Alaska's Winter Horizon

Alaska's Winter Horizon

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Tuesday, June 21st

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Happy Summer Solstice to all! It really is a long day here in Anchorage with all this sunlight. Tonight after dinner we decided to take a short ride out to the Eagle River Nature Center for a hike. This center is located in the Chugach State Park. After paying our parking fee, we headed onto the trail. We soon discovered that we weren't alone as hundreds of mosquitoes joined us. We hadn't figured on the mosquitoes and had unfortunately left the bug spray at home. We made it down to the the first viewing platform to enjoy the scenery. Greg took a few photos. The clouds had the tops of the mountains obscured from view but it was still lush and beautiful. Greg couldn't stand still long because the mosquitoes seem to enjoy him the most, so we continued down the trail. We soon came upon 2 piles of bear scat (also known as bear poop). At this point, Kate and Taylor let us know that they were no longer interested in continuing on the trail tonight. In fact, they were ready to leave right then! We turned around and did convince them to visit the classroom yurt. While we were checking out the yurt, we heard several dogs creating an uproar near us on the trail. Not sure if they came across the bear or not, but we decided to head on toward the car. Not only due to the uncertainty of the location of the bear but also due to a loss of blood in Greg from bug bites, we felt it was time to head toward home. As we drove back into the city of Eagle River, Greg spotted a cow moose and calf eating on the side of a road. We turned around and got a couple of decent pictures. If you are keeping score, the girls' moose count is now at 3.

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