Gasline Trail from Upper O'Malley Trailhead

 

It was on of those mornings... my sweet 4 year old was reaching atomic meltdown levels, because he didn't want to wear his bibs when he got dressed at the house, but wanted them when we got to the trail head. One mama locked her keys in the car with her little guy inside and had to get a cab to get the car open for her. I hope she doesn't hate me for mentioning it, but really we've all been there. Part of the pure beauty of this group is that we're all here as parents to empathize with one another. If we haven't been through that experience... we probably will. We all know that parenting is filled with humbling scenarios and spending time with other parents lets us know we are not alone in it.

I thought for sure my boys and I were not going to get past the trailhead. My husband and I recently made a list of the character traits we hope to instill in our little guys. One of the top 10 was perseverance - to plug on despite the challenges for things we believe are right and good. A suggestion in one of the hundreds of parenting books we've read. This morning my boys and I persevered and were rewarded for it.... What a glorious morning we would have missed with great friends!

We took the Gasline Trail from the Upper O'Malley trailhead. The trailhead is off Stroganof Dr., though the muni has it now listed as being at the Prospect Heights Trailhead. It is an uphill climb. I was thinking about how much further we used to make it up the trail when most of us only had 1 kiddo. The views from this trail are spectacular, no matter which direction you look! To the east you look up at Flattop Mountain and the rest of the Chugach, and the the west you look out over the inlet, Mt. Susitna and the Alaska Range.