Eagle River Nature Center

This past weekend I planned to get out of the house early and spend all day studying in the mountains. I knew I needed to go somewhere where people would be around at least every once in a while since it's not safe to hike/be in the woods alone with all the bears. I drove to the Eagle River Nature Center and there were sooo many people there since the weather was gorgeous. About an hour before I arrived, there was a black bear spotting on one of the nearby trails! I decided to jump in behind another group of hikers within seeing distance until I found a spot to stop and study.

I found several neat spots, but settled on this one since I could sit on the bench and lean against the railing. I had been reading for about an hour when a guy came up onto the boardwalk near where I was who was about 40 years old. He had a huge german shepherd and a little dog. He got out his binoculars and started looking around. We made some small talk every now and then. I asked him if he was seeing anything and he said not yet. He then told me that he comes out to that very spot every single weekend and so far this summer he's seen at least 2 brown bears, 3 black bears and at least one moose in the area around where I was sitting , each time he comes out. That was a little alarming to me! He said he was surprised he couldn't see anything today. I was starting to get a little worried, since I'm already paranoid about a bear encounter, especially being alone! Before he left he said, "Just be careful, a grizzly is likely to sneak up right behind you without you even noticing." I said, "Are you serious!? You really think that'd happen!?" He said, "Well, you'll probably smell him before he gets there, but yah it's likely to happen." Needless to say, I packed up and left that spot about 10 minutes later! You can see beaver dam remnants in the photo above. This was the view in front of me while I was studying.

I tried to follow other people that were hiking, but they all kept taking turns for 8 mile trails and I just had time for about 3 milers, so I ended up having to turn around and hike a mile alone, back to the nature center. I was pretty tense! I sang every hymn I could think of out loud since that's supposed to warn the bears and keep them from being frightened and feeling threatened by you. I also turned around to look behind me every time I heard something which was about every 30 seconds!! Haha , what an adventure. There were literally gorgeous, colorful flowers everywhere on the entire trail, these Alaska wildflowers never cease to amaze me and I have yet to post all of the photos I've taken of them. Of course, no photo comes close to capturing what they look like in person!

On the drive home, I stopped along the North fork of the Eagle River and walked along the bank for a while.

Also went to the farmer's market and got homemade ice cream from the Mat-Su Creamery that was out of this world! Went to the Alaska Native Health Center as I'd heard from several people that their gift shop was full of native items and a must see. Also went to Alaska Wild Berry Products Factory where you can watch them making jams, chocolates, etc. They have the world's largest chocolate fountain there!

Tim flies in tomorrow and is here through Sunday, so I'm probably not going to be able to sleep tonight for my excitement! We're going whitewater rafting on Six-Mile on the Kenai Peninsula (http://www.chugachoutdoorcenter.com/six_mile_rafting.htm), then to Seward and who knows where else, we'll be camping in the Bronco. There are supposed to be tons of whales, belugas, dolphins, seals, etc out right now, so hopefully we see lots of neat stuff. We'll probably run through Kenai Fjords National Park also. Can't wait to update you!

Fun AK Fact: Most homes do not even have an A/C because they aren't needed here! People unplug their car A/C's to save on gas because they don't use A/C up here, even in the summers! It's been 65-70 here daily and gorgeous. It's like that perfect Fall day here, everyday.

Love, Rachel :)