Now that I have my legs back, I can bike confidently on dirt trails. I took advantage of a hot sunny Saturday to bike the Eklutna Lake trail. It runs along the lake edge for 8 miles, then continues for another 4 miles up the river valley. Beyond that you have to ditch your bike as the trail traverses some narrow rock ledges above the glacial stream.
Eklutna Lake is the reservoir for the city of Anchorage's drinking water. It looks a little low now, but will probably fill up when glacial melt starts to increase.
There were several sheep up here, feeding in the most precarious places, as usual. While watching them, I saw rocks slide down the scree field across the river. I liked how their dust trails looked like smoke on the mountain.
When we started back, rain showers raked across the valley. We missed the rain by stalling near the inlet to the lake.
Bike-powered photography
The lake edge at the far end is bounded by a very good raspberry patch. I found that out the hard way.
The glacier is peeking out from between the mountains. It's very difficult to hike far enough back to get to the base of the glacier. It would require fording the river and then scrambling over slick rock and scree. I waded in at the river's edge (icing my sore feet!), and it seemed like the crossing would be really challenging because the flow is so high.
One last look at the lake before heading home. This is at approximately 9:30pm. I love the warm evening light! I would have stayed out here all night, but I ran out of food.
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