We have had a couple of very nice days, and on Monday (Labor Day) we decided to go for a walk. Gary had mentioned that we might find blueberries along the power line that runs behind the chalets. He, his daughter, and brother had been up camping on one of the islands in Upper/Lower Trail Lake. They had taken the canoe and kayaks out and in exploring had run across blueberry bushes and bear scat on the opposite side of Trail Lake from the chalets. So, off we went in the afternoon with the camera and bear spray to see what we could see. The power line runs all the way to Seward. When we hiked up to it from the chalets, the first thing we noticed were all the Fireweeds past their peak with the seed pods ready to blow in the wind. They went on for miles.
The power line was very muddy in sections from all the recent rain that we have had. We continued walking until we hit a rough dirt road that went off the power line to the right. We decided to hike up that since we had not seen any blueberry bushes along the power line. The road climbed a "tad" and we ran into some new bear scat along the road, but no blueberry bushes. We did run across some raspberry bushes and I picked a couple and tried them. Boy were they sour! Needless to say, I decided that the bears were welcome to them and we trudged on still searching for the illusive blueberries. We finally reached the end of the road, after passing some beautiful wooded areas on the left and a stand of trees so thick on the right that it would be impossible to walk through them. At the end of the road we came to a sign that said Roycroft Lake 1979 - No Trespassing.
When we pushed thru the Fireweed we could finally see a small lake(?). We had been told that there was a reservoir on a road off the power line behind the Estes Grocery store in Moose Pass. Was this it? or was it a small natural lake that appeared unnamed on the map of the area. We had no idea, however, it was not accessible without climbing down a somewhat steep muddy bank. We headed back down the road, still having found no blueberries or bears. When we reached the turnoff for the power line back to the chalets, we opted to take the road we were on down to what we hoped would be Moose Pass. We passed a waterfall and stream that ran thru a culvert under the road. We had been hearing rushing water as we made our way down from the lake. We have no idea where the source was, but we do know that it ends up at the water wheel in Moose pass and flows into Upper Trail Lake.
As we followed the road down, we eventually came out at Estes Grocery store in Moose Pass in the center of town. Trail Lake Lodge is across the street from the grocery store on Upper Trail Lake. The pontoon flight school and charter flight service are located behind that. We headed back to the chalets on Seward Highway after a short stop at the store. It was an enjoyable hike, despite the fact that we did not find either blueberries or bear. That may be our last opportunity to explore the area and we could have not asked for a nicer day with the sun out and the temperature in the low 60's. We are in the process of packing up and getting organized for our trip back to "the Outside". We are anticipating leaving around the 16th - if all goes well. Unfortunately, the forecast for the area is rain for the next 10 days. We are hoping to head to Denali from here before we start the long trek back to Arizona. Everyone has told us that Denali is a must see and we are hoping for good weather when we get there, so that Mt. McKinley will be visible.
We have had a couple of very nice days, and on Monday (Labor Day) we decided to go for a walk. Gary had mentioned that we might find blueberries along the power line that runs behind the chalets. He, his daughter, and brother had been up camping on one of the islands in Upper/Lower Trail Lake. They had taken the canoe and kayaks out and in exploring had run across blueberry bushes and bear scat on the opposite side of Trail Lake from the chalets. So, off we went in the afternoon with the camera and bear spray to see what we could see. The power line runs all the way to Seward. When we hiked up to it from the chalets, the first thing we noticed were all the Fireweeds past their peak with the seed pods ready to blow in the wind. They went on for miles.
The power line was very muddy in sections from all the recent rain that we have had. We continued walking until we hit a rough dirt road that went off the power line to the right. We decided to hike up that since we had not seen any blueberry bushes along the power line. The road climbed a "tad" and we ran into some new bear scat along the road, but no blueberry bushes. We did run across some raspberry bushes and I picked a couple and tried them. Boy were they sour! Needless to say, I decided that the bears were welcome to them and we trudged on still searching for the illusive blueberries. We finally reached the end of the road, after passing some beautiful wooded areas on the left and a stand of trees so thick on the right that it would be impossible to walk through them. At the end of the road we came to a sign that said Roycroft Lake 1979 - No Trespassing.
When we pushed thru the Fireweed we could finally see a small lake(?). We had been told that there was a reservoir on a road off the power line behind the Estes Grocery store in Moose Pass. Was this it? or was it a small natural lake that appeared unnamed on the map of the area. We had no idea, however, it was not accessible without climbing down a somewhat steep muddy bank. We headed back down the road, still having found no blueberries or bears. When we reached the turnoff for the power line back to the chalets, we opted to take the road we were on down to what we hoped would be Moose Pass. We passed a waterfall and stream that ran thru a culvert under the road. We had been hearing rushing water as we made our way down from the lake. We have no idea where the source was, but we do know that it ends up at the water wheel in Moose pass and flows into Upper Trail Lake. 
As we followed the road down, we eventually came out at Estes Grocery store in Moose Pass in the center of town. Trail Lake Lodge is across the street from the grocery store on Upper Trail Lake. The pontoon flight school and charter flight service are located behind that. We headed back to the chalets on Seward Highway after a short stop at the store. It was an enjoyable hike, despite the fact that we did not find either blueberries or bear. That may be our last opportunity to explore the area and we could have not asked for a nicer day with the sun out and the temperature in the low 60's. We are in the process of packing up and getting organized for our trip back to "the Outside". We are anticipating leaving around the 16th - if all goes well. Unfortunately, the forecast for the area is rain for the next 10 days. We are hoping to head to Denali from here before we start the long trek back to Arizona. Everyone has told us that Denali is a must see and we are hoping for good weather when we get there, so that Mt. McKinley will be visible.
1 comment:
We've been following your blog all summer and we're glad you never met up with a bear! Hope you have a good trip south and we'll see you in Apache Junction. Travel safe, Wayne & Marie
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