Reed Lakes

Last weekend, my friend Rebecca and I hiked the five miles up to Reed Lakes in the Talkeetna Mountains, north of Anchorage and Wasilla, near the Hatcher Pass road. The blueberries were just starting to ripen, so we stopped from time to time to fuel up on the fresh ones loading the bushes and promising to come back soon to collect more. It was a steamy, cool, and almost rainy day. Water from the bushes brushed on our clothes. The hiking was perfect.

We passed a group of boy scouts at the large boulder field about 2 miles in, planning to camp at the lower of the two Reed Lakes. We saw several Hoary Marmots and ground squirrels chirping at us and warning the others. They were close enough for fun photos.

Trudging on, we reached the lower lake where we met Tina Hanke and her brothers from Wisconsin. They took photos of us at the lake and we reciprocated. The weather was beautiful, but the sky was full of clouds, so we hurried on to the upper lake. The waterfalls on the way was luring, so we looked over the edge, took more photos, and moved over the lip. On the way, we ran into Deborah Williams and Rance hiking back down. Again we shared photos, caught up on the latest news, and hurried on. At the lake we had a little snack on a rock before heading back. The trail was slick on the way down, and at one point I did the splits on a muddy section, pulling a hamstring!!! We ran into Kirsten Cramer and two friends from the East Coast. Tons of fun for the day. We reached the car just as the rain started, and on the way home we ran into a tremendous downpour.

To view the photos from the hike, click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ralph.tingey/ReedLakes