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The unmaintained Archangel Road is located just above the Motherlode Roadhouse at mile 15 Hatcher Pass Road, and is closed during the winter. It is a perfect late Spring hike and a great place to scout for scenery to photograph for my research files for future original paintings.

More tomorrow.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

The Gold Mint Trail passes alongside a chain of many active beaver ponds. The calm, clear water created perfect reflections of the surrounding alpine peaks perfect to include in a future original landscape painting. We hiked for two hours and vowed to come back soon for a longer trip. The trail was in very good condition and easy to navigate. A great outing!
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

The Gold Mint Trail meanders up a beautiful valley and follows the Little Susitna River, eventually ending at the headwaters. It was a crisp, overcast day and the sounds of rushing water and birds chirping filled the air. What a wonderful hike! I found many beautiful landscape scenes to photograph for use in future original paintings.
More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

The well kept Gold Mint Trail crossed the clear flowing water of Archangel Creek with a beautiful bridge built by volunteers using funds raised by junior middle school classes. We were the only people on the trail this morning. The scenery was spectacular.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Just 25 miles away is the scenic alpine country of Hatcher Pass, in the Talkeetna Mountains, and the beautifully maintained public recreation area of Alaska State Parks. At this elevation Spring is two weeks behind, so we dressed a little warmer for our morning hike along the Gold Mint Trail. Since the trees were not fully leafed out, I should have a good opportunity to photograph the landscape along the way for inclusion in future original paintings.
More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

There is a sign at each junction in the Crevasse Moraine Trail System, showing where you are on a complete map of the area. It is very user friendly and fun to plan as you go. Another post shows the difficulty level of each segment. Some loops are very hilly and others are nearly flat. This is a great place to hike and explore and find material for original paintings, and I was delighted to find some beautiful Lady Slipper wildflowers growing alongside the trail!
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

One of the best hiking/skiing trail systems in the Matanuska Valley, Alaska, is the Crevasse Moraine. The scenery is lush, topography varied, and maps are available at the trailhead. Walking is easy and you can custom build your trip as you go by consulting the markers at each junction. We hiked over four miles, the entire perimiter, on our first day. The trail is in good condition and very enjoyable. I saw lots of subject matter that I can use for original paintings.
More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Our cove on the lake is full of nesting birds; two Rednecked Grebe nests (one is floating about 50 feet from shore), several Mallard Duck nests some with babies along the shore, next to our dock a feisty Bonapart gull regularly attacks guarding a nest somewhere in the woods, and a Magpie nest in the tall lone spruce tree. This does not include the Tree Swallow nests that have been built inside three nesting boxes that we mounted on trees earlier this spring. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game provided a sign cautioning lake users of the nesting area, and we built a contraption to hold the sign that floats in the water on the outside of the cove. It seems to be working, boats slow down when approaching and wake is kept to a minimum.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

The ducklings have hatched! Now the biggest threat is predators.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

From left to right; Don Texter from Luxury Limousines in Anchorage, Suzanne Teng the Product Manager for North America and Europe with Abercrombie & Kent the original luxury travel company, myself, and Michele Glass the Senior Account Manager for Entree Alaska Tours a company that specializes in exclusive, extraordinary custom travel in Alaska. During their visit to my studio we discussed adding tours of the studio, field trips exploring the landscape through the eyes of the artist, and other personalized experiences to their Alaska tour offerings next year. Sound interesting? Just give these folks a call and they will take care of your every travel need.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Our son and his wife built this Tree Swallow nest box for us, this is the second year it has been inhabited. Tree Swallows occupy three nest boxes in our yard this year. It is fun to watch their precise aerobatics as they zoom and dive grabbing insects on the fly, sometimes inches from the ground or the surface of the water. Their aerodynamic skills are remarkable. Plus, they eat mosquitoes!
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

A field trip to Niebrugge Studio and workshop with artist Gail Niebrugge is part of the schedule for the Palmer Arts Council Summer Fine Arts Camp. Gail demonstrated how to make a quick color composition, the students learned how to create thumbnail sketches and spent time in the studio gardens sketching.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Often, during the evening, Common Loons appear swimming close to the shore in our cove. They are beautiful to watch, preening and fluffing their feathers and cruising back and forth. One day three arrived at the same time and talked to each other in a soft cooing Loon language. What I love most is their haunting melodic call that can be heard far away throughout the night.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

With the summit of Hatcher Pass in sight we had to abandon our hike because the snow was too soft and “punchy”, we would be walking on the surface one minute and suddenly break through the crust and be buried up to our thighs. It was fun and invigorating and will be a great hike in another week or two. The snow is melting fast! I was sorry that we couldn’t reach Summit Lake and photograph it for use in future original paintings, maybe next time.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

The steep grade to the summit of Hatcher Pass is a good workout, we dressed warm and worked up a pretty good sweat. The two of us were completely alone in this spectacular alpine landscape. Part of the road was covered in snow drifts, but the southern edge was clear and walking was easy. There was a lot of great material to add to my Alaska Mountains in Spring research file for future original paintings.
More tomorrow.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan Artist

The road to Hatcher Pass from Palmer, beyond the Independence Mine is not maintained during the winter. Even though it is May 30 and spring green is everywhere in the valley, the Hatcher Pass road is still covered in snow and closed. We decided it would be a great place to hike since it is above tree line with fabulous views, and totally free from traffic. Our plan was to follow the grade two miles to the summit.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

I was excited to see Ed Baker arrive with his trailer load of spruce trees. With the aid of his helper they carefully unloaded the trees with roots balled in burlap and gave us detailed directions on how to plant. If all goes well in ten years or so, our yard will be a forest again. I love trees!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Ed Baker using his “story pole” to check the height of a beautiful black spruce at his tree farm. We ordered several 5′ tall spruce trees to plant in the yard this summer to replace the forest that was cleared for the building site. These are one of the heartiest trees in Alaska and can withstand strong winds and cold temperatures. They are slow growers, but in a few years should be large enough to create some areas of privacy in the yard. Ed will dig up each tree and deliver sometime next week.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

The trail widened and gradually descended to a trailhead marked “West Butte Trailhead”. No map, no directions, nothing! There we were stranded on the opposite side of the Butte from where we began. To reach our car we had two choices, we could retrace our steps and hike back over the mountain or hike four or five miles on roads. We chose the roads. A few minutes later a local homeowner named Butch drove up and offered to take us back to our car, he said he takes hikers back to their cars this all of the time. What a strange situation. Back at the studio I looked up the Matanuska Borough web page and found the map of the trail, it showed only the west route. No mention of the connection at the summit with the south/east route over private land. Hikers be warned.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Even though the blowing dust obscured the view, we were protected on the west side of the Butte. This new upgraded section of the trail had lovely benches for hikers pause and rest and soak in the views. I photographed several beautiful scenes that could be used as reference material for original paintings. It was just about this point that we began to grow concerned that this new route might not connect with the original trail on the south/east side. We quickly dismissed the idea, since there were no trail maps or signs to warn hikers we had to assume a connecting route was somewhere just ahead.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist