Bodenburg Butte

Towering over beautiful green farmland in Palmer is Bodenburg Butte. We parked at the privately owned parking area where tons of cottonwood trees dropped their cotton all around us, and headed up the trail.

A nice view of Matanuska Glacier.

A plane flew overhead, most likely a flight-seeing trip over the Matanuska Glacier.

This provides a good view of the farm below where many reindeer and one bison reside.

Rendezvous peak

Rendezvous Peak ended up being my favorite hike in Anchorage. The view from the top is just breathtaking. This is located in Arctic Valley and uses the ski resort property.

At the end of May there was still a good amount of snow fields along the way. We had to kick-step to walk across this one.

Shortly after this we realized we had lost our intended trail and were on a different one. 

We turned back to try to find the right trail and the kids decided they didn't want to go up any higher. Daddy stayed with them while I pressed on, climbing straight up the face of the peak. 

I finally made it to the top to the most rewarding views of snow covered mountains that seemed to stretch forever and two bright, blue glacial lakes in the distance. Next time we're in Alaska I want to hike to those (Eagle and Symphony Lakes), but for now, it's too long of a hike for our 5yr olds.

I saw a horned lark up here with very defined horns. It was quite a cool sight.

We returned to this location in July to hike the peak to the left of this, Mount Gordon Lyon. 

Hiking Bear Mountain

We began our first weekend in Alaska hiking Bear Mountain which starts from the Peters Creek trailhead.

We started as a group, but the kids tired of the steepness rather quickly. Daddy, DB 

and the kids found a place to enjoy the view while Courtney and I headed for the peak. 

Courtney ahead of me on the mountain.

At the summit we startled a ptarmigan hiding from its hiding place in the rocks. 

Beautiful views from the top of the range behind us, the town of Eagle River below and Anchorage in the distance.

We attended a training class for all of the State Park volunteers where we learned more about the park, the employees and our role for each of our locations. Fish and Game came to talk to us about our biggest concern- how to handle bear and moose encounters. Afterwards we stopped at Potter's Marsh, part of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, to see birds while we walked the boardwalk.

We ended the night at REI watching Courtney speak to a group about climbing Aconcagua. We all listened while he recounted his adventure with photos and details which allowed us to feel like we were there. Even the kids were enthralled.