It's all fun until the dog rolls in the unmentionable

It was too beautiful last evening to pass up a hike. Cody and I grabbed a quick dinner then headed up the hillside to a trail system. We so happened to pick a rather grassy route and while we were checking which trail to follow, Wilson decided to roll is something rather potent. We had to cut our hike short in order to find some running water and throw him in it. Following that, he got a half bath outside. Whew!

Posing in the sunlight

Golden Grass Trail (although I'd say green grass)

If only this was the worst of it

View of the Anchorage bowl

Think we're Husker fans?

Shortly thereafter, we left Wilson at home and went fishing. Cody finally caught a trout in a lake here in town, but that's only after we were flushed from our fishing spot by a moose and her calf.

Cooper Landing: Part II

Our trip continues: beginning with a rainy Sunday

We woke up to light rain Sunday morning, so instead of a hike/fishing, we took a drive

We were really 'roughing it' with a mocha

Cloudy, foggy scenery

Scenic overview: Pothole Lake

Stopping along the Skilak Lake Road

We found Hidden Lake!

Cody displaying his stylish eyewear for the weekend (two pairs of glasses)

Pristine Lake, pristine campgrounds...

Lots of beautiful views

Cody wanted to cast a few times (Wilson is not a very good fish dog... we likes to catch the lure)

Rainbow Lake (we headed toward Cooper Lake after church at St John Newman's)

Short hike to the rainbow-stocked lakes

Cody only needed a little encouragement to done the hip waders

And he's in!

The very tiny rainbow he caught, his first ever!

New venue

His second, slightly larger rainbow

We finally unleashed Wilson so he could swim

Raft Trip:

View of the river...

Boots and raingear!

So very stylish

And we're off...

This eagle was about #29 of 45+ eagles we saw

All the salmon fisherpeople

Lichen, for Erin

#we lost count

So many eagles!

How many do you see?

Our raft & guide.. we sat up front, which was incidentally the newlywed section

He loves starting fires

Cast iron skillet!

So excited about his fire!

A view of Kenai Lake Monday morning

And what we should have been reading BEFORE our drive home

Photo op

Like a small child, Wilson began to grow restless in the car

Cooper Landing

Our trip down to Cooper Landing, AK

On the road: we had beautiful weather on Saturday (I blame Cody for the rain on Sunday after he complained that it'd been 'too hot')

All packed up! (I'm not allowed to pack the car)

Wonderful views down the Arm

I'd picked out a short hike at Portage since we'd never visited there in nice weather

The 0.8mi hike to Byron Glacier still had snow: and boy was Wilson happy! (These Asian tourists LOVED Wilson)

First, getting to play with his girlfriend before leaving, and then snow!

Short scramble to get a better view. We decided not to go further on the trail because there were reports of people falling through the snow since it'd been so warm out

The hike back to the car

Portage Lake

Cody and the 'root ball'

(Photo credit: Cody)

Another glacier on the drive out

The snow wore Wilson out

Our campsite...

The view to the east

We were right on the river, but it just wasn't exactly what we expected (we scouted out better campgrounds for our next trip)

And we made it to the Russian River Falls trail (after refusing to pay $11, we had to hike an extra mile to the trail... worth it)

Taking a break to watch the sport fishers

We even saw a couple fishermen catch salmon

A view from below the deck at the falls

I finally caught a jumping salmon: it was exciting to see something we'd only read/heard about

Forgive Cody's expression: he had a bum eye all weekend

Amazing views

Along the hike back... no bears seen!

He loves to build a fire!

He gladly made roasting sticks with his leatherman

Tired pooch

Maneuvering a melty s'more

Whole campsite view

This picture was taken at about 12:15am... still light out (no camping lanterns needed this trip!)