We welcome the water flowing unimpeded from Eklutna Lake while honoring those who went before from the old dam that did its job admirably.
About 150 people gathered and formed a bucket brigade at Eklutna Lake for the removal of a dam blocking salmon runs for nearly 90 years.
With no wind, Eklutna Lake was glass, mirroring the snow-capped mountains and the emerging green on their lower flanks.
On the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, skaters with colorful parasails tacked hard into a steady southeast wind.
Ducks startled me as they passed above Eklutna lake. “Important things are happening here all the time,” I mused. "I wish we had more time to notice.”
If you haven’t done it already, it’s time to stretch the legs and get in some easy summer hikes to limber up and prepare for some of the harder ones.
It was late Sept. 1995 and my Newfoundland dog Charlie and I had earlier crossed the dam at the outlet of Eklutna Lake at its south end.
Chugiak-Eagle River is a haven for trails, many of them in the nation’s third-largest state park. Chugach State Park has nearly a half million scenic acres.
The most intriguing thing is that no matter the obstacles, harsh conditions, adverse weather or natural disasters, life always seems to find a way.
While the idea of having a huge lake fronting homes built on the Eagle River Valley hillsides might be appealing to some people, it did not come to pass.
