More fall excursions

To finish my roundup of this weekends fun fall excursions, I have some pictures from a "hike" Steve and I took out at Eklutna Lake on Sunday.  I say hike, but really mean meandering walk up the hillside with Steve and Beau, and plenty of breaks to catch my breath in between.  It must be the combination of my heart issues and normal pregnancy breathing issues, but man do I get winded easily now!  It's very frustrating too because my body could just keep going forever, but lungs do not comply.  But we had a great trip despite the hoards of people who also decided to get out at Eklutna Lake.  This is one of the reasons we opted not to walk along the Lakeside Trail, but tried a new on instead:

Edlu Bena Loop Trail
Distance: 2 miles loop
Rating: easy to moderate

This trail was an old road bed that has recently been cleared and goes for one and one half miles. It begins at the trailhead parking lot and splits off at the start of the Twin Peaks trail. The Edlu Bena trail goes through a forest of mixed birch and spruce. In the first section of the trail, a viewpoint opens up with views of the west end of Eklutna Lake. The trail ends at the Lakeside Trail. From this point, it is one half mile to return to the trailhead and campground, for a loop total of two miles.


This was a very nice trail, especially since there were no other people on that trail the entire time, except right at the end.  If you plan on heading out to Eklutna Lake any time and are sick of the Lakeside Trail, I would highly recommend this trail.  It goes on far past the "loop" portion described in the paragraph above.  Instead of heading back down to the Lakeside Trail, you can continue going up into the woods, while still enjoying peek-a-boo views of the lake, which is what we chose to do.  We probably went two miles out, then turned around and headed back the same way we came.  We were out there for about two and half hours, then headed back to Anchorage for evening church.  It was a great day!

Beau enjoying the beautiful fall weather at the lookout; this is before
we headed up further into the woods

Steve checking out the ridge across the lake...

My view as I was hiking along, I definitely can't see my feet anymore lol