Well, we have gotten behind on our blog. We have been running from one National Park to another. I wish I could go back in time and thank the people that fought for these beautiful, amazing places! Look for Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands(snowstorm!) and Arches post soon…
It seemed crazy that we had to drive almost 400 miles from Sequoia to Death Valley National Park, since if we went straight east over the Sierra Nevada Mountains it would take us right into Death Valley. Unfortunately, there is no road running over the mountains from Sequoia. 🙂 Luckily, we were mostly on the 4 lane highway.
We were able to camp in Death Valley at Watchman Campground, which made it very convenient. We dry camped(which means we did not have hookups for electricity and water), so we had to use the water in our tank sparingly and could only use our generator for electricity during specific generator hours. Here are some highlights from our time here:
We started our first night with a fire. It was in the high 60s and was just beautiful! We enjoyed watching Kat dance with glow sticks. It was too funny! You had to be there to appreciate it. 🙂
Can you see the glow stick?Kat also was wearing a headlamp. Very entertaining! 🙂We love the National Park Visitor Centers! Great info and kids get their Junior Ranger books.Leaving the visitor center, kids were excited to see a Road Runner.Gotta take the windows out since it is 80 degrees!
Headed to Mosaic Canyon for a hike in the marble polished canyon. Very cool slot canyon about 1/4 mile up trail. Kids climbed up to the top of a hill together and were so proud of themselves. Such great bonding! Love it!!
Cool Marble wallsHeaded up into Mosaic Canyon
Hiking Break!
Kane and Kat hiking up a hill together.They made it to the top!
Next we headed north, drove by Scotty’s Castle then on to Ubehebe Crater. Kane wanted to hike 600 feet down into the crater, so down we went! He was so excited to be in a crater!!
Kane hiking down into the crater.Kane made it to the bottom!Cool sandstone colors!
Day 2-We drove up to Dante’s View(5,476 ft.) which is along the crest of the Black Mountains overlooking Death Valley. On clear days, you can see the lowest(Badwater Basin) and highest (Mount Whitney in Sierra Nevadas)points in the continental US from this overlook. We could only see the lowest point on this day. Kane was excited to use the tripod Scott lent him!
View from Dante’s View. See the salt flats?Kane was excited to set up the tripod and timer to take a pic.
Then we headed to Devil’s Golf Course, which is a large salt pan on the floor of Death Valley.
Devil’s Golfcourse
We had to walk carefully, so we did not trip and cut ourselves on the sharp salt chrystals.
Artist’s Palette Drive-Multi colored volcanic and sedimentary hills. Kids wanted to hike the trail together, so we sat and watched them.
Headed down the trail
Kat helping pack up the tripod.They were so excited to hike alone together.They spotted a lizard!
Then on the the lowest point in the continental USA(282 ft. below sea level). We attended a Ranger program here about water in Death Valley.
See the Sea Level sign on the side of the mountain?Kane was hot and ready to go cool off.
We ended the day buying a pass to take a shower at the Ranch of Furnace Creek! We were so excited to find out that we could use the pool also. The pool is spring fed, so the warm water felt perfect. The hot shower afterwards capped the night off!! We don’t get these in the RV(only so much hot water and can’t take too long or it fills up the tank).
We headed south to Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Park after Yosemite. We stayed at Sequoia RV Ranch about 4 miles from Sequoia National Park entrance. Unfortunately, the campground in the park did not have sites big enough for our bus(we need at least 45 feet in length), but it was nice to have hookups(water, electricity and sewer) since we dry camped in Yosemite.
Gotta have our pic with the sign!
We started our first day at the second oldest National Park, Sequoia. We stopped at the visitor center and looked at the exhibits and our kids picked up the Junior Ranger books then we headed to the Giant Forest Museum and the Big Trees Trail. We were so surprised that we started in the foothills at about 1700 feet elevation and as we followed the road up the mountain to the Giant Forest Museum and Big Trees Trail how the landscape changed to coniferous trees around 5,000 ft. We visited the museum and attended a ranger led program then we did a short hike through the Big Trees Trail.
Walking along Big Trees TrailThe sequoias are huge!
Next, we headed to the General Sherman Tree, which is the world’s largest tree by volume. It is also very old, somewhere between 2,300-2,700 years old.
Headed to see the General Sherman TreeLargest tree on earth by volume
So Impressive!
Driving through Tunnel Log
Our final stop of the day was Moro Rock(granite dome rock-6725 ft elevation). It was only a 1/2 mile hike to the top, but the 400 steps made it a nice little workout. I have to say that having our kids with us, helped me to not freak out over how steep it was at some points of the staircase. We got to the top just in time to see the sun setting. Definitely worth the scary parts! 🙂
Headed to the top of Moro RockSee Scott down below?
