Hiking Flat Top on a sunny day is the closest Anchorage gets to a traffic jam. The parking lot is craziness and the police have a field day writing parkers along the road up to the Glen Alps trailhead. We beat the crowds by a few hours Sunday morning and found a perfectly clear sky and Denali out very clearly (often Denali is only clearly visible from Anchorage in the winter when it is well below 0). Perhaps not the hottest and sunniest day of the summer, but certainly the best one on Flat Top. Aside from a 10 day stretch here and there of solid rain, this has been a very warm and sunny summer. We hit 70 over half a dozen times.

As we scrambled down from the peak a college age blond met my eyes and asked if I was wearing a Wisconsin hat.

Yep.

"I'm from Wisconsin!," exclaimed the corn-fed young lady.

"I lived in Madison for a bit."

"I'm from Wausau."

I gestured back to my cousin L while she already was stating, "I went to Point."

"Cool! I'll be back in Wausau in a week."

"I'll be visiting Edgar in a few more," I added.

More pleasantries and smiles were exchanged and soon down we went again. We joked about FIBs and FOBs (in Michigan) and tried to determine if I'm still a FIB. I don't think so, but I won't be betting the farm on it.

Wisconsinites are everywhere up here.