Saturday, June 21, 2008

 

Sort of a lazy morning with good weather, so we had a larger breakfast then went on a hike to Horseshoe Lake.  It was a short hike that was not too difficult, and once we got to the lake, we enjoyed the view.  We had walked to a point of the trail that dead-ended at one end of the lake, and were surprised by a very large moose and her calf that came up behind us, cutting across to the lake.  These animals are huge, and kill more people than bears – and the momma’s are especially aggressive if they feel their young are in danger.  We moved slowly away, and then watched them as they grazed in the lake.  We got some great pictures. 

 

We had an early supper of chicken and noodles along w/mashed potatoes.  You would have thought we were cooking for a small army, but nothing was wasted and we were well fed before our journey down the Nanana on our rafts.

The trip was 11 miles long.  Becky and the smaller kids took the McKinley run that went down a tamer section of the river w/ class I, II, &III rapids.  The scenery was great and they had a great time.  The older kids and the other adults went on the Canyon run that took rapids up to class IV.  It was good stuff, but if you have rafted in Colorado, this was a little tamer.  We all wore dry suits that were a hoot to put on- they have rubberized gaskets around wrist, ankle, and neck openings to prevent any water from getting in – which is important since the temperature of the water is 34 degrees!

 

When we finished rafting, everyone was hungry so we stopped in at a pizza joint called Lynx Creek Pizza right across from the rafting office.  A young couple that was on their honeymoon that rafted w/us recommended it.  It was very good, and since it was a fairly clear evening we headed up the road to hopefully get a final peek at McKinley, but we were disappointed once again; did I mention it is only visible about 20% of the time?

 

Bedtime was very late, well after midnight.  We are getting very good at staying up way too late!