Bird Ridge Hike

After surpassing the all time snowfall record for Anchorage on Saturday, we woke up Sunday to blue bird skies. This gave Abby and I an itch to go hiking. We decided to hike the Bird Ridge trail for the work out and the views of Turnagain Arm.

Once we got passed the slippery lower portion and onto some firm snow, the going was steady. Slow...but steady.  

The abundant sunshine reflecting off the snow created a lot of heat on some parts of the trail. The constant winds of the Turnagain Arm made any breaks we took rather short.

About 4pm, we reached a nice bench and decided to call it a day. The hike was perfect to get our winter legs stretched out, enjoy some beautiful scenery and soak up some much needed sunshine.

The trek back down the mountain was a glissading adventure. Glissading is controlled sliding down the snow, commonly in the firm ruts packed down by previous sliders. This method of descending the mountain is much, much faster than walking. It leaves you wet, cold, and laughing your frozen butt off!

As with most adventures, there can be battle scars. In trying to navigate a sharp turn during her glissade, Abby had an all too close encounter with this small tree. 

Bird Ridge is a great trek, and we will certainly be back to top it out this summer!