Catching up still, but I'm hoping this will go slightly quicker now that we're on the road a bit. Let me know if you'd like less writing, or more pictures!
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The evening was a bit buggy, but we had both slept well and were looking forward to the day's adventures.
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| Dena & Fran near the top of Angel Rocks |
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| Low-bush cranberries along the trail |
We decided not to hike the longer Tors hike (15 miles), but thought that the shorter, 3.5-mile loop hike around Angel Rocks sounded just perfect. It's a respectable climb; the trail climbs almost 1,000 ft, so it wasn't just going to be a walk in the park!
Angel Rocks
Like the Tors, Angel Rocks are the weathered parts of an 80-million-year-old granitic pluton (a body of molten rock that cooled deep in the earth) that's been pushed up to the surface and is now eroding. The protruding rocks are distinctive and can been seen from afar.The Rocks are said to be a nexus for rock climbers, but I'm not sure that I'd want to climb them since the granite is pretty weathered.
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| Amanita muscaria mushrooms |
It is interesting to note that I've seen lodges on this trip that are NOT in the middle of a pond, but built along the stream or river. Perhaps the beavers haven't gotten the memo about the "safety in the middle of the water" thing... or maybe their dams are more robustly constructed to keep predators out that might try to get at them from the land.
There were so many things to see along the hike: the recent rain had brought out all sorts of mushrooms; the blueberries were ripe, and cranberries were ripening, too.
We didn't see that many (any?) birds; we saw no larger wildlife (I was carrying bear spray), but there were squirrels chittering away in the forest.
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| View from near the top of the trail; Chena River is below (Fran's pic) |
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| Fern growing in the rocks |
The trail was a pretty busy trail. In the morning there were a few people, but by the time we reached the top and were on our way down, there was a veritable flood of people, including quite a few young children. Not all of them were happy about the hike, but on the whole they were real little troopers!
Because it's such a good hike (not too long, not too short), the trail does get a lot of use, resulting in an incised and eroded trail bed, which made for poor footing on the way down. It's not something that you notice so much going up, but you do notice it doing downhill. It was also complicated by the bits of weathered granite, which acted like little round ball bearings that slid on the trail when you stepped on them. I think both of us were glad we had brought hiking poles for balance as more than once our feet went sliding from beneath us!
We had lunch down by the river. On a Sunday afternoon, it was busy there, too! There were families hiking and picnicking. One family had eight children, with another on the way. I have seen a few (very few) similar large families in my travels — it still kind of gives me a turn and makes me do a double-take.
Chena Hot Springs
We packed up and drove a few more miles down the road to Chena Hot Springs Resort. It is quite a setup! Besides the hot springs and pools, there is a hotel and cabins, restaurant, gift shop and ice museum. They offer a variety of activities in addition to swimming, including massage, horseback riding, dog-mushing (summer and winter), and aurora-watching! |
| Chena Hot Springs "Adult Lake" (this is about half of it) |
The main pool, called the "Adult Lake" because no one under 18 is admitted, is beautiful and quite large, with a natural gravel bed and surrounded by rocks and exuberant flowers.
There's a raindrop-fountain kind of thing in the middle, so if it's not raining, you can pretend that it is. There's also water shooting out of a pipe under some considerable pressure, so you can get a water rolfing massage if you are into that sort of thing. It was so strong that I found it best to feel it just under water so it was kind of like a jacuzzi jet.
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| Dena & Fran. Just. So. Good. |
The one weird thing is that there is nowhere around the pool to put anything; a few hooks for towels are inside the covered access passageway, but that's it. Perhaps this is in an effort to keep trash out of the area, but it's hard keep hold of a waterbottle while you're in the pool.
It's pretty deep for a hot spring pool — maybe 3-4 feet? In fact there was one little Asian lady who wouldn't go in any further because she was afraid she wouldn't be able to keep her head above water! It was so good to see people of all ages and nationalities and body types enjoying the hot water. It's a great equalizer!
There were some young military men who were on maneuvers, probably from nearby Eilson AFB since they were talking about pilot training. I talked with one gal who was a teacher having one last fling before school started. Her father was there, and he got talking with the flyboys, having found common ground in that they were both from Jersey and Brooklyn (close enough). There was a smattering of other local folk and travelers. It says something about the size of the place that it easily absorbed a group of 25 Spanish-speaking students, without feeling crowded.
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| Aurora borealis martini |
We finally got out, and, I confess I wasn't really feeling like cooking, so Fran treated me to dinner at the resort restaurant. We started off with a beer for Fran and a fancy cocktail for me (an Aurora Borealis martini: a beautiful layered drink consisting of green apple vodka, blue curaçao and red grenadine. Fran had a salmon burger, I had a regular beef burger and fries, all of which were delicious, and there was no room for dessert!
We reluctantly got back in the car, realizing that we'd have to set up camp, but, hey, all was good after that loooong hot water soak.
We could have stayed at Tors again since there were only two parties there; we checked out Red Squirrel (there was NO one there), and finally opted for Rose Hip campground. There were more people there, but it looked nice.
We walked around the camp and met the Camp Hosts. They remembered us from the previous night (or they remembered N0Mad with all her rigging and the South Dakota plates) since they were doing double-duty at both Tors and Rose Hip campgrounds. They mentioned that the state had trouble getting enough camp hosts, and they had been asked to cover both camps. They had a very energetic and playful husky dog, a reject from one of the sled dog kennels. Dumb as a brick, but adorable and fluffy.
We slept well.
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