After a day of sight-seeing in Juneau, it was time to hit the trail out of Haines. We chose Mt. Ripinsky Trail which provided a sweeping view of Lynn canal and the land from Juneau to Skagway. Listed as a "Very challenging!" trail, it was.
Someone has done a lot of work to maintain this trail. These steps kept us out of the muskeg.
Tackling the trail up some log steps.
A view from the trail part way up the mountain.
Another view from the trail at a high meadow.
A view near the top where the trail is basically the stream bed that carries spring run-off.
Spectacular views from the top.
This is the last 1/10th of a mile on the trail. I've commented before that the camera never captures the true steepness of either an ascending or descending trail. We climbed up to where the boulders begin and then decided to stop. We didn't reach the tip-top, but close enough for us.
Your might be able to see the trail descending the mountain side, especially if you click on the picture to enlarge it. We decided to come down and eat our lunch in the protecting trees at the center of the picture.
Our lunch spot.
From our lunch spot, we could look down across a ravine and see a Mountain Goat and...
watch as he moved into the cover of the trees.
Our lunch view down Lynn Canal.
Haines at our feet.
The Airstreams from Mt. Ripinsky.
More lunch views.
From our lunch spot looking up the last little bit of trail to the top of Mt. Ripinsky.
Time to get back to work and climb down the trail.
Gems of the forest - red and...
gold.
Baby mushroom.
Mt. Ripinsky from the RV park.
The fuzzy green rounded spot to the right of the peak is where we ate our lunch and the bump on the left is where we saw the mountain goat.
Today's hike:
Length - 6.84 miles
Duration - 6 hours, 10 minutes (including lunch)
Elevation gain - 2,450 feet (245 floors on the Fitbit)
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