shana tova everybody
well, what did i do since than?
let's see, rested, met Susanna to try and hike a little, went on the gorgeous Resurrection pass trail, and made a dinner. not much...
but i guess i can still write it down in a very long way...
so, here we go...
on Friday, the 16th (i was asked to state the dates), i hitchhiked to anchorage - two rides, the first a ~65 years old guy who loves to travel and took me to Eagle River, and the second a very nice guy who was on his way to meet his wife and 2 kids and go to Seward with their RV... they took me to the exact place i wanted - Lara's home (one of the Holmberg's girl) which was very good because by that time it started raining...
There we saw a very nice movie ("the boon dock angels" i think) with a friend of her, and i spent the night there. in the morning Susanna picked me up, and we headed south, planning to hike up bird ridge just north of Girdwood for an amazing view. but, seeing the clouds on the way there we made a wise decision, gave up on this hike, and headed back to anchorage.
still hoping and still optimistic, we started a hike from the flattop mountain trail head in anchorage (the trail head is less than a hundred meters from few of anchorage's houses).
well, we started hiking alright, but it was very cold. very very cold. and the wind blew quite hard and made it even worse. but we went on. oh, by the way we had 2 dogs with us (dory and horso) and they were very happy and very energetic! they love this temp. anyway, the area was very beautiful (it's very close to the williwaw lakes, and it's almost as amazing), but the cold... man...
well, we bravely kept on climbing up, and when we got to some flat zone, we decided to stop for a snack and a reevaluation of our situation.
we called against going on, and when we started back it started snowing on us! the snow didn't build on the ground, but the snow and the gushy winds meant it's wad damn cold...
well, instead of a full day hike we had only 3 hours one, but it was nice... anyway, we went back to Susanna's place, dried up and went to the largest book store in Alaska - "Title Wave" and it was very nice. after that we picked Antara (Susanna's friend) and we all went to my favored restaurant in Anchorage* - the Moose's Tooth. we had a pizza, and i even tried a beer (Polar something), and it was very nice.
next morning Susanna gave me a ride to Girdwood. i wanted to take a picture of the place, but i was picked up before i even had the chance! some christian gold miner** originally from Idaho took me all the way to the Hope turnoff. He said he loves and supports Israel and that he read the old testimony so many times...
anyway, i thought I'll have a hard time from there to hope, being a very small place (135 people) and we're already out of the season, but in less than 10 minutes (1st car actually) i got a ride...
i spent about an hour wondering around little-but-nice hope, and than started heading toward the trail head, 6-7 miles out of town.
i got there, had a rest, and started hiking, very nice area. i stopped for the night close to a hunters' camp (2 hunters, a dog and a tent). the first hour or so we all tried our best to avoid the mosquitoes, but than it got colder, and they were gone. but than, it was cold...
so cold that for the first time i used my fleece pants!
so on Monday's morning, due to the cold temp. it took me a long time to get going, and i only set out at around 11:20. and i had a long way to hike. but it wormed quite quickly, and i found myself wishing for a little coolness...
anyway, the way was just so great! a great part of the way was through spruce trees (but very wide spread), with every now and than an opening to reveal the most amazing views. so beautiful. fall is such a brilliant season!
well, i kept walking most of the day, with every now and than a break to appreciate the views...
i went past the Resurrection pass it self, and the whole area from that pass to the next (devil's pass) was so amazingly beautiful!
and just after the second pass there was a cabin (there are ~10 cabins along the trail). first thing i happily noticed was that there's no one there. second thing i sadly noticed is that the cabin is out of service for maintenance work. third thing i confusingly noticed was that one of three doors is opened. so i debated for a while, and i decided I'll cook inside, and than i took my backpack in too, and i thought about the mosquitoes and the cold, and my right ear was very itching and swollen and warm... so decided I'm gonna use the cabin. after all, they just left a note saying "this cabin is being reconstructed. please don't disturb". well, i disturbed no one...
but it was a strange night. i didn't sleep well (don't know why - i was warm enough), i kept feeling as my ears dripping some fluids, and i woke up with my left eye swollen. but it got better as the day went on.
