turn to the west, and parallels the river until it reaches the Glenn Hwy. It was interesting to be on the other side of Twin Peaks at the northern end of huge Chugach State Park; I hiked on the Twin Peaks Trail about a week ago.

Smokin'!  These Chugach peaks look like they are on fire but it's just a strange cloud formation.

Jim had a pretty good day while I was gone. He rode his bike 15 miles on base, did two loads of laundry, did other chores around the camper, read, watched TV, and relaxed. There are several days of rain predicted now so we tried to enjoy this last sunny day outside as much as we could.

I can’t believe this is the last day of July already. This summer is whizzing by.

We sure do like Alaska – especially when the sun is out!

Next entry:  celebrating Jim's birthday on our last full day in Anchorage

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, and Cody the ultra Lab

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© 2012 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil