Ermine Hill

Today was another gorgeous sunny day and Jason and I decided we should spend it hiking! Today we went to Ermine Hill which is in the northern part of the park. It is one of the trails that puts you up on top of the ridge. The first half mile or so isn't much, mostly downhill and descending into the river valley. Then you get to the bottom of the ridge and it's pretty darn steep from there on up. It starts out with switchbacks for a half a mile and then the trail goes straight up before starting to flatten out next to Ermine lake. After the lake it's back on up again until you make it to the top. This is definitely the most intense hike I've done, but it was soooo worth it! Jason kept asking me if I wanted to turn around but there was no way my determined self wasn't making it to the top. At the top we took a nice long nap in the sunshine before having to quickly put on our rain gear. We hid out behind a rock for the storm and then descended back down the trail and made it to the truck before the entire valley was about to get rained on. When the storm passed over us the weather went from sunny and 70 about to rainy, 25mph winds and around 50... Thats why you have to dress for any and all weather in Alaska! The whole trip up and down which is about 7mi took us around 4hrs, but we did stay at the top for and hour or so. I've been lounging around since my return and plan on sleeping in tomorrow since its my day off! The hike was awesome and I am looking forward to doing a few overnights up on the ridge when my new pack arrives!

Pictures are of Ermine Lake and just the view of the surrounding hills above tree line where we were sitting! I have lots more on my camera that I will post later this week!