on Tuesday i thought that i already had 2 consecutive sunny days, so i can't trust the weather to stay like that, and it might be a good idea to get out of the trail today. but i still had a long way to go***, so i was still debating. anyway, i started at ~9:20, and walking ~20 meters out of the cabin i found some bear marks on the trail... i don't know it they were fresh or i just missed them the night before, but all along that day i kept seeing bears footprints on the trail, though all the hunters i saw on this hike, with the exception of only one (who got a young caribou) didn't see "even a hair" of any game - caribou, moose or bear...
well, i made a good pace walking through this amazing scenery (this day I've been through a couple of lakes that added to the amazing beauty), so when i got to a sign saying trout lake is 0.5 detour, i left my backpack and made a quick run to that lake.
i carried on, still debating if to get out that same very day or not, when i got into the woods and ran into a bridge over troubled water... well, not exactly troubled water, and it was just this little bridge (2-3 m), but the place was so nice to me... i don't know why. there were no great vies, it wasn't as beautiful as the places I've been through but something there touched my heart. maybe it reminded me of tel dan or the banias back in Israel. anyway, i almost got into the water, but my towel was stuck very deep inside my backpack, so i only washed the upper part of my body, put my fleece on, and sat on the wateredge reading for 30-40 minutes.
i went on, and getting out of the wood and seeing the clouds gathering, i decided to make haste and finish the hike that same day. and so i did. and just as i got to the trail head and collapsed there for a few minutes before trying to hitchhike, it started drizzling. not too bad, but i was glad to be out of the trail...
from there this guy took me only a few miles down the road, apologising for not going any further but saying it might take me out of the rain.
well, it took me out of the rain.
and i was so sorry for that.
how i wished it would start raining on me!
because, where he dropped me off, the mosquitoes just flocked on me, showing no mercy. i hastily put my long pants, and my hood, and did my best to avoid them. but still i got some bites, and only later did i discover that the bites are so itching and annoying! much more than any mosquito bite i ever had!
anyway, it took me 20 long minutes until i got out of there ("i only go 5 miles down the road", "it is 5 miles away from the mosquitoes, so I'll be very glad to squish in the front sit with my backpack!").
and than i got a ride to anchorage with a very nice guy who took me to the very end of town (though he needed the town itself) from where i got a ride with another nice guy from Palmer, who took me all the way to the Holmbergs'...
next morning (21/9) i woke with a swollen left eye again. but again, it got better during the day. i spent the day working on my stuff a little (laundry, fixing zippers etc.), helping painting the front porch, and at the computer.
on Thursday i wanted to start cooking for ROSH HASHANA**** but i didn't know if Lisa, the Vegan Holmberg's daughter would join the dinner, so i waited. around noon, when i decided to go shopping and worst case I'll go shopping again, i found out that Paul took "my" car and didn't leave the keys to his car... so i waited for him. when he got back, i helped painting the porch again, and went shopping.
i didn't have a chance to do much, and we started playing cards. so only after midnight did i start cooking, and i kept cooking until ~3:20 am, after which i went to the computer (chatting) and so i only got to bed at ~4:30 am.
by the way, in the morning my eye was so very swollen! but i put some warm towel (like Kristy advised me) and it almost gone, and the day after i woke up with an unswollen eye. but - during the card game i found out that my right ankle, the one i sprained really bad twice, is swollen. it didn't hurt, it just itched... well, i used my elastic bandage, and some cabbage (my mom's advice - it works wonderfully!) and slept with the leg high on a blanket and a pillow, and it took me two days, but it's much better now...
on Friday i got up ~8:30 am, and pretty much cooked all day long. at the evening we had a very nice dinner, with 8 people (Kim, Paul, Kristy & James, Lisa & Marlen came over too, and there was Rich - Paul's friend. and me...)
and they all praised the food :)
it was so good, having the nice happy dinner (and getting so many compliments!!)
well, that's (almost) it for now... i hope you'll all have a very good year, very fruitful, very happy and joyful.
remarks, anecdotes and other stuff
* Well, I only been to this restaurant in Anchorage... but Susanna and Antara told me that it would probably be the same even if i went to a lot of places - they did the checking up for me...
