Flattop Glissade

The first Friday that Andy was up here, March 21, He, Mike, Lea and I headed to Flattop for a hike. It was after work, but with our copious amounts of daylight (over 13 hours now) we had plenty of time.

The weather was gorgeous. It was sunny and surprisingly warm. You know, high 30s to low 40s. That's warm. Really.

We picked up Mike and then headed for the hills. The trail was snow covered by hard packed. It made for easy walking.

We saw snowboarders heading down as we hiked up. We had a bit of trouble with footing and had to watch our step. Without a bit of care it was easy to slip. A fall would have led to a bit of a slide down a snow-covered slope, but nothing drastic.

The last part of the climb involved a bit of care. We kicked out mini-toeholds in the snow and eventually made it to the top.

The view was fantastic. Denali and the whole of the Alaska Range was visible across Cook Inlet. Anchorage was laid out below us with lights starting to wink at us as the sun began to set. The mountains of the Kenai Peninsula stretched off to the South. Behind us, to the East, the peaks of the Chugach marched into the clouds.

The sun began to set and we decided to take the quick way down. I went first and glissaded (slid on my butt) about 1/3rd of a mile down a snow filled gully. It was fantastic, although I arrived at the bottom of the gully covered in powder. Lea, Andy and Mike followed. Both Andy and Mike shouted that they couldn't feel their faces because of the snow and cold. It was exhilerating.

The sun continued to set as we hiked back to our car. It was a gorgeous night.

We topped it off with Mexican food at Taco King.





PICTURES: http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.r.mckenna/FlattopGlissade