Eagle River Nature Center

A beautiful November day and in the teens by the time we got closer to Anchorage, so we stopped at Eagle River Nature Center on the way back from Sheep Mountain.  We had a membership the first year we were here, then last year the snow was so good close by that we skied every weekend and didn't go out of our way to leave town as much. We renewed our membership today, since you have to pay to park anyway, and it's a great organization to support -- the trails are among the prettiest around.

About halfway through our trip down the highway, the hoar frost began -- this often happens in Anchorage, and is defined in Wikipedia as follows: "white frost or rime is the tiny solid deposition of water vapor from saturated air which occurs when the temperature of the surfaces is below freezing point. It occurs generally with clear skies."  It was stunning at the Nature Center especially, and the pictures don't do justice for the exquisite crystals that form over the grasses, on the ice, on the trees and even the tops of railings.  

We took a longer walk than we had intended, and the temperature was dropping by the time we got back.  It's a beautiful spot, and the trails are snow-packed, but not nearly enough snow to ski -- we ended with a trail along a pond that's frequented by beavers as evidenced by the very obvious gnawing of the trees in the pictures below!  

We've been here on skis a couple of times and this is probably the second time that we've hiked here -- we'll be back!