** lately, when i get a ride, almost as soon as the driver tells me his name, i forget it and am sure he is named John. can it be that 90% of the people that would give you a ride in Alaska are named John? for example, in this post, i think that the first guy, the christian gold miner, the guy that took me all the way back to anchorage and the one that took me from anchorage to Palmer are Johns, the guy that took me to Lara's place at the beginning is named Dave or something like that, and the rest i really don't know... weird...
*** I'm not sure about the distances - the booklet i had, when describing the southern part of my trip said that from the trail end to the devil's pass it's 16.75 miles. but it also said that the cabin is located 18 miles from the trail end. but the cabin was south to the pass. plus, the northern half of the trail said to be 21.75 miles, the southern half 16.75 miles, and on the trail itself there signs saying the trail is 35.6 miles... so i don't really know. but i knew i had more than 15 miles.
**** Friday's eve was the Jewish new years' eve, and i wanted to celebrate it and invited the Holmbergs to join me (in their home...)
^ I've noticed a weird thing about Alaska. many people here are having kids when they are already "in an advanced age". for example, the gold miner who took me from Girdwood to the Hope turnoff was 59 years old and had a 17 years old kid; and quite a lot of people told me they had their first child when they were somewhere between 35 to 42 years old.
^ there's something about waterfalls here that just doesn't work out for me. there are supposed to be some waterfalls on the resurrection pass trail, towards its end. and i even met a guy on the trail who told me I'm about a mile away from them. but somehow i missed them. didn't see a sign indicating a detour... didn't even see a path splitting away. and it's not the first time either - the same thing was on the Primrose trail - somehow i missed the waterfalls supposedly found along the trail. and when Caroline and me got back from McCarthy, we saw a sign saying something about waterfalls, so we took the dirt road, and got to the most pathetic waterfalls i ever saw. even in Israel no one would put a sign for such a thing. anyway, not a "waterfalls" sign...
let's see, rested, met Susanna to try and hike a little, went on the gorgeous Resurrection pass trail, and made a dinner. not much...
but i guess i can still write it down in a very long way...
so, here we go...
on Friday, the 16th (i was asked to state the dates), i hitchhiked to anchorage - two rides, the first a ~65 years old guy who loves to travel and took me to Eagle River, and the second a very nice guy who was on his way to meet his wife and 2 kids and go to Seward with their RV... they took me to the exact place i wanted - Lara's home (one of the Holmberg's girl) which was very good because by that time it started raining...
There we saw a very nice movie ("the boon dock angels" i think) with a friend of her, and i spent the night there. in the morning Susanna picked me up, and we headed south, planning to hike up bird ridge just north of Girdwood for an amazing view. but, seeing the clouds on the way there we made a wise decision, gave up on this hike, and headed back to anchorage.
still hoping and still optimistic, we started a hike from the flattop mountain trail head in anchorage (the trail head is less than a hundred meters from few of anchorage's houses).
well, we started hiking alright, but it was very cold. very very cold. and the wind blew quite hard and made it even worse. but we went on. oh, by the way we had 2 dogs with us (dory and horso) and they were very happy and very energetic! they love this temp. anyway, the area was very beautiful (it's very close to the williwaw lakes, and it's almost as amazing), but the cold... man...
well, we bravely kept on climbing up, and when we got to some flat zone, we decided to stop for a snack and a reevaluation of our situation.
we called against going on, and when we started back it started snowing on us! the snow didn't build on the ground, but the snow and the gushy winds meant it's wad damn cold...
well, instead of a full day hike we had only 3 hours one, but it was nice... anyway, we went back to Susanna's place, dried up and went to the largest book store in Alaska - "Title Wave" and it was very nice. after that we picked Antara (Susanna's friend) and we all went to my favored restaurant in Anchorage* - the Moose's Tooth. we had a pizza, and i even tried a beer (Polar something), and it was very nice.
