Great Day For A Long Ride To A Short Hike - Bodenburg Butte

With all this sunny dry weather I've been wanting to get out in the woods, but there were meetings and various chores that got in the way.  But today it was nice once again and we had nothing to interfere.

I wanted to go to Hatcher Pass, but talked myself into Bodenburg Butte - a hike I'd never been on.  All these years, it just never was a destination.  Hatcher Pass seemed like a more spectacular location.  I heard the views were good, and it's only a 3 mile round trip - though half of the hike is up.  So we got onto the Old Glenn Highway just before the Knik River.   Haven't been on that road for a long time either.

Even though I'd read the directions saying to go past Bodenburg Loop as we approached from the south, I turned there anyway.  Oh well.  This got to the south trail that was not recommended.  But since I don't think I've ever been on the loop, it was good to see.

Here's the Butte from the south.

A sign about a third of the way up - where we stopped to eat lunch - explained the geology:

I guess reading this is a bit of an eye exercise.  It says:

"Bodenburg Butte is an example of a Roche Moutennee, a French word describing a rock formation created by a passing glacier.  During the last ice age, the Knik Glacier moved through this valley, shaping the landscape that you see today.  As the frozen river of ice flowed through the area, it carried away tons of softer rock, carving out a valley.  The knob of much harder bedrock that was unmoved by the glacier's advance is what we know today as the Butte." 

This is looking up from the lunch spot.  I was trying to figure out where the trail was when I heard a familiar, but bizarre croaking/cackling sound.  There were lots of trees above, but for a moment I could see a flock of Sandhill cranes flying way above.

Soon I saw our way up.   First wooden stairs.

Then they changed to wood with earth packed in and  cable replaced the wooden handrails

This really is the most unAlaskan hike I can think of in Alaska.  It's a hump not a mountain.  It's in a rural area with farms and houses all around it.  And it has stairs.  A sign at the top said there are 505 steps.  That's not counting the unstaired trail.  But my knees said thank you.











And soon we were at the top and there were wonderful views in every direction.   Here's looking south.  I was near that white roof in the lower right when I took the top picture of the whole Butte from below.  There's even a reindeer farm down there.

And to the east is the Knik Glacier and the braided Knik River that flows from it.

And then I saw something moving down below.  I think it's a juvenile bald eagle - the head and tail feathers are white yet.
















And it did lazy circles up on the warm, calm air.

Until it was above me.  

Needless to say, the trip down took much less time than going up.  Altogether, with a lazy lunch and some time enjoying the views on top, it was about two hours.  I'm guessing this is Palmer and Wasilla's version of Flattop.  But it's a lot easier to get great views.  As you can see it was a mostly sunny day, but the air wasn't particularly clear and sharp.  

A Brief Visit to Potter Marsh To Check Out The Birds

Northern Shoveler

We took a break yesterday and went to Alaska.  Well, it's just about ten minutes down the road from Anchorage and sometimes we forget to take advantage of living here.  There was lots of traffic on the Seward Highway coming back, so we decided to just hit Potter's Marsh and check out the birds.

There were dramatic clouds to the west when we turned back.  

At the end of the boardwalk (going inland) there's an eagle's nest and usually eagles nearby.  Can you see the eagle in the trees?  Hint:  look for the white head.  (You probably have to click on the picture to enlarge and focus it.)

Here's a closer shot.  In the one above there's a white tree trunk in the middle.  The eagle's in the cottonwood tree to the left of it, a little above the the midline.

And below is the nest.  There's a white head poking up.

I liked the ducks all lined up on the log, though it didn't come out that well in the picture.

And here are some green winged teals.  The green of the wing is under and doesn't show in this picture

Visiting Alaska While We're Home

One of the most common axioms in Alaska is that Anchorage is just 20 minutes from Alaska.  And while we've been going back and forth so much lately, I have to remember that while we're back home in Anchorage, to make sure we go see a bit of Alaska each time.  So Sunday, with blue sky and sunshine and relatively warm weather (20s), we headed to McHugh Creek.

Note that it was January 31 and the water of Turnagain arm was . . . water.  Not ice.

And the trail was ice and snow free as we started off.

I checked the rock map.  Wish I could read the story it's telling us.

Further up the trail, there were patches of ice.  It's ironic.  All the snow is gone, except on the trail where people's footsteps packed the snow down and it became ice.  The very reason I work hard to keep our sloping driveway snow free - so it doesn't become an ice slope.

There was also ice over the creeks the path crosses.


All these pictures are much sharper if you click on them.

