Why I Live Here - Chester Creek (Lanie Fleischer) BikeTrail

I had a workshop at Rural Cap yesterday and since it was sunny out I figured it would be an easy bike ride.  And it was though there were a few spots where the trail was icy - some bridges and along Gambell. 

Riding home, particularly, I was reminded how wonderful our trail system is, at least for those traveling in the areas there are these trails.  Right in the middle of the city you are out of traffic, away from buildings, in the woods, on a trail that serves not just recreational users, but also people going to work and other errands. 

Here's the lake just before you get to the tunnel under Lake Otis Parkway.   The ducks and gulls seemed to be enjoying themselves.














And here's the trail as it skirts Goose Lake and then gets to UAA.

As I rode along this route, I realized how infrequently I see this now that I'm not running any more.  I used to go on the first part of this trail twice a week and the other portion once a week.  While regular daily exercises have gotten me to the point where my Achilles tendon doesn't interfere with walking any more, I'm not ready to push it for running.  When I've tried, it's been a problem.  So I've switched to bike rides, and the best trail for that near the house is the Campbell Creek trail, not Chester Creek.  Also a beautiful trail, but they offer different experiences.  Chester, along this part, is more birch and Campbell is more small Spruce and Chugach views.

If you look carefully at the shadows in these photos, you can see it's late October.  The sun crosses the sky fairly low to the south and the shadows go to the north.  But it will get lower still over the next several months.