Sand Dunes Day

Geographically we sit up in an inlet.  Anchorage proper has water on two sides.  The South has the Turnagain Arm and the West the Cook Inlet.  The East has Mountains.  North follows the Cook Inlet to "the Valley" or Wasilla/Palmer area.  We sit between Anchorage and Palmer.  Our tides turn usually two times a day.  This means that the Inlet and the Arm will fill full of water and then receed leaving the ocean to look like a huge dried up mud hole.  They call them the MUD FLATS.  Super creative I know.  But these flats are totally dangerous.  It appears to be walkable, but many are more like quicksand.  So only to view, but not experience.  Not that any of this really matters to this post, but to help gain our bearings and understanding of our ocean.  Alaskan oceans I've decided are not like the typical oceans I grew up knowing about.

 

ANY HOW!!!  There is a very large park called Kincaid Park in the Southwest corner of Anchorage.  It is full of bike trails, hiking and walking trails...AND...wait for it....A SANDY BEACH!  Yes, it is true...there IS a sandy beach in Alaska like the beaches you are all familiar with only not so close to the water.  That's right.  Like I said...everyone has a huge pile of beach sand in the middle of a park not touching the ocean.  Right? (Special thanks to Manda Hanzon for taking our kids here and introducing our family to this place while we were away on the Upper Russian.  Yes, she watched our kids for three days.  She rocks!)

So there you have it.  An Alaskan Beach!!!!   But the kids LOVED IT!  You have to hike to the dune head from the parking area.  Climb up the large sand dune.  (Think horrible hills training for track or cross country.)  And then the kids play up and down the sides.  It's like you are jumping off the edge of the world.  It is a great escape.  We spent the whole day there.  Next summer we will go more often.

Aubrey, Evelyn, Abigail, Miss Lucy and Eben hiding out in the shade.  It was a beautiful day.

This is the South end of the Sand Dunes.  So beautiful.  Not camera nice...the sand is super fine and gets everywhere.  Glad I brought it though.

 I LOVE this woman.  She is so much fun.  Such a wonderful friend and example.  Kohen is the same age as Dallin.  Then she has Evelyn and Abigail.  They also have a dog named "BEAR" in Alaska.  It sure if fun seeing people's reaction when you call his name.  We have fun together on our "outings" with the family. And Aubrey adores Miss Abby.  Such great firends.  We are blessed.

 

 This is some of the boys:  Nate, Tate and Stephen.  These boys never wanted to leave.

 This is looking down at them.  It doesn't look steep, but it is.  Trust me.  And it is not fun climbing back up.  These kids got a great workout ALL day long.

 Dallin and Kohen enjoyed climbing up and down and making themselves "homes" in the hillside.

 They also built a castle and many tunnels.

 This gives you an idea of the dropoff of this sand dune hill.  They loved jumping off the edges.

 The girls even became mermaids!!!  Aren't they the prettiest, silliest and most friendly mermaids?

 

These two girls played so well together and became inseperable.  Such cuties!

This is looking up from about halfway down.  I had to retrieve many fallen buckets and balls in the thick devils club.  Yep, that poisonous plant that lined the base of the dunes.

 The gang of boys:  Dallin, Nate, Stephen, Kohen and Tate!  We had to hang them upside down to get out all of the sand that was in their pockets and any other nook or cranny.

Looking down at Stephen as he climbed back up.   

Saying our last goodbye to the Sand Dune and the Turnagain Arm/Cook Inlet.  Depends on which direction you are looking.  Kenai Penninsula is what you are seeing across the water.  Until next summer!!!

More Russian and Halibut Charter Fun

Our heaven on earth for a few days.  It is hard to take in the beauty of this earth.  It is magical and amazing.  I find my self awe-struck all the time.  Below are just some of the fun I caught with my camera.  I am not a photographer so some are better than others.  And the pictures can hardly do the experience justice.

The Daily Gear needed to go on our Daily Path that included several Bear sleeping quarters.  Although we never came directly into the path of a bear they left traces for us to know they were there.  Perhaps we never saw them because I was constantly waving a bell above my head and singing songs loudly or hollering "Hey Bear, Oh, Bear!".  I wanted to see a bear, but not really.  I just didn't know how I would react.  Would I run, scream, get eaten?  Would he be friendly?  I just want it to be under my terms.  No suprise visits.

We would walk under this green archway several times daily to and from the fishing holes.

This is the paths that we would follow...do you see it?  A machette would have been helpful.

The vegetation was so tall that it was nearly impossible to see beyond what was right in front of you.  It was crazy.  I'm sure that there were bears all around us constantly, but our noise kept them a safe distance.  And our singing kept them annoyed.  But we still did wish for a bear sighting (at a safe distance of course).

 

For my Arizona Family:  We found An Alaskan Cactus (If there is such a thing?)

