AK Trip::Flattop

On Friday morning Mark visited his old workplace to catch up with some old friends. While he was away the Girlies and I had a relaxing time at our host's house.

Here the Girlies are making a big, luxurious bed for Kitty Kitty (notice the bowl of food in the middle?).

The Girlies then made a House with all the pillows, blankets, and chairs they could find. Ava put a bag on Butterball's (or whatever his current name is) bottom. Reminds me of a diaper. Beverly and I had a good laugh at this.

After lunch at Arctic Roadrunner (they have great burgers & shakes plus a truly unique Alaskan decor for your viewing pleasure), Mark and I got to hike up Flattop sans the Girlies. Thank you so much Beverly for watching them for us! I'm pretty sure we would not have made it to the top of this hike with them...perhaps you can see why....

It goes UP and UP and even more UP.

Looking down from the trail...can you see the bull moose wayyyyy down there?
Here's a close-up....

The stairs going UP. And Up. And UP. Actually, I so much appreciate having these stairs. These stairs were put up by some very kind volunteer workers many years ago. You should have seen the trail BEFORE these stairs were put into place.

Is that steep or what? (the answer is: YES, it's very steep!). Just before you reach the top you even get to do a little bit of rock climbing where you're using your hands and feet. I mean, it's not difficult but don't look down!

Me at the top. Yes, it really is a plateau up there. Cute flowers on plateau. It's much colder and very windy at the top. Most of the flowers are extremely tiny. Almost need a magnifying glass to view them. You'd certainly miss them if you weren't looking for them.

View of Turnagain Arm from the top. That body of water is the Cook Inlet.

Silly photo of Mark and me.

Fall colors.....

FYI regarding the trail up to Flattop.