One of the hardest parts of vacation for me is being away from my little dog, but he’s having his own adventure with his new best friend – the house sitter. When she arrived, he greeted her with an enthusiasm and zeal that he reserves for those he truly loves, I knew he would be in great hands. After a quick check to make sure their vacation was off on the right foot, we headed into the Alaskan wilderness to find an adventure of our own.
We drove 48.9 miles up Chena Hot Springs Highway to the Angel Rocks trailhead, a hike that our book described as “moderately difficult.” After climbing summit after summit and taking in the spectacular views, we decided that Alaskans have a different perspective on hiking challenges than those of us in the Midwest. The hike started out easy enough, luring you into a false sense of confidence. When the trail starts to turn upward, that confidence begins to waver. And when it continues going up, up, up and the path gets harder and harder to find, you start to wonder if the view will really be that much better from the top. Is it? Yes, the view really IS that much better from the very top.
We managed to find our way back down again – though it was a slippery slope indeed. These Minnesotans loved their first taste of the Alaskan wilderness.
