This page NEW on Labor Day, 2003
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After the two full and busy days at Seward, we headed up to Chugach State Park to do two nights of backpacking in the 500,000 acre wilderness. Lisa (pregnant) and Carl (shattered ankle) opted to stay at a great B&B in Anchorage instead.
Right off the bat we saw a beaver at the functional beaver pond. He came right up to us!:
We had reserved the public-use yurt on the shore of the Eagle River, so we wouldn't have to pack-in our tents. For backpacking, it made for luxurious digs, with a woodstove, woodshed, deck, bunk bed, table, and view of the river. I have no idea how to chop wood (3rd row). We hiked in at 9pm, bringing our first dinner of sushi rolls with us (3rd row)...Not 'exactly' roughing it, yet:
The next day, we went for a big dayhike. Here we are, goofing around, below Rapids Trail camp at the Eagle River. It was surprisingly warm (75-80F) and sunny. We found a fresh wolverine print by the water (last):
As we approached Dew Mound Lake on our dayhike, we heard a gigantic splash! Turns out, a ton of moose had just jumped in the water for a swim and to forage for food!:
This other beaver pond has been abandoned by the beaver, but many other animals use it, such as Kokanee salmon:
We found our 2nd geocache site, 'Campground Rock Garden'. (What is geocaching?) We left 'Sheppy' the Travel Bug in the cache:
The river water was really painfully cold, and Dave only went in up to his knees before nearly dying of hypothermia ;)
