For those of you who do not live in the Valley, the Butte is a land formation east of Palmer. It rises about 900 feet and the West Trail is 1 1/2 miles from the parking area to the top. It sits in the middle of Matanuska River plain and can be seen from most points in the Valley.
It's a favorite hike for many people in the Valley. I've been here 15 1/2 years and almost everyone I know has climbed it. I've wanted to hike it ever since I moved here, but I never got around to it. And as I gained weight, it became less and less likely that it would ever be possible.
But now that I've lost some weight, I had it on the to-do list. This morning the sister-in-law called and said they were going to climb the Butte this morning. I knew that it would be a challenge. Hiking Diamond Head in Hawaii was hard enough and I was in better shape then.
The trail starts out tame enough and I started off at a good clip. And then the trail started to climb up. And up. And up. And then it got steep... And then we got to the stairs. I think there was at least 100 steps, Christy's guess is there was only 50. Eitehr way; it was plenty. And after the staris it got really steep.
But I made it. I hauled my 320 pound hind-end up there. And the view was totally worth it.
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