On Sunday, we set up a quite comfortable camp in the Quartz Creek Campground, by Kenai Lake, and before dinner did some exploring. I did not take a picture of the camp until the next day, which is why it is in one of these collages.
These are photos from Sunday.
- In the afternoon we walked out on a boardwalk to Quartz Creek, the namesake of our campground.
- We also walked out to Kenai Lake, which borders the campground.
- I have identified (and shown photos) of common fireweed before, but I liked this picture.
- Water at the edge of Kenai Lake. I find it interesting how the water is clear very near the shore, but blue farther out – with scum-covered rocks providing a stripe of brown between them.
- Northern Goldenrod?
- Common Horstail, which is very common indeed and seems to grow all over the parts of Alaska that I have seen
On Monday, we drove out to Exit Glacier. It is a 3.5 mile long glacier that you can hike out to (but not up to). It is named Exit Glacier because it was once used mainly as an ‘exit’ from the Harding Ice Field, which is named after a president who visited it. Did you know that 1 cubic foot of fully compacted glacial ice weighs 52 pounds?
- We stopped at a playground in Seward, whch Mom said has the best view of any childrens’ park that she has seen.
- A gravel drainage plain left by the retreating Exit Glacier.
- The foot of the Glacier. If you look closely, you can see water coming out from beneath it.
- The glacier itself!
- Along the path to the glacier, and also the road to the visitors’ center, there were signs marking where the glacier had been in certain years.
- I think this is amazing. Doesn’t it look almost as if it was carved and shaped by giant ice cream scoops? Yet, it was the ice cream that scooped it! One can just imagine the huge river of ice in the valley, and all the little tributary rivers of ice emptying into it.
- A close up of the glacier.
And here are some various photos I have taken:
- The park where we stopped. Impressive, isn’t it? Fortunately I was able to find a plug in a pavilion area near this where I charged the battery of my camera, which I should have charged in Anchorage, about 1/3 of the way. Perhaps I can find somewhere else to charge some more.
- Western Columbine
- More Dwarf Fireweed! I didn’t realize that I had put it in a collage twice today.
- Our camp! Or should I say Our Encampment…?
- Pink Pyrola
By the way, I think that the plant I was unable to identify in my last post might have been Mouse Eared Chickweed.
So long for now! 😉
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