Mosquitoes, Fishing and Hiking at Quartz Lake

Mike and I spent this weekend at Quartz Lake just NW of Delta Junction (about 90 miles SE of North Pole).  We drove down on Friday and were greeted by a swarm of mosquitoes. Mike and I spent most of the weekend swatting at the pesky little pests.  We thought of calling it the Great Mosquito Massacre, but I'm not sure we won the battle!  That evening, Mike and I wasted a few hours fishing for rainbow trout to no avail. 

Saturday was filled with sunshine, blue skies and a temperature of 65 degrees.  Mike and I took advantage of the nice weather and hiked 1.7 miles up to Bert Mountain.  Bert Mountain was named after an old sourdough who ran a roadhouse in the area.  After an 850 foot elevation gain, Mike and I came to an open, flower-covered meadow and took some time to catch our breath, have some trail mix and solve the world's problems.  If you don't hear from us, you know we have become instant billionaires as a result of all the solutions we conjured up on that mountain!

Saturday evening was filled with a steady rain.  So, Mike and I played gin-rummy and Yahtzee for five hours before calling it a night and hitting the hay.

This morning, we packed up our camp in a cold rain and drove back to North Pole where the sun was shining and it was 75 degrees.  Oh, there is no place like home!

 Mike uses a head net to keep the mosquitoes away.

 He then resorts to an electric swatter.

 Kristie stirs the fire and swats mosquitoes.

Wow, what a multi-tasker!

Hiking to Bert Mountain

 Flowers

 Fishing