Cutting the Blue Glass of the Lower Russian Lake

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N 60°26'24"
W 149°59'09"

Today, on my day off, the weather in Cooper Landing was particularly good to hike up to the Lower Russian Lake from the campsite. We are almost upon the arrival of the 2nd Run, so almost everyone who is not working has been drafted in one way or another to clean the campground in just about every way you can think of. Not me though. I had the day off, and with only a week left in Alaska, I wasn't going to waste it.

I set off alone towards the Russian River Falls, a common attraction of the campground especially for those tourists who ask "where can you see the bears?" as if this is a zoo. I usually like to reply, "Well you are going to head down this road and first you will come across the penguins, but if you reach the ostriches you've gone too far. Turn around." But when the trail forked between the falls and the Lower Russian Lake, I decided to check out the lake again, seeing as I've only been that way once before. Soon after the trail forks, an area of approximately 10 acres was set ablaze a few years back to create ideal moose habitat, but no moose this time around. Instead, the open area gives you a very nice distance glance at glacier at least 15 miles into the seclusion of the Chugach National Forest. The trail was well manicured and slightly up hill that is until you make it to the lake. The fresh waters of the snow melt on the mountains high above and the Russian River converge into the Lower Russian Lake which alter the surrounding ecosystems which the trail runs through. You go from fire kissed grassland to fireweed rows growing liberally across the hill side to paper birch and black spruce botanical garden with lush ferns carpeting the forest floor. It's really quite beautiful, and the changes are so abrupt that it is like entering a different and more mysterious part of the forest in the Legend of Zelda.

I finally made it to Barber Cabin, a good 3.3 mile hike from the trail head, but Barber Cabin was not point of this hike. I made the 3.3 mile hike just to see if the boat was still docked by the cabin. A small three man aluminum row boat layed turned over by the dock at Barber Cabin. It is the only seaworthy vessel on the entire lake... so I took it for a little spin around the lake all the while cutting the blue glass of the lake. It was surreal, and I am already missing Alaska.