...the bears of Russian River

A brown bear surveys the scene near the trailhead to the Russian River falls.

This bear has some claws.

THE ROUTE:  Carter Lake Trail.  Well established trail with lots of water crossings.  Very muddy.

Mrs. Huffy crosses a stream on Carter Lake Trail.

Michelle on her way up the trail.

Trent leaps across a stream.

The hikers at the top of Carter Lake Trail.

The fall colors were beautiful in the valleys.

But, up high winter has arrived.

Dinner cooking over a fire at the end of a day of bear viewing and hiking.

Our weekend opened up unexpectedly.  On Thursday evening we discovered we had no commitments and the weather forecast was excellent.  Time for some fall camping at Russian River Campground.

We arrived on Friday evening just before the Burnett's pulled in.  We immediately set up camp(s) and got a fire blazing.  After several hours of visiting we made plans to hike the Lower Russian Lakes Trail to the falls the next afternoon.  Then it was time to hit the hay.

At 1:00 PM, we loaded the trucks and drove toward the trailhead parking lot.  When we got there several other vehicles were parked in the road and two brown bears were eating berries in the bushes.  We pulled up close enough to get some good photos and after the bears wandered back into the woods we abruptly changed our hiking plans to Carter Lake Trail.

It was a wonderful hike with many water crossings.  The streams were full with the rain that has fallen over the Kenai Peninsula for the past month.  There was lots of mud, which was enjoyed immensely by the kids in our group, and a beautiful view when we reached the top including Carter Lake and the snow capped peaks around the valley.

Following the hike we returned to our camp for another evening fire where we cooked dinner and recalled the adventures of the day not far from...the bears of Russian River.

...hiking Slaughter Gulch Trail

THE ROUTE:  Slaughter Gulch Trail

TERRAIN:  Very steep established trail, loose rocks and dirt, probably extremely slippery when wet.

ELEVATION GAIN:  1435 feet (according to my GPS)

Emily and Mrs. Huffy climbing up the trail.  Emily was using her new pack for the first time.

Looking across the valley at the mountains on the other side.

Emily and spectacular fall colors.

Mrs. Huffy trying to check her Facebook account.  That's Kenai Lake in the background.  We ate lunch at this location.  Best meatloaf sandwiches I ever made!

Emily and Mrs. Huffy hiking/crawling back down the trail.

Mrs. Huffy puts her hiking poles to good use.

The view across the valley.  Yes, that is Termination Dust on the tops of those distant peaks.

Emily celebrates after the hike by eating an enormous scoop of strawberry ice cream.

I have no idea how Slaughter Gulch got its name.  I probably don't want to know.  I do know that it is a spectacularly beautiful place, and the trail leading up to the gulch is extremely steep.  Still it is a great hike and one we will do again. I've heard that once you reach the gulch you can hike to Resurrection Trail even though the route does not appear on any maps.  We didn't have time for that today, but that's my kind of hiking.

We were lucky as the weather was nice and sunny and we spent an hour enjoying the views and eating lunch at the top of the trail where there is a fantastic vista of Kenai Lake and the surrounding mountains.  We also watched some Dall sheep through the binoculars and generally enjoyed being outside on such a grand day.  In fact, conditions couldn't have been better for...hiking Slaughter Gulch Trail.