next morning Susanna gave me a ride to Girdwood. i wanted to take a picture of the place, but i was picked up before i even had the chance! some christian gold miner** originally from Idaho took me all the way to the Hope turnoff. He said he loves and supports Israel and that he read the old testimony so many times...
anyway, i thought I'll have a hard time from there to hope, being a very small place (135 people) and we're already out of the season, but in less than 10 minutes (1st car actually) i got a ride...
i spent about an hour wondering around little-but-nice hope, and than started heading toward the trail head, 6-7 miles out of town.
i got there, had a rest, and started hiking, very nice area. i stopped for the night close to a hunters' camp (2 hunters, a dog and a tent). the first hour or so we all tried our best to avoid the mosquitoes, but than it got colder, and they were gone. but than, it was cold...
so cold that for the first time i used my fleece pants!
so on Monday's morning, due to the cold temp. it took me a long time to get going, and i only set out at around 11:20. and i had a long way to hike. but it wormed quite quickly, and i found myself wishing for a little coolness...
anyway, the way was just so great! a great part of the way was through spruce trees (but very wide spread), with every now and than an opening to reveal the most amazing views. so beautiful. fall is such a brilliant season!
well, i kept walking most of the day, with every now and than a break to appreciate the views...
i went past the Resurrection pass it self, and the whole area from that pass to the next (devil's pass) was so amazingly beautiful!
and just after the second pass there was a cabin (there are ~10 cabins along the trail). first thing i happily noticed was that there's no one there. second thing i sadly noticed is that the cabin is out of service for maintenance work. third thing i confusingly noticed was that one of three doors is opened. so i debated for a while, and i decided I'll cook inside, and than i took my backpack in too, and i thought about the mosquitoes and the cold, and my right ear was very itching and swollen and warm... so decided I'm gonna use the cabin. after all, they just left a note saying "this cabin is being reconstructed. please don't disturb". well, i disturbed no one...
but it was a strange night. i didn't sleep well (don't know why - i was warm enough), i kept feeling as my ears dripping some fluids, and i woke up with my left eye swollen. but it got better as the day went on.
on Tuesday i thought that i already had 2 consecutive sunny days, so i can't trust the weather to stay like that, and it might be a good idea to get out of the trail today. but i still had a long way to go***, so i was still debating. anyway, i started at ~9:20, and walking ~20 meters out of the cabin i found some bear marks on the trail... i don't know it they were fresh or i just missed them the night before, but all along that day i kept seeing bears footprints on the trail, though all the hunters i saw on this hike, with the exception of only one (who got a young caribou) didn't see "even a hair" of any game - caribou, moose or bear...
well, i made a good pace walking through this amazing scenery (this day I've been through a couple of lakes that added to the amazing beauty), so when i got to a sign saying trout lake is 0.5 detour, i left my backpack and made a quick run to that lake.
i carried on, still debating if to get out that same very day or not, when i got into the woods and ran into a bridge over troubled water... well, not exactly troubled water, and it was just this little bridge (2-3 m), but the place was so nice to me... i don't know why. there were no great vies, it wasn't as beautiful as the places I've been through but something there touched my heart. maybe it reminded me of tel dan or the banias back in Israel. anyway, i almost got into the water, but my towel was stuck very deep inside my backpack, so i only washed the upper part of my body, put my fleece on, and sat on the wateredge reading for 30-40 minutes.
i went on, and getting out of the wood and seeing the clouds gathering, i decided to make haste and finish the hike that same day. and so i did. and just as i got to the trail head and collapsed there for a few minutes before trying to hitchhike, it started drizzling. not too bad, but i was glad to be out of the trail...
from there this guy took me only a few miles down the road, apologising for not going any further but saying it might take me out of the rain.
well, it took me out of the rain.
and i was so sorry for that.
how i wished it would start raining on me!
because, where he dropped me off, the mosquitoes just flocked on me, showing no mercy. i hastily put my long pants, and my hood, and did my best to avoid them. but still i got some bites, and only later did i discover that the bites are so itching and annoying! much more than any mosquito bite i ever had!
