Lately we've been in the habit of checking out (and checking off) ridge jaunts around our home mountains in the Western Chugach. But these lovely ridges exist farther from home, and last week, hungry to enjoy every last minute of summer, we drove south for a Kenai ridgeline.
From the Fuller Lakes Trailhead, Nyssa, Madeline, Peter, and I left the gravel of the parking lot and walked into the green tube of the well maintained trail through the jungle to the lower lake. 
At the first lake we emerged from the forest into a classic view of the rolling hills of the dry side of the Kenai Peninsula. It reminded me of the terrain around Summit Lake.
We had been impressed with the trail conditions on the lower trail and figured that might bode well for the rest of the approach to the ridge. Unfortunately, we were wrong, and the trail deteriorated into a morass of bushes, roots, and deadfall - all sorts of tripping hazards and things to hide those hazards from view.
The mottled emerald green of the shallow lake contrasted beautifully with the bright fireweed of late August as we passed the second lake and approached our south turn to the ridgeline.
On the scarred edges of the Swan Lake wildfire, we stopped for PB&Js before beginning our climb to the ridgeline.
Above treeline, the evidence of the fire remained; here the burned soil and vegetated mat had been eroded by persistent elements leaving life to grasp for a foothold in this charred ecosystem.
I chased after Nyssa to the top of Peak 3480 where we found the blue glacial waters of Skilak Lake spreading out below us to the south. We laughed over a particularly memorable misadventure with Ethan in the mountains and waters of Skilak then followed the ephemeral ridge trail to the southwest.
On a little game trail, our tracks mixed with many hoofed prints of a flock of sheep, and we wondered where these mountain dwellers were until we turned around to see them traversing the hillside behind us. We must have passed close to them without even realizing it. I bet they noticed us well before we saw them.
I had been on this ridge before the fire and remembered it being relatively smooth and easy travel. Memories are fluid things, but I think the topsoil and alpine vegetation are largely gone, eviscerated by the elements.
With the exposed rock tripping up our feet, we spent a lot of time looking down instead of at the beautiful surroundings. I was generally bummed by this, but with our attention directed down, we spotted a fossil - a first for us in this area.
The Skyline Traverse is shaped like a horseshoe encompassing the Mystery Hills. First facing southeast, then swining around the compass to eventually point northwest. Moving along the horseshoe, our direction of travel changed, and with it our views. To the west, Mount Spurr loomed across the Cook Inlet. I thoroughly enjoyed skiing Iliamna and am looking forward to finally getting Spurr one of these days.
Nearing the end of the horseshoe, our views turned northwest to Peak 3264 and the top of the trail that would take us to the parking lot by the Jean lakes.
Approaching the Skyline trail, human traffic increased and with it the telltale trail. After generally being forced to walk by the ground surface over the first 3/4 of the route, I welcomed the opportunity to move faster and look at the mountains instead of the ground. Nyssa above Jean Lake.
Soon we were at the top of the descent. We took one last gulp of the sweeping views stretching from Denali, to the Neacola Mountains, to Truuli Peak, then chased each other towards the Subaru.
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