Two ravens began a raucous alert.

And above we saw the reason, flying over.

It looked more like early fall as the setting sun put an orange glow on the hillside.

So good to get out and walk in the woods.

Take A Nature Break - A Trip To Potter Marsh

Even though the path is a man made boardwalk and the highway and shooting range noises interfere, going out to see the seasonal changes at Potter Marsh is always a soothing event.  This time my three month old grandson and his parents were along, and while he slept through it all, it was good to take him out there.


So if you need a relaxing nature break, enjoy the post.  Clicking on any picture will give you a MUCH sharper version. 

The ducks I could identify were all mallards.  Mallards are really beautiful, but I tend to dismiss them because they're so common.  I just enjoyed the patterns of and the reflections in the water.

 

Most of the summer birds were gone.  The bald eagles (it's in the old cottonwood, look for the white head) nest back there and spend the winter in the area.  The Arctic Terns were gone.  We did see some trumpeter swans, but they were camera shy yesterday.  

Early Birds At Potter Marsh

A beautiful spring day.  It called to get out.  I wanted to go hear Jason LaRose of NPR talk about Ethics in the afternoon in the radio day of the Alaska Press Club conference at 4.  So a quick trip to Potter Marsh seemed a good way to get in a little sunshine.

The marsh is pretty much snow free, though there were some patches below the walkway.   There weren't a lot of birds, but there were some.  And a moose off in the distance eating.

The moose is close to the bottom a little left of center.  I decided the mountains were more interesting than trying to highlight a moose.

This pair of bald eagles were flying east of the north end of the boardwalk. 

As you can see, I'm still struggling with the Canon Rebel.  This northern pintail was far away, but I should have been able to master the little red lights in the auto focus to get the bird and not the background (cropped off) into focus.


A similar problem with this distant bird which, at least in this photo, seems like it can only be a sandhill crane.  The other shots were even less definitive. 



I got home in time to get on the bike to the Press Club conference at Alaska Public Media.  LaRose's topic was ethics and he focused on

• Anonymity issues
• Balance
• Reporters' involvement in the community

I'm afraid that's all I can do tonight.  There's a full day of press club stuff for tomorrow and Saturday. 

Running with Eagles and Salmon

A 3.5 mile run from my house and back yesterday afternoon had me communing with three bald eagles (the other two were too far to catch on the camera)

A few minutes later, going over a Campbell Creek bridge there were salmon coming home to spawn. It's the red/orangish splotch in the lower middle of the photo. This is an untouched photo - no games in photoshop. Just the way the light was reflecting on the water.

Today it's raining again.

Potter Marsh At Sundown

Sundown in late July is a little before 11pm in Anchorage.  We'd left town Monday morning - I needed bad to be in the woods - and came back late Tuesday.  Over 24 hours, Alaska outdoors replaced a computer screen*.  Closing in on Anchorage we hit the board walk at Potter Marsh.  There were some yellow legs, teals, sand pipers, and the eagles that have been there all summer.

I stuck my little lens into the eye piece of the scopes available on the boardwalk to get a closer picture of one of the bald eagles that have watched their nest.

We were only gone over night, but it feels like longer.

*Tuesday morning's post was pre-scheduled before we left.

Watching Eagle Harrassed by Ravens and Magpies While Running

I've been rationalizing that shoveling the driveway has been my exercise since October 30 and we've had measurable snow about every three days since then (at least that's how I remember it.)  But shoveling isn't running.  Today I cleared the snow that had accumulated on the deck.  Did some indoor tasks and the sun came out which got me itching to run.  It's a little colder than I like (10˚F or -12˚C), but I thought I should go at least on a short run.  I forgot how good it feels to run outside, even in the cold. 

I also got to see ravens and magpies ganging up on a bald eagle.

The raven is on the right above the eagle

The bald eagle, alone

And now a magpie (left) comes over to keep an eye on the eagle (right)

The sun was already covered again by the clouds at 2:30.  Official sunset was at 3:48pm - we gained, according to the newspaper, 1 minute and 27 seconds of sun over yesterday.  That may not seem like much, but at that rate, it's ten minutes in a week, and the amount we gain is increasing daily.  And for those of you wondering about sunrise - it was officially 10:15am. 

I know the photos aren't very good, I was running.  And my pocket canon powershot doesn't do distance well.  But I'm just documenting here what I saw. 

Moshe's Eagle

Monday at Primrose Campground, Moshe had his camera out when a bald eagle flew over us not too high and he got these great shots.  Not bad for a guy on his third day in Alaska with a borrowed camera.