My New Home

I wanted to post some pictures of my new place. Though I am just temporarily here, it's a home for me. In exchange for house and dog sitting, I get a whole house to enjoy. Up above is a picture out the back deck. On clear days, I am blessed with a beautiful view of Mt. Redoubt and the other mountains across the inlet.


Here is the kitchen and the resident dog, Lincoln in his favorite place. The garbage can looks a little silly on the table, but some furry friends made some poor choices and now it must remain high out of their reach! :)



And here is Lincoln! What a silly looking doggie! His ears always flop this way and that. Him and Oliver are best buds!


Here is an extension of the living room. They have huge windows to show the view of the mountains and all the beautiful colors.



Lastly, here is my bedroom. I am happy to have larger than a twin size for the first time in my life since both dogs decide to curl up with me each night. Still never seems big enough though because they both try to squeeze themselves as close to me as possible no matter what. I'm fortunate to be able to live here and there's much more to it than shows in the picture. I finally get a garage to park in (which makes mornings so much more nicer when you are not scraping ice and snow off the car), there's an indoor hottub, and little workout area too.
Now you all need to come over and visit because there's definitely room for some guests!

Hiking around the peninsula

I have been doing a ton of hiking since I arrived up here and I wanted to put up a few pictures of some stellar hikes. I found a hiking group through MeetUp online and they take me to some awesome places and hikes that I never knew would exist. We also do some regular favorites and even when it's not the best weather, we always have a great time.
The picture above is the Hope Point trail. That's definitely a difficult trail as you are going up, up, up for 2 and a half miles but it offers great views of Anchorage, Cook Inlet, and the surrounding Chugach Mts.


This picture here is from the Weible Mine trail near the Hope cutoff road. I never knew this trail was here, so it's another hidden gem. Very boggy, but leads you to an old mine and a series of pretty lakes.


This picture here is another fabulous hike. Definietly off the beaten path, this is called the Tern/Jerome Lakes Mountain hike. When you are at the intersection of the Sterling and Seward highway, this is the mountain you are staring at while sitting at the stop sign. There is no trail up this mountain so the first 45 minutes or so are some bushwacking through alders and tall grass till you get up to more of the tundra and then up to the ridge. We (or shall I say, Oliver) saw a black bear, picked some late season blueberries, and got some fabulous views from the top. Not your average hike, but a good one to do.


This is taken from the Seven Lakes trail in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge system has a good number of easy to moderate trails that are well traversed and offer some nice views. I didn't get to go the whole way on this trail, but it was such a beautiful day and I am glad I decided to do this one. The lake I am standing by is Hidden Lake.

Lastly, this is another common trail with a little twist. This is the Carter Lake trail. We went up the incline of the normal trail to the lake, but then took a right turn and decided to bushwack up the side of the mountain. We made it about half way to sit and eat some lunch, pick some delicious blueberries, and view the lake from a different perspective. I'm usually a fan of if there is a trail to use, to use it, but it was fun to step where maybe no one has ever been before. I've ton a ton more hikes since all of these so hopefully I will get some more posted as time goes on...

Until next time, cheers!