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It was so nice to see some sun today after the last few dull days! We didn’t have a long drive today. However, we did get a 3 mile hike in at the Eagle River Nature Center. The rain forest we hiked through was lush. The trail was wide and generally in good condition. There was a small section that was re-routed because of flooding and you could see evidence of the work they were doing in that area to build it up. Lots of families use the trail, even with strollers. There was no large wildlife to be seen today. At the end of July, the trail we were on will be closed since the bears will arrive to fish for salmon. They close the trail in order to avoid bear/human adverse interactions so it was good that we got there before then.

Some of the trail had huge trees – some of the largest we have seen yet. Also, there was a lot of Devil’s Claw or Hogweed. Fortunately they had trimmed some of the worst from the sides of the trail so you didn’t touch it while moving through the area. The joke here is that Hogweed should be Alaska’s state flower – I’ve never seen it as plentiful as it is here!

We had a nice fire again back at the trailer – roasting pork sausage on a bun for supper and finishing it off with a beautiful sunset. The sun is setting again – not until around 11 pm, but we’ve noticed the days are definitely getting shorter and the nights darker. It wouldn’t take a lot of persuading to stay around longer and chance seeing northern lights later in August along with a bit of colour, but we have things to get done back home – maybe an excuse to come back again?

We’re going to get an earlier start tomorrow and drive the Hatcher Pass since the forecast is still good.

We made the decision to head north and not wait for the weather to change. According to the forecast, the weather was improving as we moved away from the Kenai. Our day of travel turned out OK. We had only the occasional sprinkle of rain and even though it was cloudy, we felt we had made the right choice. We had a couple of stops right in Anchorage – Cabela’s to buy Paul a new pair of hiking boots – his have totally disintegrated in the cushioning of the sole and we didn’t like risking them on a trail. We got a great deal on some Merrell boots which we hope will be comfortable for him. We also made a stop in at Costco – last chance for a few of the bulk items we’ve been using plus their diesel fuel is the cheapest around – just a bit challenging since they only take cash or Visa and so we go into the store to buy a cash card that we can use to buy fuel at the pump!

We headed north about 30 minutes to what we would consider a suburb of Anchorage – a small community of Eagle River. We found a nice campsite in a state park and settled in.

Then it was off to town for Joyce to get a haircut as well as pick up a few more groceries and fill our water jugs. The campground once again has questionable drinking water. Although it is labelled “potable”, it is in a large, plastic tank that is filled regularly instead of being on tap. However, the Tesoro brand of fuel has many stations in Alaska which have not only a dump station, but potable drinking water, all for no charge. The Fred Meyer chain of grocery stores also has a free dump, but no water. We enjoyed a nice campfire back at the trailer and made plans for the next few days. Tomorrow will be a trip out the Eagle River Loop Road and then a visit to the nature centre there. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for a hike!