Substituting a Stroll for a Hike

So, remember how I said our jiggled plans didn’t quite work out? Well, that was because by the time we got to the Eagle River Nature Center, it was raining. A light drizzle only.

Undaunted, we paid the $5 parking fee, picked up some maps and got some hiking suggestions from the volunteer staffing the information table (the log cabin nature center itself was closed due to COVID). Alas, by the time we had the dash-pass for the car, the wet stuff was really coming down. So we decided to wait, listening to the raindrops falling on the roof of the car.

Ten minutes later it was still raining and the weather app showed rain for the next several hours. When the volunteer confirmed that there was a low centered over the area, with rain expected to continue for the next couple of hours, we decided to move on. Five minutes later, we were under blue skies with the sun breaking through.

When we found similar blue-sky conditions in Anchorage a ½-hour later, we nixed our rainy day plan to visit the Anchorage Museum, and headed to the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail instead.

This is another trail that I can say “we conquered,” because in 2001 the mosquitoes foiled our plan to walk at least part of the paved path. Eleven miles in length, the trail follows Cook Inlet/Knik Arm. As seems to be par for the course, the mud flats were quite prominent. The tides around here can range up to 40 feet ... second only to the Bay of Fundy.

There was a slight breeze that was quite chilly, but the sun helped to keep us warm during our two-mile walk.

The surprise reward during our walk ... our ship had found a deep channel and had come in! Yay! We pick up our RV and toad tomorrow.Read more