Big Mountain equals Painful Muscles

What a crazy day!  It started with a trip to the Anchorage Farmer’s Market.  There were a lot of things to look at and try.  I did end up buying some awesome fruit coated almonds and a t-shirt from the Anchorage Fire Department.  Later we headed back downtown where they were setting up the Summer Solstice Festival.  The festival offered tons of different activities that were all tied into the various military branches, police and fire department.  We were able to watch the “Hero Games” for a while.

Around 1 p.m. we headed down to meet our shuttle that would take us to Flattop Mountain in Anchorage.  It is 3,550 feet tall and our goal was to climb the last 1,350 feet.  We thought it would be a little steep, however we were very wrong!  You start off climbing at a good pace for the first half mile.  Then the trail starts to wind back and forth.  Then it goes straight up!

We had to climb around 250 railroad tie steps.  After an hour and 30 minutes, we were still climbing.  We only stopped when we absolutely couldn’t breathe, we wanted to make sure we had time to get to the summit.  The last 1/3 of the trail was nothing but loose rock.  We had to climb hand over hand just trying to locate and use footholds and rocks that were secure.  The rock was very sharp and easy to trip on.  The hike was more of a climb than a hike.  It was insane!

However, it was worth it.  The view was amazing and knowing that I had overcome one of my fears (heights) made the trip even better.  Climbing down went a lot smoother.  I did have to sit down and slide down on my butt several times.  We were exhausted and covered in dirt and snow.  At one point I had stuck my left foot in a huge mud puddle.  The next thing I knew I was trying to pull my other foot out of a hole in the snow!

After our huge climb we headed back into town to clean up and meet up with Erin.  We were able to go to the Alaska Theater and watched a video on Alaska Wildlife.   From there we headed out on a Ghost Tour with Erin.  Needless to say, I don’t believe in the ghost thing.  Our tour guide was not a very good story-teller.  We decided that we had been suckered big time by that one!

At 9 p.m. we headed to Bumpy’s (Restaurant) for a bite to eat.  They had great food and I finished off my meal with a brownie that had raspberry sauce, ice cream and chocolate fudge.  It was a ton of fun!  Tomorrow we will be heading out to Willow, I can’t wait!