And just as we were about to leave...while viewing the lake from the river...from behind a stump...you guessed it....BEAR!!!!  We had joked the whole time that because we were always saying, "HEY BEAR, OH BEAR!" as we walked that we needed a "code" word for the real bear.  We decided on TED!  And when the moment came.  I could hardly speak.  I was frozen.  I kept muttering, "Jess, water.  Water, Jess.  Jess.  Jess.  Water."  After being stunned and amazed I got only one shot off.  So much for TED!  The good news is that I didn't run or scream.  I froze.

It was a perfectly lovely trip to the Upper Russian Lake.  But now with bags packed and the cabin cleaned for the next guests, we said our goodbye...for this year.  And flew back home.  Below is yet another glacier and the amazingly brilliant green glacial water.

And now the adventure continues.  We landed in Lake Hood again.  Only to travel by car, back down to the Kenai for some Halibut and Salmon fishing.  You see, we could not fish for Salmon in the Upper Russian Lake.  That is where they spawn.  So we could see them but not catch them.  So a fishing we would go.  After a short 3 hour drive.

 So my photography skills failed me from this point on.  I was just enjoying the moments.  And frankly, I am not very good with the camera anyway.  However, Jess is and she caught some amazing shots.  I will now direct you to her blog where you can see Float Plane, Upper Russian, and Last of Alaska.  I did however, steal some of the pictures of our halibut and salmon fishing for your enjoyment.  WARNING:  Her blog will make you want to have your own adventure in Alaska.  I'm fine with it as long as I can enjoy it with you! 

Jess caught the first fish.  So she got to kiss the fish.  It was said to bring us good luck.

I caught a big one so true to form...I got to kiss it also.  It was so much fun! (The trip, not kissing the fish.  Pictures I think prove my "joy" in this tradition.)  I loved every bit of the experience.  I even started baiting others lines on the boat.  It was a fantastic experience. Learning how to do things is always exciting to me.  I will gladly do it again and again.  The group we went out with was amazing. Captain Travis and his one man crew were excellent.  Wish we lived closer to them. 

 

I seriously had such a blast with this girl!  We made some amazing memories.  I couldn't think of a way to make it any better.  We didn't get sick even after only getting a few hour of sleep.  The boys fished like crazy.  They could have and would have fished more if we had let them.  But alas, it was time to head home and process our catches.  So we did.  I should have gotten a picture of the freezer full of fish but I didn't.  But below is some of the catch pre-process courtesy of our kitchen table.

Admittedly, this was a memory of a lifetime.  It was a treasured experience that I will not easily forget.  I am grateful for the opportunity to experience these wonderful places.  I get excited about sharing them with my kids next year and in the many years to come.  I love Alaska!!!

Russian Float Adventure Day 1

Our family has been so blessed to know this wonderful family.  Picture stolen from her blog.  She is also an amazing photographer.  http://jessicacarneyphotography.blogspot.com/




From the moment we even had the possibility of moving to Alaska, we were planning this EPIC trip.  Ben had poured over maps of Alaska.  He being a fisherman like Dwayne meant that he had to find the PERFECT spot.  After many months of careful planning.  The trip had come.  I was thrilled to be with them.  They are some of the most amazing friends and people I know. 

The highlight was a float plane ride to the Upper Russian Lake and staying in the Forest Service Cabin for three nights.  We headed to Lake Hood.  The busiest seaplane base in the world.  We were very excited.  The weather was perfect! 

This was our pilot.  We flew in a Beaver.  It was a great flight.  At take off you pass right over Ted International Airport.  Boy do you feel small sometimes.  I felt like that this whole flight.  I don't think pictures can do justice for the magnificents of Alaska. 
 
The mud flats and tundra/ swamp of the Inlet and Turnagain.  Below is the beautiful view across the Cook Inlet.  You could see so far it was amazing.  We were all speechless as we just sat and took it in.
 

 A glacier named Skilak or Hidden Lake?  There are so many I can never remember them all.

 A view down the Russian River.  You can hike all the way in from the highway or from Cooper Landing.  We considered doing this, but then the trip would not be EPIC.

 The glassy lake before our landing.  The pilot did awesome.  These landing are actually the most dangerous.  You loose your sense of depth perception due to the reflection.

 After unloading we said goodbye to our pilot.  He would return to pick us up in three days.  We hoped.  But for now, we were ready to explore our new surroundings. 

 And this is our little cabin in the middle of the forest sitting on a lake in bear country and fishing heaven.  I was amazed at how lush and green it was.  This cabin was perfect!

 We took a little bit of time to enjoy our view and get settled in.  It did not take long for us to want to get to the more important business of FISHING and EXPLORING!

 We practically lived in our waders for three days.  We fished and explored and had a blast.  It was totally refeshing to be away from everything but the beauty of the earth.  It was a little piece of heaven.

This is a fun picture of the road less traveled.  Now you see Jess, Now you don't. 

            
Day one completed and two more to go.  I took many pictures and then just sat and enjoyed it.  There was so much to enjoy around us.  We carried around bear spray, bells, guns and our loud voices.  There was evidence of bears everywhere.  Did we see any?