Hike to Gull Rock

The hiking group formerly known as the fab four (Jules, Nick, Amanda, and myself), has become the fantastic five with the addition of Noah. For our first excursion we decided on a five mile hike to Gull Rock, of course that meant five miles back too. We had a great time - the views were amazing and the trail was the most rugged in the Anchorage area that I have been on. It was pretty grown over in a lot of areas so we had to move bushes out of the way of the trail. I felt very small in some places where the brush went way over my head. There were a lot of other places that were muddy and we had to walk on sticks that other thoughtful hikers had placed on the trail. There was another spot where we had to cross a river and the only way to get over was to walk along a tree trunk. The river was several feet below and I made it across the tree-balance beam just fine. It wasn't until after I was across that I realized there was a bridge a little further down the trail...

It rained on us about 1/4 of the time but the trail was so protected that we were usually covered. When we weren't covered I still enjoyed it thanks to my awesome raincoat that I received for Christmas this year. Thanks Josh!

My favorite moment of the hike was looking over the bluff down at the beach and seeing a bald eagle. Its not very often that I have a high enough view point to look down at a flying bald eagle.

I think the groups next excursion will be to Denali National Park. We plan to stay a night there and do some hiking and maybe drive up to the Arctic Circle. For this week, my plan is to do a little bike riding; make it out to University Lake at least once; get ready for Josh to get here on Thursday (yay!); and get a pedicure - I think I've earned it.