Josh and I have discovered a great local spot for hiking and wildlife observation.  Right now it’s really only good for hiking but in a few months this wetland will become a migratory “hot spot” of sorts for a variety of waterfowl.  Creamer’s Field is a waterfowl sanctuary that has been created on land that used to be a working dairy.  We have been back four times in the past week for some cross-country hiking while the weather continues to warm up.  So far the best wildlife we can come up with are these little guys:

As we move into spring we should be seeing a lot more – if you are lucky you can even catch a glimpse of a moose at Creamer’s once in awhile.  Here are a couple of general shots of the field in "front" of the preserve:

This next photo was taken from one of the hiking trails:

Creamer’s Field is also home to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which provides a link for the refuge on their website as well.  This site mentions the “Boreal Trail” – this is currently our favorite one to visit; once the waterfowl starts moving in we’ll move off to the other trails as well.  This is a photo taken on the trail:

The Boreal Trail is just beautiful, and guides you through some really lovely forest.  PLUS – look what I found!

I call this the Thinkin’ Tree.  I make Josh stop every time we hike the trail so I can sit under it and – you guessed it – think.

I am sitting on the bench under the tree but as you can see, Josh is really willing to sacrifice his body for photography.

One of the best parts about Creamer’s Field so far is being allowed to observe one of the most hilarious, puzzling sports in Alaska.  Now, I am getting used to seeing mushing sleds on top of cars but I doubt I’ll ever get used to this:

This is called skijoring and until your hair has been ruffled by the breeze created when a human flies past you on skis while being pulled by dogs, you haven’t lived.