June Hikes, Part 2: Triple Lakes and Polychrome Glaciers

This first picture isn't from either one of these hikes.  I just happen to really like the way the sky looks in it.

That line of shadow comes from a mountain.

Only in Alaska, Part 2

• If you hit the scan button on your radio, there's a good chance you'll just spin all the way around the dial and not pick anything up.
• 8 paved highways.  And by highway I mean any road outside of a city.
• Fashion is mostly related to outdoor/cold weather gear.  Carhartt, North Face, and a couple of others are good.  Patagonia is a dirty word.
• Nine...nine dollar...nine dollar footlong.

June Hikes, Part 1: Savage River Canyon and Mount Healy

Obviously I haven't been updating this regularly for the past few weeks, so it's probably about time for a photo dump from the hikes I've done.

The first one actually wasn't in June at all (May 31 is close enough though), nor was it even a hike that I intended to do.  I was trying to traverse a ridge that extends between two river canyons, but I missed all three of the turnoffs leading up to the top from the eastern end, the Savage River Canyon.  After having attempted (and failed) to get to the summit a second time a week later, I have no idea how I didn't see the paths to the top.  They're not really trails, exactly (more on that later), but they've been used by enough people that there are established routes up.

The view from the southern end of the canyon.

Snow?

There was no snow on this mountain last night.

Coming Soon:  Matt gets lost in a canyon; Matt almost gets blown off a ridge; Matt climbs a 400 foot cliff because he doesn't feel like walking 2 miles to go around it; Matt sees a lynx and a wolverine on consecutive days (they're both extremely rare).

Grizzly count: 4
Moose count: I'm stopping this count.  It's probably somewhere around 20, but I've been seeing them almost every day.

Horseshoe Lake Trail

Once again, I'm late in putting this up.  I actually did this hike last Friday after work, since it's only five miles or so round trip from where I live.

The Park Road: Mile 2 to Mile 15

I actually did this hike last Tuesday, but I've been too lazy/busy to write anything until now.

In the interest of full disclosure, I guess I should get this out of the way: I cheated a little on this segment.  I took a route away from the road from the beginning of the hike at the visitor center to park headquarters around mile 3.  Instead of following the road, I took a longer route along a low ridge, the Rock Creek trail.  It added a mile or so to my total distance, but the views I got as a result of climbing some 400 feet up were worth it.

To the south

And to the north

Moose Count: 1

The ptarmigan, hare, and beaver counts are also into positive numbers, not to mention caribou.  However, the internet connection here is barely functional, so I can't upload pictures at the moment.

In the meantime, here's a photo from the Park Service of what the sky looks like right now.  There's a forest fire burning about 10 miles north of here (has been for several days now), but the winds are bringing smoke this way for the first time.

Beer status: Alaskan Amber, from Juneau.

Update:  Pictures

Moose

Beaver

Ptarmigan