Eagle River, July 2003

During the month of July, our volunteer responsibilities at the Eagle River Nature Center continued in earnest.  On the 4th of July, we walked the 3 mile Albert Loop Trail and that evening we went to a party with the other resident volunteers and people from the Nature Center. From July 11-17th, we had a week off as we made the transition from working on the weekdays to working on the weekends.  During our week off, we went to Katmai National Park to watch the brown bears.  When we returned to work at the Nature Center on July 18th, our guided nature walks (GNW) were limited only to Fridays, since they do not take place on Saturdays & Sundays.  Lots of different wildflowers were in bloom.  In fact, the trails looked very different from when we had our training in May. The first Saturday that we worked was the day of the Crow Pass Marathon.  This is a 26 mile trail that climbs 4,000 feet before descending down to and crossing the Eagle River and a gorge. Most backpackers do this trail in 3 days with two overnights along the trail.  The winner of the marathon did it in 3 hours and 8 minutes.  Watching the participants finish at the Nature Center was a rare treat.  One of Larry's photographs of the first three finishers was even published in the Alaska Star, a weekly newspaper.  We also house sat for a weekend for one of the women who works at the Nature Center.  We  took care of her dog, cat and two rats.  Another highlight from July was an Alaskan style wedding on the viewing deck over looking the beaver pond. During the latter part of the month, a young brown bear was seen frequently around the Nature Center.  One morning we saw him on the Nature Center's parking lot.  Much of the latter part of July was spent out of Eagle River as we took advantage of our four day breaks and went to Homer and Seward.

Het verhaal en ondertitels in het nederlands zullen later toegevoegd worden.

There is a total of 27 photos.
Er zijn in totaal 27 foto's.


Our cabin with the cow parsnips in bloom
The fireweed is in bloom at the river
Fireweed
A red squirrel spys on us from his perch in a tree
The hollow tree on the Albert Loop Trail is a stopping point on our Guided Nature Walk
The cow parsnips in bloom along the trail
It's a rare sight to see the mountains in view as we approach the town of Eagle River from the Nature Center
Larry leads an afternoon guided nature walk
Hilde puts up a new Chugach State Park display in the Nature Center
Queen Latrina and Princess Toiletta battle it out
Tobias Schwoerer from Germany finishes first in the Crow Pass Marathon with a time of 3:08:27
Harlow Robinson, last year's winner, is this year's runner up with a time of 3:12:57
Schwoerer, Robinson and Francis Cosgrove from Ireland are the first three finishers
Finishing the marathon is not always a pretty sight
Abigail Larson was the first female finisher with a time of 4:05:34.
Sante Mijn Ratje

The little guy is a bit shy
A kiss from one of the rats
The rats seem quite comfortable...
...with Hilde
Cody is the master of the house
Larry receives payment for his first published photo
An Alaska style wedding...
...on the Beaver Pond viewing deck
A young brown bear roams the Nature Center's parking lot
A young brown bear roams the Nature Center's parking lot

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