The view to the west was breathtaking!We could not have timed this better…
Day 2
Scott hurt his back in Yosemite, so unfortunately, he rested and our kids and I headed back to Sequoia to hike Crescent Meadows and tour Crystal Cave. Crescent Meadows had a nice hike that passed Crescent Meadow(John Muir called it the Gem of the Sierras) into the woods to a little cabin that was built into a downed sequoia. Kane loved seeing the little fish swimming in the small stream. We took our time on this hike and so on the way back to the jeep, I had to play a round of tag to get Kat to run, so we would not be late for our cave tour. 🙂
Lunch by Crescent MeadowsJohn Muir loved this meadow.The width of the sequoias was amazing!It just touches my heart to see Kane being so sweet to Kat. She was tired and he gave her a piggyback ride.This little cabin was built into a sequoia. Hale Tharp lived here in the summers from 1861 to 1890 when Sequoia became a National Park.
Kane was really excited to see Crystal Cave. We had to hike 1/2 mile down a winding path. Kat was a little concerned after the tour guide told us to watch out for the bear, the bees and poison ivy. “Crystal Cave is a treasure-cavern of ornate marble polished by subterranean streams and decorated with curtains of icicle-like stalactites and mounds of stalagmites” per the website. The polished marble was beautiful!
View heading down the mountain after Crystal Cave tour.
Day 3 – King’s Canyon National Park
We headed to King’s Canyon on our third day. We took a shortcut, so it only took us about 1 hour and 45 minutes from our campground. Since 1943, both parks(Sequoia and Kings Canyon) are managed under one superintendent. There is a grove of Sequoias(the third largest in the world, General Grant is located there) that actually was the General Grant National Park(it became a NP on October 1, 1890(6 days after Sequoia became a NP). In 1940 it became King’s Canyon NP and included the area east of there(this area comprises 90% of the park). We stopped at the visitor center and our kids turned in their Junior Ranger books and earned their badge. We then headed to the General Grant Grove of sequoias.
The sign is made from granite and wood from a sequoia.Kids loved walking through a fallen sequoia.General Grant Tree – third largest sequoia by volume in the world.
We found out that you gotta drive the 30 miles(1 hour drive) passed the General Grant Grove to get to “Kings Canyon.” It is breathtaking! We followed the winding mountain rode down, passing a narrow vertical-walled gorge before reaching the valley floor. We headed to almost the end of the road to Zumwalt Meadows Hike. We had a picturesque view of the Kings River with huge cliffs rising above it. We followed the trail along the river to a large suspension footbridge. We continued through the woods briefly to reach the Zumwalt Meadow loop. We followed the trail around the meadow to a slope that we had to climb which was made by small blocks of stone then over a rocky slope at the foot of immense cliffs. It truly was so beautiful! It reminded me alot of Yosemite with it being a glacial carved valley with granite cliffs. Such a blessing that this land is protected, so we all can enjoy it! The Sierra Nevada Mountains are amazing!! One thing that I did not know is that Mount Whitney is the highest peak(14, 505 ft.) in the continental USA and it is located in Sequoia. Unfortunately, you can’t see it from any road in the park. You have to backpack in to see it! Next time!! 🙂
Crossing the river on the Zumwalt Meadows hike.See the granite mountains. Reminded us of Yosemite.We had to hike through some rocks.Another amazing glacial carved valley!
We were disappointed that, the day, we were supposed to go to Olympic National Park, the Shutdown occurred. We had to go to Plan B. Head to the state parks! We planned on going to Cape Disappointment State Park after leaving Seattle, but ended up going south out of Olympia(after visiting the capitol-post for another day) instead of west, so we decided to head to Astoria, Oregon(which is right across the Columbia River from Washington) and stay there. What a blessing! We camped at Fort Stevens State Park. This fort was built during the Civil War and was active through WWII(was part of a 3 fort defense system at the mouth of the Columbia River). The North had concerns about the British attacking from Canada or the west to support the South. British and France were selling arms to the South for cotton and tobacco. Fascinating history, that I was not familiar with.
We spent our first day in Astoria. One of the big reasons for visiting Astoria was to take our kids to Fort Clatsop which is where Lewis and Clark wintered 1805-1806 after they spotted the Pacific Ocean. Well, I did not realize that Fort Clatsop is part of the National Park Service. So it was all gated up!
Well, we got a picture by the sign!Gates are closed to Fort Clatsop 🙁
We headed to Astoria after that with a quick stop to the Visitor’s Center. Our friends, the Smiths, had told us about a fish and chips place that they loved. We could not imagine it being better than the halibut we had eaten in Alaska, especially when we realized it was fried albacore tuna. Well, it was unbelievable! It was so delicious!!
Lunch!Best fried albacore tuna ever!
Another thing that Astoria is famous for is movies. There have been so many movies made here like: The Goonies, Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy, Short Circuit, Into the Wild, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, etc. Well, last night we had family movie and watched the The Goonies. Scott was shocked that I had never seen it! It was so cool seeing different places from the movie around town. We also drove by the elementary school that Kindergarten Cop was filmed at.
Goonies House
We headed to Astoria Column following the Goonies house. The Astoria Column is a tower that sits on the highest point of Astoria, where it provided a spectacular view of the city, Columbia River, bay, forest and surrounding mountains. Our friends, the Smiths, had told us about purchasing airplanes from the gift shop that our kids could fly from the top. They were so excited! They had a blast flying the airplanes off. Kane climbed the tower up and down 4 times(he got his workout that day), rushing down to get their planes and going back up to fly them again.
