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Fall hikes around the Anchorage area (10-12-2005)
Broad views, empty trails and autumn scents make walks unique
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So are most other parks and trails. Tourists have left, and many locals have retreated to the television room -- victims of some misguided thought that fall is the time between fishing season and ski season when there's nothing to do.
If only they knew what they were missing.
The great thing about fall is that you can see. Even trails you've hiked all summer become new, with broader views opening up and previously unseen wildlife appearing. This time of year it is not uncommon to spot a half-dozen moose, a coyote or even a bear from the Anchorage Overlook Trail on the edge of the Glen Alps parking lot in Chugach State Park.
On sunny summer days, this parking lot often overflows, but there's no problem finding a spot to park now.
Wildlife viewing isn't the only attraction. With the days growing shorter and dimmer, the city that spreads out below Glen Alps is increasingly lit up. No matter how ugly you might think Anchorage looks close up, there's no denying it has a certain beauty when seen as a beacon of bright light against the cold, brown waters of Knik Arm and the snow-covered expanse of Mount Susitna.
Most years, that snow would have come to the slopes above Anchorage by now, too. Most years, it's winter at Glen Alps by early October. Most years, the snow would be coating the Anchorage Bowl by late October.
Come mid-October, Nienhueser confessed, she usually feels "sort of restricted in my options because of the creeping snow. This is a nice time of year to combine a one-to-three-hour hike close to home with things you need to do to get ready for winter."
Until the first heavy snow, hikers still scurry up a lightly dusted Flattop Mountain -- Anchorage's most popular climb.
This will change soon. Snow could come heavy any day now, but until it does, hikers will find a few slices of paradise in, around and adjacent to the city.
Temperatures are comfortably cool, perfect for hiking. Trail traffic is low to nonexistent. And with the leaves down in many places, views can be spectacular.
Don't be discouraged by that first skim of snow, either. Until it gets above ankle-deep, making the hiking difficult, it is largely just an aid to spotting Anchorage's wild critters. Or at least tracking where they've been.
Wondering now where to go? Here is a sample of some of Anchorage's best hikes:
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