My husband and I woke up early for our day in Skagway, AK. Our cruise had made port in the night, and we were nearly finished with breakfast by the time the gangway opened. We were going to hike 3 miles (one way) up a mountain to a still-frozen Upper Dewey Lake. We stopped in town to get a coffee and snack, and then off we went.
The trek was intense, and I won’t admit to you how many times I had to stop to catch my breath on the way up. But the exhaustion paled in comparison to the beauty of the trail and the ecosystem it wove through. We passed rivers that cooled you down as you passed through the downstream spray, cliffs overlooking the city of Skagway and the harbor below, and all sorts of new-to-me flora that kept me curious the entire trail to our destination.
This was the first time I had ever hiked a mountain, and I hope you won’t laugh when I tell you that it was a perspective-shifting experience. To climb a mountain, and to experience both the alpine landscape I hiked through and the view of the mountains and water beyond me really puts life into perspective; And the feeling of summiting to a frozen lake felt like something out of a story book. I swear I have read about someplace like it in one of the ACOTAR books.
My husband and I explored Upper Dewey Lake, and shared a bag of nerds gummy clusters. We were lucky enough that we got the entire space to ourselves (we passed a few hikers on the trail, but they left when we arrived). It was colder than I expected at the top: I ended up putting on the extra layers I brought.
Ever the photographer, I had brought my tripod, and my husband patiently posed in several photos with me. My phone was nearly dead, though, apparently I’d already taken more photos than I’d realized (whoops). But! I am married to a gentleman, and Trenton offered me his phone to continue my photo-bonanza.
We had to speed up our pace on the way back down the trail. We had a dinner reservation at 6, and no way to reschedule. As tired as I was, it was rather fun to jog down a mountain, gravity working in my favor for once. We even managed to finish our hike with just enough time to stop for a t-shirt downtown on our way back to the ship.
I am also happy to report that we made it back in time for a shower and dinner!
