CRESCENT LAKE CABIN

Last week, we had a string of bluebird days so Champ and I decided to visit the Crescent Lake Cabin down on the Kenai Peninsula.  A few weeks back, we hiked to the southern end of this large crescent shaped lake nestled between two mountain ridges hoping to reach the USFS cabin in the saddle on the lakes west curve.  Turns out the heavy rains that had been falling daily tuned us back as the creek crossings were raging infernos.  Nonetheless, our appetite was whetted and we vowed to return to this picturesque venue.

So Thursday morning we loaded up the truck and made the 100 mile drive to the Crescent Creek Trailhead.  Beautiful sunny day with temperatures hovering right at freezing.  The trail was in good shape with a gradual uphill gaining about a 1000 feet over seven miles.  Hiking in we met a Father/son goldmining team hiking their gear out for the season, and managed to scare a black bear off the trail in the meadow near the lake.  Reached the cabin about 5 pm. 

Took pictures off the lake and then set out to split the spruce log someone left in the wood shed.  30 minutes of work produced a nice stack of wood for the night, insuring a warm slumber for man and beast.  After a dinner of Cuban Rice & Beans, we settled in for the evening with a new book feeling lucky to be where we were.

Next morning's weather was a little cloudy with small snowflakes starting to show.  A pretty litle rim of ice had formed overnight along the shoreline.  We took our time getting packed up and left the cabin around noon.  Almost immediately, we spied a black bear galloping across a slope high to our right. Fun to watch but I had no idea where he was heading or why he was in such a hurry.  Moving on we stepped gingerly over and through a few frozen creeks as we followed the trail back to the truck.  Halfway back, we began to meet a local boy scout troop heading in for the weekend.  All told, there were 25 in the group strung out over a mile or so.  Glad to see scouting is alive and well.