Final Adventure Before Winter: Hatcher Pass, Alaska

It's hard to pass up on free weekends as Winter approaches in Alaska. It's the best time to savor up the final moments of Fall, tackle those remaining hikes on your bucket list and embrace the Alaska air with your favorite adventure partner. My favorite adventure partner is my hubby, by the way. And I can't forget our two pups, Knox & Nala.

It was nearly the end of September when we squeezed in this trip to Hatcher Pass; one of my favorite places. If you haven't been to this area yet, I suggest you move it to the top of your list - and not just because of these adorable red cabins.

We left pretty late on a Friday night, which is typical of our weekend getaways when one of you works til 9pm most nights - sigh. So that left us on the road pretty late. The fog was horrible that night so we ended up pulling over a little outside of Denali National Park and car camped on the side of the road - just another one of my favorite things about Alaska.

Car camping kind of sucks when you're squished in with two dogs. So needless to say, I barely got any sleep. We were up at 6am the next morning and on the road to Hatcher Pass. After arriving, we were quick to check in, scarf down lunch and head out on a trail. We were aiming for Gold Cord Lake Trail but didn't put much effort into confirming whether that was the actual trail we were on, so we ended up in a different direction. No worries though - still a beautiful view!

Our plan was to scope out the correct trail the next morning but we woke up to snow on the mountains and freezing rain pouring down on us in the valley. Usually, I'm up for a hike no matter what, but sorry - freezing cold rain is a no for me. Especially after some of our other adventures in the rain this summer. Thank goodness we got this lovely hike in on Saturday!