Today was supposed to be an unscheduled day until 6PM when we were supposed to have a photography excursion. We decided to do a short hike in the morning, which is good because a few hours before the photography excursion they cancelled it due to staffing issues. HAL is really struggling to get staff in and trained and they should probably not sell land excursions before June but we’re here now so we’re trying to make the best of it.
We had gotten a recommendation from our bus driver Megan on the first day to try the Horseshoe Trail hike and Conrad researched it and wanted to go so we did. The park shuttle dropped us right near the trail head. It was early in the morning so there were very few people there and so it was quiet and nice and cool.
We took pictures most of the way including of a huge beaver dam that had dammed up the stream into a sizable lake with multiple levels, It was quite impressive,
Prairie Crocus – much larger than normal crocus
Prairie Crocus – much larger than normal crocus
New Fireweed plants just breaking the surface of the soil. In a few weeks they will be pretty tall flowers.
impressive Beaver Dam
More Beaver Dam views
there were chewed trees everywhere
After our hike we had lunch and headed back to the room for a rest before our Photography excursion when we got a call that it was cancelled. We had a relaxing rest of the day returning to Prospectors grill and Pizza across the street for one last dinner before we left.
Tomorrow is a long train ride to Anchorage overnight.