 |
| Shadows and light |
Distance:
0.3
miles
Difficulty: Easy Time:
Up to you
Summary
The
Carl E. Wynn Nature Center is a popular area
for both hiking and snowshoeing. The
snow was just deep enough for snowshoes on 10 Jan 2014 and we took a short
walk.
Opinion
In
winter, the Wynn Center offers fabulous views of snow-covered spruce and open
meadows. You also have a very real
chance of seeing a moose. This area is
definitely worth a visit.
It does not,
however, have the sweeping vistas that you can find on other locations (or at
least we haven’t yet found them.
Note: the Wynn Center belongs to the Center for
Alaskan Coastal Studies and, unless you are a member, they charge a small fee
($7) to help them maintain the trails and support their activities with Alaskan
school children.
Trail Advice
Dress
in layers.
Suitability
This
is an easy trail for snowshoeing and suitable for novices (like us) not just
experienced snowshoers
Trailhead
 |
| Wynn Center entrance |
To
find the Wynn Center, take East Hill Rd up from Homer. Turn right (east) when it intersects with
Skyline Rd. About a mile later you will
see a sign for the Wynn Center. The
Center will be on your left.
The
Hike
 |
| Bog in snow |
We
have been eagerly awaiting enough snow to go snowshoeing. We had a few inches of snow before Christmas
and, while most of it had melted, we decided there might be enough snow to at
the Carl E. Wynn Nature Center to let us try our new shoes. The Carl E. Wynn Nature Center belongs to the
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.
There are several
options for hiking/snowshoeing at the Wynn Center. They charge a small, honor-system fee for
people taking a self-guided hike; members hike for free and the Center for
Alaskan Coastal Studies also has loaner snowshoes for members. In addition to the self-guided tours, they
also offer guided nature tours.
Like
most outdoor activities in Alaska, it was a day for layers. When we were
in the sun or moving it was warm, but when we moved into the trees and when the
clouds covered the sun it got cold -- at least for me. At 28 degrees it
was a day for gloves, in my case, I used a set with exposed fingertips and a
mitten pull over which worked well. However, the ski poles and camera
rapidly became cold and I was forced to wear the over mitts most of the time.
Carol, on the other hand, kept removing layers and by the end wasn’t
wearing a hat or gloves and had her coat half unzipped.
For
you snowshoes novices (like we are), we found snowshoeing was easy. It ‘s harder than walking, but easier than
jogging. We also discovered that a packed trail was very different from fresh
snow. The fresh snow in this case was light and fluffy and our shoes sank
quite a bit on each stride, as opposed to the packed trail where it was
basically just like walking. Last year
we tried the same trail with just boot and we sank to our knees on every stride
on the packed trail.
 |
| Chris on snowshoes |
When
we got there, the snow was just deep enough for snowshoes so off we went. It was a perfect day, sunny, clear, and calm. We took a quick look at the trail
map, and headed out along the Gladys Church Trail. The ground was under perhaps a foot of snow and
the trees, bushes, and meadow plant were blanketed by an inch of fresh snow
from the night before. In less than 0.1
miles we were out-of-sight of man (with the exception of a bench that was
almost totally buried in snow). We were
alone on the trail and far enough from the road that we could hear only the
occasional sound of snow falling from the trees.
 |
| Low sun on snow fields |
We
chose to hit the trail just about 1pm.
That sounds early, but the days are very short and the shadows were
already lengthening. The snow, sun, and
shadows combined to make marvelous photo opportunities.
 |
| Look closely, the moose is at the base of the tree |
At
about 0.15 miles, we rounded a corner in the trail and found ourselves 20 yards
from an adult male moose. This is only
the third male moose we’ve seen; we’ve see lots of femaies. The moose was old enough to have a moderate
rack with some palmation. His antlers were covered with snow. He was, of
course, fully aware we were there, but he was dining on the lower branches of spruce
and willow and not particularly interested in us.
The
moose was on our left, so we slowly moved along the trail only to find the
trail turned left on the other side of a nearby tree and the moose was standing
right in the middle of the path where it branched to become the Lutz/Fireweed
loop. We stood there for a while, taking
pictures, but he showed no sign of moving.
Given that he outweighed us by a factor of 4 and was easily taller than
Carol, who is 6-ft tall, we decided discretion was in order and headed back to
take a different trail. Ironically, the
route we chose wound right back to where the moose was. This time, when he saw us coming, he trotted
off down the trail and disappeared.
 |
| Bog platform |
After
meeting the moose, the rest of the trip was a bit anti-climactic, but it was
still beautiful. We walked over to the
bog platform and then off into the meadow.
The sun was setting quickly and the shadows were long and very beautiful. The snow was glittering in the sun. But, since the sun was getting very low, we
decided it was time to end our first experiment with our snow shoes and we
headed home.
View Larger Map
No comments:
Post a Comment