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An early part of the long and strenuous hike to the top of Flattop above Anchorage. This part was easy.
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The scale and dimensions of the mountains and land are given perspective by this shot of people and a dog I encountered on the way to Flattop.
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Here we begin to get a few more data points about what’s ahead. Here we are nowhere near the top.
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High up as this may seem, it’s less than half-way to Flattop. Yet the view of Anchorage below is amazing.
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The trail to Flattop winds around, up, and down. But mostly up.
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The trail afford many impressive views like this of Anchorage, north-west of this point.
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The late-afternoon sun found a portal through the clouds, illuminating what seemed like heaven except to my aching quads.
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We begin to get more perspective on the length of the trail, and how high we have climbed, as we look back at Anchorage far below.
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Climbing Flattop is a true adventure. Despite the length of the trail and the open spaces it traverses, there are many surprises. Alas, as I approached the top I stopped thinking about capturing images. Not falling off became my top priority.
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This image was captured almost at the top of the Flattop Trail
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Flattop Mountain rises 3,510 feet above Anchorage. The road leading to Flattop Trail, which we can see clearly in this image, takes you only one-third the way there. More info at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flattop_Mountain_(Anchorage,_Alaska)
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The pole marks the destination of our hike up Flattop. On this day the wind was gusting to about 80 mph. You could jump straight up in the air, and be taken about 10 feet. Near the edge this was not advisable. Getting down was something else.
