Hiking Carter Lake

Carter Lake, with a skim of ice on part of it

My husband's first weekend off in three months led us to a Cooper Landing getaway last weekend. The weather was outstanding for hiking: in the 30's and 40's so things were mostly frozen and not mucky from our months of rain, and comfortable for hiking. We hadn't hiked the Carter Lake Trail a few miles south of the Seward Y on the Seward Highway, about 10 miles from Cooper Landing, for many years so we decided to check it out.  It was a good choice; the hour-long uphill trek got us warmed up, but it wasn't so steep we were sweating. A light crust of snow at higher elevations made traction good. We made it to Carter Lake in an hour, though did not press on to Crescent Lake and the Crescent Creek Trail, which may have been possible at this time of year. Many times the trail through is overgrown with grass.  Here's a photo journal of our hike.

Cat tracks in the snow....likely lynx. We saw 3 ptarmigan on the hike up to the lake,
 and saw them again on the way back down

I'm a sucker for pictures of bridges. Maybe because I love what they do for me (dry feet!)

Mid-range trail, right at snow line (the snow quite literally starts at one spot)

The lower trail--below snow-line and looking like fall