Category: Alaska Yukon 2017

We woke this morning and when Paul looked out, he said it was a clear blue sky! We’ll take it – it was supposed to be mostly cloudy! We packed a picnic lunch, had a quick breakfast and headed out on the road. We took some side roads to get up to the pass and although there were a few spots to pull over and hike, we decided to push on to the pass while the sun was still out.

Although we had some clouds by the time we got to the pass, we were treated to seeing 2 hang gliders in action from the summit. One was gliding when we arrived and landed just below where we were standing. He then climbed up to where we were. Meanwhile, another hang glider was preparing to take off from where we were – Paul managed to catch a video of his take off and the first 15 sec. of his gliding.

We followed a couple of rivers on the way up the pass and then on the way down. Lots of people camping in unofficial areas along the river – mostly people out four-wheeling – no fish to be seen, just free camping and lots of trails to ride. Paul was able to scrounge some wood at the side of the road so we were able to have another campfire tonight under a clear blue sky. Tomorrow will be a laundry day and then we’ll head north to find another camping location for more day tripping!

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.