I've moved!  You can find me at paddlingourowncanoe.tumblr.com.  Hope to see you there!
Thanks,
Nate

Lynx Lake Loop Canoe Trail

    

The leaves have all fallen from the trees and littered the ground in a blanket of orange and brown.  Fall is definitely here and with this in mind, we are trying to get as much paddling in as possible before the lakes freeze up and we have to put the boat away until next spring.
   A couple of weekends ago, we paddled the Lynx Lake Loop Canoe Trail, which is something I have been wanting to do since I first visited Alaska 13 years ago!  The 14 lakes included in this trail are Tanaina Lake, Milo Pond, Little Noluck Lake, Big Noluck Lake, Chicken Lake, James Lake, Owl Lake, Charr Lake, Lynx Lake, Little Frazier Lake, Frazier Lake, Jacknife Lake, Ardaw Lake, Milo Lake and then back into Tanaina lake.  For anyone wanting to paddle in this area, this was the time of year to do it!  We did a little bit of paddling here back in June and the bugs we TERRIBLE!  This time around, there were almost no mosquito's and we saw only 3 other people the entire day.   If we had been here a week or two earlier, the fall colors would have been great as well, but we were a little late for that.                                                                                             

Parking area at the start of the canoe trails

 The portage trails were a combination of dirt paths and simple 2x4 boardwalks.  Overall it was pretty easy going.  We did cross one "bridge" which took us over a 3 to 4 food deep channel.   This one spooked us a little bit...as I walked across with the canoe, it sank about 10 to 12 inches but it did hold.  One of the things that made the portages easier was going lite...we carried only one backpack with us and tried to take only what we absolutely needed for the day.

"Bridge" crossing 3-4 foot deep channel

Another thing that helped was taking breaks whenever they were available during portage.  Its easiest if you can find something to rest the bow of the canoe on and set the stern down to rest, this way I wouldn't have to lower the entire boat all the way to the ground and then pick it all the way back up once I was ready to go again.  We were always looking for good branches, wide stumps or even the trail signs that were posted along the way as potential 'rest areas'.











Most of the paddling was in open water, but there are a few channels that we got to paddle through as well.  One of these channels actually allowed us to skip one of the portages that was shown on our map.  We had just been goofing around and exploring the shoreline and decided to paddle as far back as we could.  Before we knew it, we had popped out into the next lake and skipped having to carry the canoe all together!








Overall, this was a great place to paddle, explore and just play!  We stayed on the main trail system and didn't explore every lake as much as we would have liked to due to time, but I know we will be heading back up here as soon as the snow starts to melt and the ice breaks up next spring!

Mt. Baldy trailhead

The snow has arrived!  September 28th we had snow in the foothills!  We took a short drive after work and built our first snowman of the year.  He was only 6 inches tall, but he still counts!

First Snowman of the year!

On the 29th, the snow crept down the hillsides and into town.  Today, we don't have any new snow on the ground in the Anchorage/Eagle River area, but there was a pretty hard frost last night.  We heard that they had about 3 inches of snow out in "the valley" yesterday.

From what I've been hearing, people are expecting this to be a big year for snow.  I'm not familiar enough with the winters up here yet to put forth my own prediction, but I do know that some of the 'snow dumps' around town from last year have not completely melted yet.  If they don't melt during the summer and then get added to then next year, isn't that technically the formation of a new glacier?!?  If that's the case, I know of at least 2 new glaciers forming, one on Commercial Drive and one just off of the New Seward Highway.  Maybe if I'm the first one to recognize them for what they are, I'll get to name them!!!

Last years snow still hasn't melted out of the 'snow dump,'
just off New Seward Hwy.  The first of this years
'termination dust' on the mountains in the background!

First Time Out...



Unloading @ Pickhandle Lake, YT.

Last year, when Jennie and I decided that we were going to
move to Alaska, I decided we needed a new canoe!  We didn't end up with a new one, but we did get one that was a lot less used than what we had been paddling for the last 15 years.  What we had been paddling was an old Clipper that one of my Dad's friends had given me.  When I got it, it was in 3 pieces.  After picking it up, I stopped on the way home and bought some fiberglass resin and mat.  Once I had thoroughly read the directions on the back of the resin can, I proceeded to 'fix' my new canoe.  Throughout the years, there was more resin added, a couple modifications and even an occasional duct tape patch.  

Just before we left Washington we found our new canoe on Craigslist.  We didn't have a chance to paddle it before we headed north, so we just tied it to the top of the truck and were off. 

We had wanted to do as much paddling in BC as we could along the way, but it was October and we felt like we should get to Alaska as quick as we could, before the snow started to fall.  As we got further and further north, we began to relax a little and decided that we should start watching for some good places to paddle.  That's about the time that the temperature dropped and all the lakes we were passing were frozen!  We finally drove into a little warmer weather and found ice free water, Pickhandle Lake in the Yukon Territory.  We pulled over and unloaded.  This was a great place to paddle.  We ended up in some icy spots on the back side of the lake but it was open for the most part.  We saw a lot of muskrats swimming, eating along the bank and poking their heads up through the ice.  We also got to see a Lynx!  We were paddling slowly and quietly just along the shore when Jennie spotted him on the bank, probably looking for more muskrats just like we were.



We were able to get a few great pictures of him before he wandered off into the trees.  We couldn't have asked for a better paddle or for a better maiden voyage in our 'new' canoe!

Frozen Lake...

...another frozen lake.

End of the trail, ice got too thick!

Muskrat



Lynx!

Near Independence Mine / Hatcher Pass, AK

This is my first attempt at creating my own blog, but I've been meaning to try it for a long time.    My wife and I recently moved to Alaska and have spent the last year camping, paddling, fishing, skiing and generally exploring as much as we possibly can!  

Moving to Alaska has definitely been a learning experience for us.  My goal with this blog is to simply record some of what we have seen and learned from the perspective of a couple of newbies or "cheechako's."  

Please feel free to add any comments or advice you may have for us.  Hope you enjoy!