Rainbow TH

after the last hike i had placed the backpack carrier in the kitchen. both saturday and sunday morning the little man asked me, "dad, can we go on a hike this morning?" as we had several obligations we weren't able to, but yesterday afternoon i took him hiking up the Johnson Trail from the Rainbow TH. the clouds were opening and closing so the weather floundered from somewhat decent/sunny to windy/chilly. it was fun as it's not to steep and there was lots to see.

of course on the drive out the little man pointed out the "big snow mountains" followed by "let's go up there!" as Tiffany commented the first time he said this, "definitely your son." we climbed up the gentle trail looking at the mossy, rock filled stream. of course though the little man wondered aloud, "where is the Rainbow?" i asked what colors he could see around him. we came up with white, brown, green, blue, and the imaginary "red, pink, puhple." it was a rainbow after all!

we saw several trees stripped of bark by local moose. the little man labeled these orange trees. we went as far as the high point from the rainbow side, about 1.15 miles and several hundred feet of elevation. we stood at a blustery, exposed vantage point where we could see across the Turnagain Arm to the Kenai Peninsula and down to the highway below and the passing cars. it was quite windy so we didn't linger long.

on the way up we had seen some large boulders that i promised we would stop at on the way down. the little man enjoyed scrambling around the rocks in the mud and snow. from there he hiked by himself all the way back to the truck (about a half mile) with only one fall. nearer to the TH on the more level sections of trail the little man enjoyed running as fast as his little legs would carry him over the rough ground. judging by the wide grin on his cold reddened rosy face he was having a blast.

as we were hiking with the dogs, several times he queried "where are my doggies?" approaching the truck Jackson ran alongside of him. a great day out and another chance for the little man's love of the outdoors to grow.

date: April 6
mileage: 2.34
elevation:978
time: 1:20

details: R in backpack except last .5 mile; w/ Jax, Mals; Hardrocks; 40˚ wind/sun, mud/snow