Day 103: Finally a Sunny Day at Chena Lake Recreation Area

July 26, 2014

This morning it was 42 degrees when we got up. However, the sun was out!! It was a beautiful morning although a bit chilly. The sky was a bright blue with puffy white clouds. So nice!

After breakfast we rode our bikes up the the park entrance and extended our stay here one more night. While we don't think this campground is a very good value, the weather is finally nice enough get out and enjoy so we didn't want to spend the day moving to another place. While we were out a nice local couple stopped us to ask about our bikes. They have an RV also and were interested in folding bikes. They were in the park taking pictures of the high water. While talking to them we learned that June was the 4^th rainiest month on record and July is on track to be right up there too. Later in the day we talked to some of the Corp of Engineers volunteers and they said that two weeks ago all the area behind the levy was flooded. The Chena River that flows through the camp is still quite high. The lake usually has a wide beach and right now it is tiny. Some of the trees along the shoreline are under water.

Downstream side of the flood control dam

After we got back to the coach we took Scout on a nice long hike. We found an open area and played frisbee with him off leash. Later in the hike we stopped by and let him swim a while. Then we went over to the levy, climbed the high steps and let Scout run and play off leash on top of the levy. He seemed to have a great time. He was one tired pup when we got home.

 

Just so you know - the Alaskan's play hard during their short summer because they know that all too soon (roughly the 2nd or 3rd week of August) their fall will begin.  The sun was out this morning and they hit the lake and park early.  It was 51 (long sleeve shirt and jacket) when we rode our bikes to the park entrance.  The locals were already out in the kayaks on the lake.  We wimped out on getting our inflatable out this afternoon because it was only 64 and there was a cool (to us) breeze.  We were back at the lake and they were out on paddle boards in the middle of the lake.  We tested the water - with our finger tips - it was cold!  These are some hardy people up here in the north country. 

We spent part of the afternoon installing our tire pressure monitoring system. Although we had been putting it off, it was actually much easier than we thought. Now the tires have all been checked, air pressure adjusted as needed and are ready to start the trip home. We will be starting that way soon.

That's it for today. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.