Springtime Hiking in Alaska

The weather is changing! The changes are tiny…and maybe imagined on my part.  But, the sun seems to be carrying a little bit more heat and the wind isn't quite so bitter.  Yes, the temps are still in the 30's but they are steadily inching towards that beautiful springtime range.

We took advantage of this tiny change and took our first "big" hike of the warm season.  We did an (almost) six hour adventure out at the end of Thane Road in Juneau. The road ends in Juneau in many all places.  Thane is no exception.  It is basically just another place in our beautiful town where civilization ends and the true wilderness begins.  Such a contrast to downtown Juneau that lies only a few miles away!

Anyways, we took off on a trail head and made the 3(ish) mile hike down to an isolated beach area. We went with five people and three dogs…quite the crew! And, we all packed in firewood (it's been very rainy so we were concerned about wet wood). When we reached the beach we unpacked our wonderfully dry wood and set a fire on the beach.  The dogs played, seals teased us (and the pups) by swimming lazily by the shore, and the sun made my cheeks just a little bit pink.  Ahhhh…

We packed up our stuff and played around/ hiked up some giant boulders and then took off exploring some more.  We finally headed back in the direction of home after a little over five hours.  It was such a great way to kick off the warm weather seasons.

Back at home the three of us (Cody, me, and the doggy) promptly passed out and only woke up to eat a tiny dinner before drifting back off into a semi-delirious but oh-so-happy sleep.

Questions:
Any sign of warm weather in your part of the world?
What is your favorite warm weather activity?