Tuesday, June 17, 2008

 

This morning we woke to rain but a pleasant temperature.  We had biscuits and gravy for breakfast.  The dutch oven cooked over a low heat warmed our biscuits from Sam’s another dutch oven warmed our gravy from Sam’s.  It was great. 

 

After breakfast we drove about an hour north on Chena Hot Springs Road to Angel Rock trailhead which was near Chena Hot Springs.  This hike was recommended by our host family and some of the locals who visited with us yesterday at Pioneer Village.  Our MilePost book called the hike strenuous but we decided to trust the locals and try it.  It had been rain off and on most of the morning.  We were hoping that the rain was just in Fairbanks and we would drive out of it going to the trailhead but that was not the case.  We saw quite a few moose on the drive to Angel Rock.  Some of the moose were by the side of the road and some were standing in a shallow pond eating.  They are interesting animals looking like they belong in a comic book.

 

The hike to Angel Rocks was a 3.5 mile hike, and our family has never taken a hike that was not adventurous.  The first half of the hike was pretty routine, except that Sarah kept wondering why this particular hike just went up and not down, and the mosquitoes were having a feast. 

 

The goal of our hike was some amazing rock formations, and of course the kids wanted to climb up them.  The result was some pretty scary stuff; mom’s yelling at kids to sit down before they fell, etc.  We all discovered that while climbing up the steep rocks is a challenge, it is nothing compared to climbing back down.  But the best was yet to come…

 

Once off the cliffs, we began our downward descent, which by this point was very slippery, compounded by a trail that was incredibly steep.  Most everyone fell down at some point, but we all eventually made it down, some of us covered in mud.  The mosquitoes were waiting for us in the parking lot, so we dove into our rides and headed out.  On the drive back to Fairbanks, we saw several more moose.  They love boggy areas, and spend quite a bit of their time with their heads underwater munching on veggies.

 

We got back late, like usual, so the mom’s made a quick trip to Taco Bell (way to go, moms!!)  We ate in our screen tent; all of us can fit in, and we are entertained by watching the bugs line up on the screen waiting for victims to come out. 

 

Went to bed around 11:30 with the sun still setting…