Independence Mine and Bodenburg Butte

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We woke up to more sunshine! After filling up on homemade pancakes, we decided to head north to Independence Mine State Historical Site. It is the remains of an old mine about an hour and a half north of Anchorage. As we were headed out of town, we noticed that the top of the mountains had a layer of termination dust. It is the middle of September, so the snow on the surrounding mountains signals the end of summer! As we drove north, the skies got darker and darker. We did catch a glimpse of Mt. Foraker (17,000 foot mountain), of the Alaska range, in the distance. It was quite cloudy and quite a bit colder when we got to Independence Mine (closed for the season) and Hatcher Pass. The exhibits and buildings were closed, but we explored, peaked into windows, and read the interpretive panels. We had been planning a hike in the area, but the clouds were getting thicker, and the usual Alaskan drizzle was coming, so we decided to head south where the sun was. We had some nice views of the Little Susitna River as we headed away from the Pass.

We hiked Bodenburg Butte. It was a nice, short (3 miles) hike that offered nice views of the surrounding mountains, Mt. Susitna across Cook Inlet, and a glacier to the southeast. The trail had these crazy erosion control treads on the trail. They may have helped with erosion where they were placed, but they were so slippery that everyone walked beside them and eroded the hill anyway. We tried to use them, but they were ridiculously slippery. Gabbi fell and hurt her arm and the rest of us had some close calls. Once we got down past the steep parts where these slippery pieces were, Jacqui wanted to run down the trail, so as usual it took us 45 minutes to climb up the trail and about 10 minutes to get down….

Back in Anchorage, we decided to stop at the Glacier Brewhouse for a beer and appetizers. The beer was delicious (and we tend to be overly critical of beer!) and the food was good as well! I tried to keep an equal amount of attention between the wonderful company and the RedSox-Yankees game….not sure how well I did. All in all, the weather was great (we are 3 for 4 as far as weather on the weekends!!) and we made the most of our weekend!

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