After registering, finding a campsite and retrieving the car, it was time to get serious about our rafting trip! Bob and I went looking for the place to purchase our tickets since we had to do it in advance. After driving for a while, we found the hotel/resort selling the tickets and purchased four for the following day. We planned to get a hike in during the morning, then raft in the afternoon.
Friday afternoon we walked around the campground and in the evening we all went to a talk on mushrooms at the Murie Science Center. I learned that someone who specializes in mushrooms is a mycologist and I reaffirmed my stance that I will only eat mushrooms purchased in grocery stores I trust! There are so many mushrooms and many of them look alike. Some of them are edible, but many are poisonous. That didn't stop Connie, Bob and I from hiking and taking pictures of mushrooms on Saturday morning!
The three of us took off for Horseshoe Lake---so named because it looks like a horseshoe from the ridge overlooking the lake. (Larry had computer server problems and couldn't go).
We enjoyed looking at the different mushrooms and seeing the beaver dams in the lake.
But best of all was being able to watch this moose eat plants in the lake. She stayed in the lake and let us watch her for quite a while.
The hike was enjoyable and the weather wasn't too bad--just a bit cloudy, but no rain.
So, it was on to get ready for our raft trip! The guides gave us suits with instructions as to how to get them on and we were ready to go for our safety briefing.
Yes, we looked like Oompa Loompas!
Stone (our guide's real name, not a nickname) got us out into the current and we were off!
Of course, halfway through the trip, Stone wanted to make a cup of tea.
And we took on water! No, not really, we were just in a dip between the waves. It wasn't scary. This picture just makes it look as if we were going under.
All had a good time and were ready to disembark when we got to shore.
To celebrate our successful raft trip it was off to Princess Lodge for seafood nachos and then to Lynx Creek Pizza for a calzone.
The next day we all went hiking at Horseshoe Lake. Then Bob and I took a hike along McKinley Station trail. We passed under the railroad bridge, but no trains were coming.
It was a dreary day and before we finished our hike, it started raining.
Later that evening, we decided to give 49th State Brewing Company one more chance. Their beer was still good, but the service was even worse than at our first visit. We had to track down someone to find out who our server was going to be and she eventually showed up to take our orders. The food was good, but like I said, the service was lousy.
Monday morning, it was back to Fairbanks to begin the next leg of our trip.
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