Painting Rocks

Not only do I enjoy washing rocks to find gold, but I also love to paint rocks and hide them in the woods for others to keep or rehide for fun.

This is at Moose Creek trail just North of Palmer, Alaska.

My mom, sisters and I collect the rocks from the local river beds (Matanuska and Knik) and then sip our coffee and paint together. It’s something that we all enjoy doing and later gets us out in the woods when we hide them.

After we paint them and give them a good clear coat we take off on different trails to surprise hikers and/or campers in the area. The rocks are free to take.

This is the Knik glacier from behind my house. It’s about a 15 minute plane ride or a 4 hour four wheeler ride away.

Had the crew out at Refections Lake. It’s about 40 minutes South of Anchorage. Refections Lake neighbors a wetlands preserve and has a 40’ bird and wild life viewing station on the back side of the trail system.

Who ever finds this one gets to touch my butt... my halibut, that is.

This is a farm that’s near my dad’s house in Palmer with Pioneer Peak in the background.

The Matanuska-Susitna Valley (where I grew up) is known for its large agricultural contributions to Alaska, and I mean LARGE. Every year locals compete to grow the worlds largest cabbage. The current world record is held by Scott Robb weighing in at 138.25lb (62.71kg).

The joy of painting rocks is that it’s for fun — nothing else. It doesn’t matter how artistic you are or aren’t. The point is to spark joy for yourself and for others. My favorite part is spending time with my family while we hike around looking for the perfect hiding hole.