July 4th has come and gone and we could tell that it was the big summer weekend because the traffic going toward Seward was mainly RV's of all types and sizes or vehicles pulling boats down to Resurrection Bay. The majority of the vehicles had Alaska license plates. Alaskan's are definitely outdoor people. This was a big weekend in Seward. They were having the Mammoth Mountain Marathon, the 3rd oldest continuous marathon in the US. From what we understood it is a pretty grueling run. They were also having fireworks in the evening. We could not understand when they would have fireworks, since it does not get dark here in the summer. How can you really see them! Even Moose Pass was "hopping" when we walked down to the Post Office on Friday. The Trail Lake Inn was full and the pontoon planes were flying continuously all weekend. We had guests in both chalets, so the 4th was going to be relatively quiet for us. We loaded up the lawn mower on the wheelbarrow and carted it over to Stellar Jay in the morning, so that I could mow the little lawn in front of the chalet and around the flower garden a little while Bob checked the hot tubs. All was quiet at Spruce Moose. The sun was out, sky was clear and we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and hike to Vagt Lake.
Vagt Lake is a small lake at the base of the Solars Mountains. It was a beautiful 4 mile hike round trip through forests and meadows. Bob brought his fly fishing rod with him, in hopes of catching some trout. It took us about an hour to walk in. Naturally we had to fight some mosquitoes and black flies along the way, but it was well worth it. The trail started from a parking area off the Seward Highway and paralleled Lower Trail Lake for a short distance before angling away from Lower Trail Lake into the forest. The trail was clear and well maintained and traversed an occasional stream. There were a few steep stretches, but nothing we could not handle. We did run into some bear "scat" on the trail, but no sign of any bears. When we arrived at Vagt Lake, we saw a couple fishing in an open area and decided to leave them in peace and headed around the lake for a short ways in the opposite direction.
There was a family camped a short distance from the lake in a huge tent. They also had a canoe along with the tent. I'm not sure how they got both in there over that narrow trail! We finally found the "right" spot for Bob to cast and settled in. By the time we got to the lake it was quite warm. I even had shorts on and tank top and I was still hot. Bob ended up catching more bushes than fish and after about 30 minutes he decided to call it quits and we settled down to have a little lunch and enjoy the scenery. We watched a young gentleman fly fishing for awhile and were amazed at the ease with which he maneuvered that line around. He had two bites while we were there, but both fish got away. We visited with his wife and daughters for a little while and admired the frog that one of the girls had caught in her father's fishing net. She was so proud.
We headed back down the trail without any fish, but with some great pictures of a very beautiful, peaceful area off the beaten path. We were taking our time coming back and the man and his wife that were fishing when we first got to the lake passed us and mentioned that they had each caught a fish and were thrilled. It was about 2:30 when we got back to the 5th wheel and we were surprised to find that it was 80 degrees - no wonder we were sweating as we hiked out of Vagt Lake! By dinner time, it was 85 and we were beginning to think that we were back in Arizona. According to our neighbor, he had never see it get that warm. Maybe there is hope that we can shed the winter clothes for good and live in shorts and short sleeve shirts for the rest of the summer.
Vagt Lake is a small lake at the base of the Solars Mountains. It was a beautiful 4 mile hike round trip through forests and meadows. Bob brought his fly fishing rod with him, in hopes of catching some trout. It took us about an hour to walk in. Naturally we had to fight some mosquitoes and black flies along the way, but it was well worth it. The trail started from a parking area off the Seward Highway and paralleled Lower Trail Lake for a short distance before angling away from Lower Trail Lake into the forest. The trail was clear and well maintained and traversed an occasional stream. There were a few steep stretches, but nothing we could not handle. We did run into some bear "scat" on the trail, but no sign of any bears. When we arrived at Vagt Lake, we saw a couple fishing in an open area and decided to leave them in peace and headed around the lake for a short ways in the opposite direction. 
There was a family camped a short distance from the lake in a huge tent. They also had a canoe along with the tent. I'm not sure how they got both in there over that narrow trail! We finally found the "right" spot for Bob to cast and settled in. By the time we got to the lake it was quite warm. I even had shorts on and tank top and I was still hot. Bob ended up catching more bushes than fish and after about 30 minutes he decided to call it quits and we settled down to have a little lunch and enjoy the scenery. We watched a young gentleman fly fishing for awhile and were amazed at the ease with which he maneuvered that line around. He had two bites while we were there, but both fish got away. We visited with his wife and daughters for a little while and admired the frog that one of the girls had caught in her father's fishing net. She was so proud. 
We headed back down the trail without any fish, but with some great pictures of a very beautiful, peaceful area off the beaten path. We were taking our time coming back and the man and his wife that were fishing when we first got to the lake passed us and mentioned that they had each caught a fish and were thrilled. It was about 2:30 when we got back to the 5th wheel and we were surprised to find that it was 80 degrees - no wonder we were sweating as we hiked out of Vagt Lake! By dinner time, it was 85 and we were beginning to think that we were back in Arizona. According to our neighbor, he had never see it get that warm. Maybe there is hope that we can shed the winter clothes for good and live in shorts and short sleeve shirts for the rest of the summer.
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