anyway, it took me 20 long minutes until i got out of there ("i only go 5 miles down the road", "it is 5 miles away from the mosquitoes, so I'll be very glad to squish in the front sit with my backpack!").
and than i got a ride to anchorage with a very nice guy who took me to the very end of town (though he needed the town itself) from where i got a ride with another nice guy from Palmer, who took me all the way to the Holmbergs'...
next morning (21/9) i woke with a swollen left eye again. but again, it got better during the day. i spent the day working on my stuff a little (laundry, fixing zippers etc.), helping painting the front porch, and at the computer.
on Thursday i wanted to start cooking for ROSH HASHANA**** but i didn't know if Lisa, the Vegan Holmberg's daughter would join the dinner, so i waited. around noon, when i decided to go shopping and worst case I'll go shopping again, i found out that Paul took "my" car and didn't leave the keys to his car... so i waited for him. when he got back, i helped painting the porch again, and went shopping.
i didn't have a chance to do much, and we started playing cards. so only after midnight did i start cooking, and i kept cooking until ~3:20 am, after which i went to the computer (chatting) and so i only got to bed at ~4:30 am.
by the way, in the morning my eye was so very swollen! but i put some warm towel (like Kristy advised me) and it almost gone, and the day after i woke up with an unswollen eye. but - during the card game i found out that my right ankle, the one i sprained really bad twice, is swollen. it didn't hurt, it just itched... well, i used my elastic bandage, and some cabbage (my mom's advice - it works wonderfully!) and slept with the leg high on a blanket and a pillow, and it took me two days, but it's much better now...
on Friday i got up ~8:30 am, and pretty much cooked all day long. at the evening we had a very nice dinner, with 8 people (Kim, Paul, Kristy & James, Lisa & Marlen came over too, and there was Rich - Paul's friend. and me...)
and they all praised the food :)
it was so good, having the nice happy dinner (and getting so many compliments!!)
well, that's (almost) it for now... i hope you'll all have a very good year, very fruitful, very happy and joyful.
remarks, anecdotes and other stuff
* Well, I only been to this restaurant in Anchorage... but Susanna and Antara told me that it would probably be the same even if i went to a lot of places - they did the checking up for me...
** lately, when i get a ride, almost as soon as the driver tells me his name, i forget it and am sure he is named John. can it be that 90% of the people that would give you a ride in Alaska are named John? for example, in this post, i think that the first guy, the christian gold miner, the guy that took me all the way back to anchorage and the one that took me from anchorage to Palmer are Johns, the guy that took me to Lara's place at the beginning is named Dave or something like that, and the rest i really don't know... weird...
*** I'm not sure about the distances - the booklet i had, when describing the southern part of my trip said that from the trail end to the devil's pass it's 16.75 miles. but it also said that the cabin is located 18 miles from the trail end. but the cabin was south to the pass. plus, the northern half of the trail said to be 21.75 miles, the southern half 16.75 miles, and on the trail itself there signs saying the trail is 35.6 miles... so i don't really know. but i knew i had more than 15 miles.
**** Friday's eve was the Jewish new years' eve, and i wanted to celebrate it and invited the Holmbergs to join me (in their home...)
^ I've noticed a weird thing about Alaska. many people here are having kids when they are already "in an advanced age". for example, the gold miner who took me from Girdwood to the Hope turnoff was 59 years old and had a 17 years old kid; and quite a lot of people told me they had their first child when they were somewhere between 35 to 42 years old.
^ there's something about waterfalls here that just doesn't work out for me. there are supposed to be some waterfalls on the resurrection pass trail, towards its end. and i even met a guy on the trail who told me I'm about a mile away from them. but somehow i missed them. didn't see a sign indicating a detour... didn't even see a path splitting away. and it's not the first time either - the same thing was on the Primrose trail - somehow i missed the waterfalls supposedly found along the trail. and when Caroline and me got back from McCarthy, we saw a sign saying something about waterfalls, so we took the dirt road, and got to the most pathetic waterfalls i ever saw. even in Israel no one would put a sign for such a thing. anyway, not a "waterfalls" sign...
posted by הזידנרים at 7:55 PM
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