The weekend (and part of the week): Sunday/Monday

Well, I didn't have church on Sunday morning because Pastor Voss was flying out to Kodiak to have the service here at 6 PM. The group of people that I usually go hiking with all met and had a potluck lunch (for college-aged people). I suggested, since it was another very nice day, that we should go climb Mt. Barometer from like 8 PM to midnight so that we could catch the sunset. There was enough interest that we actually formed two groups - one that would start at 7:30 and one that would start around 8:00.

So, I went to church at 6:30 PM. We had 6 adults, including Pastor Voss. They used a MIDI keyboard and a computer to play the liturgy and hymns. The service was held in a conference room in town, where we rearranged it to be more like church - altar cloths, flowers, pulpit, pews, cross, etc. After church was over, I headed home to grab my hiking gear for the hike up Barometer. This time, since our goal was to see the sunset (officially around 10:40), I was determined to carry my tripod and other camera gear so that I could get some good pictures. So, my pack probably weighed about 20 lbs.

Anyway, I might not have mentioned it previously, but Mt. Barometer is a very popular hiking location. There is a well-defined trail up the ridge. The mountain is 2506 feet tall, and about 2300 or so feet above where we started the trail off the side of the road near the airport. I have heard rumors that the Coast Guard or other military people (who are in really good shape) have climbed the mountain in 45 minutes (round trip!). However, for a normal person it probably takes closer to 3 hours round trip. In the 45 minute case, they just run back down the mountain (literally - run - as in move your feet as fast as possible and hope you don't fall).

Well, we got started in a group of 5 around 8:30 PM. The trail starts on an old Army road, then finally turns into a trail that heads up the ridge. The trail was very brushy at the beginning, surrounded by salmonberry bushes (only a couple ripe berries though). Once out of the bushes, it turned rather rocky, almost like a scree slope (loose rocks that slide and can be dangerous). It was not as steep as the Three Sisters, but it was still a workout.

Because I wanted to get some really good sunset pictures, I pulled ahead when we reached about 1800 feet. I got to the top probably around 10:20 or 10:30, set up my tripod and camera, and started shooting. There were just enough clouds in the sky so that it turned a nice orange color. There also happened to be a full moon, which was helpful on our way back down. The other 4 in our group made it to the top in time to get some good pictures too.

From the top you could see around 360 degrees, as Mt. Barometer is one of the highest mountains in the area. You could see the surrounding mountains, the sunset, the moon, mountains out near KLC (yes, 30+ miles away), the city of Kodiak, etc. It was an amazing view, and I definitely want to go back. I suggested that next time we should just camp out at the top!

After taking pictures for about an hour (to about 11:30), we decided we should head back down before it gets too dark. Well, it was rather slow going trying not to slip on the rocky areas. Fortunately, two of us had bright LED flashlights that we used to light up the trail so that we could see where we were stepping. It got very humid as the low-lying clouds moved in, and dew coated the bushes and dripped onto the trail, making it quite muddy and slippery. We finally got back to the cars at the bottom around 1:50 AM, and we couldn't even see the top of the mountain any more because of the fog that had rolled in! We definitely didn't set any records on our hike up Mt. Barometer.

Well, since we all had work in the morning, and we already weren't going to get much sleep, we stopped at McDonald's and had some hot chocolate. I have been elected to email out pictures to everybody, and then we will swap everybody's pictures. I finally got home and got to bed around 2:30 or 2:45 on Monday morning, and had to get up again at 5:15 AM (yes, that is less than 3 hours of sleep before work!).

So, I took about 3 rolls of pictures while at the top (I bracketed quite a bit so I would more likely have a good picture). I think the hike was about 4 miles round-trip. Now, on Tuesday, I am feeling the hike. My right leg is sore (not my left one - obviously I use my right leg much harder).

Well, here are lots of pictures I took with the digital camera. The pictures I took on slide film I will get developed when I get back home (I won't see them until mid-September).

Here is Mt. Barometer near the beginning of the trail. You can see the trail winding up the ridge. The reason the sky is washed out is because the sun is right behind the mountain (and the sunset that we saw in a few hours).

Here is a good view of the airport from about halfway up Mt. Barometer (from now on, just Barometer).

Here are some of the mountains surrounding Barometer. You can see they are still very much covered with snow.

Here are the other 4 people in our group climbing up Barometer. You can see the trail behind them.

Well, here's the first sunset picture.

Here is the sunset once I zoomed in a little more.

Here is a panorama of the sunset behind all the layers of mountains.

Here is what the top of Barometer looks like (when properly exposed to show the grass, rocks, and flowers).

There was a memorial cross at the top of Barometer, which made a good silhouette for the pictures of the sunset.

Here you can see how the fog was rolling in (I was watching it as we climbed the mountain). I like the way it fills in around the trees. The Three Sisters are at the left side of the picture.

Here you can see the city of Kodiak. Pillar Mountain is to the left side of the picture. Notice how the fog is rolling into town.

Here you can see the nearly full or full moon rising opposite the sunset. It was actually this red because of the sunset. You can also see how the fog is flowing over the point covered with trees.

Finally, here you can see a silhouette of 3 of the people in our hiking party. I didn't get a really good picture of us all (using self-timer on the camera) with the digital camera, so I'm hoping my SLR took a better one (not likely). Maybe one of my friends in our hiking party got a better pic (I put their cameras on my tripod and took pictures of us as a group).

Here are the new mileage totals as of Monday:

Foot: ~48 miles
Bike: ~78 miles
Car: ~3100 miles (It is 95.6 miles roundtrip to the range. I have driven about 6 of these miles!)
Boat: ~6 miles
Plane: ~3450 miles