Getting ready to go fly the planes off the top!164 stairs to the top! Kids could not wait to fly their planes.Astoria ColumnSee Scott and Kane at the top?View from top of Astoria Column
We finished the day at the docks to check out the barking sea lions. There were at least 30-40 on the docks.
Sea Lions on the docks in Astoria
Day 2 – October 4, 2013
We biked around Fort Stevens State Park Campground and visited the Fort and Battery. While biking Kane and Kat looked for mushrooms. They are really into looking for Boletes and Chanterilles. We ended up at the beach where we saw the Peter Iredale Shipwreck from 1906.
Visiting the Fort StevensThe fort with the Columbia River behind it.Crawford FamilyKane spotted mushrooms on our bike ride.We thought this was a King Bolete, but it ended up being a Slippery Jack. Glad we didn’t eat it! We would not have died, but we would have had some GI problems.Mushroom DiscussionKane searching for mushrooms in the forest.This is what is left of the Peter Iredale Shipwreck from 1906.Beach at Fort Stevens State ParkLook who spelled her name…Can’t beat a campfire and smores to end the day!
Day 3 October 5, 2013
We wanted to go clamming in Alaska, but missed the minus tide(which is a negative tide or unusually low tide). Good news for us-it was a minus tide this weekend! Kids and Scott headed to town to get clam gun and license in the morning. Then kids and I went to the Ranger led program on Mushrooms. It is so cool seeing their interest and knowledge grow about mushrooms.
Mushroom Program at campground.
After, the mushroom program we went fishing at Lake Coffenbury in our campground. Kids caught multiple teeny yellow perch and Kat ended up falling off the dock into the lake, but was okay.
Kat caught the first 8!Kane caught the next 5 after Kat fell off the dock.My wet little Kat.
After dinner, we headed to the beach for our first try at clamming. We went about 1 hour before minus tide. We headed to the beach and started looking for “clam show(a dimple, a doughnut or keyhole in the sand).” When we found our first clam show, we centered our clam gun over the dimple and twisted it down about 6-10inches. Then we placed our finger over the air vent and sucked up the sand and clam(sometimes we had to suck up 2 or 3 times to catch the clam, they dig fast). Kids were so excited each time we found one! We ended up collecting 6 razor clams.
Beautiful sunsetOur first razor clamAnother clamKane trying out the clam gun.Looking for “clam shows.”Our clamsA naked clam
Day 4 – October 6, 2013
This post is getting long, so I will just bullet point today:
Scott watched the Chiefs game
Kim went to the Laundry Mat
Scott and Kids found King Boletes in the woods
Clamming for the Second Day(not as good as last night(super windy), but we still found 4, thanks to Kane(he found the “clam show” and dug 3 of the 4 himself)
It is so windy!Kane is ready to find some clams!Kane searching through the sand for a clam.King Boletus
Scott cleaning the clams.Kat getting ready to drop the clam into the boiling water.
Day 5 – October 7, 2013
Today was dedicated to Lewis and Clark. The kids have been learning about Lewis and Clark since we started on our journey. I was so excited about them being able to see the places that Lewis and Clark have been and to think about what it took to survive their journey. So we went to some of the places around the Columbia River and the Oregon Coast that they were. We started at Dismal Nitch, where Lewis and Clark were pinned against the rocky shore and they took shelter from the strong waves, winds and torrential rain of a Pacific Northwest Storm. It was the first time Clark described the situation as “dangerous” on their long journey.
Much better weather today than November 8-15, 1805. 🙂
Station Camp-Lewis and Clark got their first full view of the Pacific Ocean at this point. (Sorry no picture).
Cape Disappointment- Lewis and Clark finally reached the Pacific Ocean here. They explored the step bluffs and forested hollows of the cape.
Lewis and Clark Interpretive CenterView of Interpretive Center from Cape Disappointment LighthouseCape Disappointment Lighthouse built in 1856. The mouth of the Columbia River is called the Graveyard of Ships due to the number of shipwrecks.
Seaside, Oregon -Salt Works
We visited the Salt Works where replicas of the structures (known as “cairns”) where Lewis and Clark’s men boiled sea water to evaporate the water and gather salt to season their food and preserve their meat. These cairns were ovens built of rock and shaped like an upside down “u”. Wood was piled beneath the rocks and a fire built and kept constantly going. Between December of 1805 and February of 1806, three men worked with five brass kettles boiling 24 hours a day, going through over 1400 gallons of seawater to make enough salt for the expedition to use on their return home. They were able to make three quarts to one gallon each day and ended up with over 20 gallons of salt. It is amazing to think of them hiking 15 miles from their camp to make salt. Then having to haul it back.
Salt Works ReplicaPicture of what Saltworks would have looked like.Walking down the beach in SeasideLewis and Clark statue commemorating their 18 month, 4000 mile journey to the Pacific Ocean. This was designed as the official “End of the Trail” for Lewis and Clark.Seaside is known for their saltwater taffy.
Who can resist?After a full day of history, we had to stop at the arcade for a bit!
Last stop of the day was Cannon Beach where Lewis and 12 of his expedition traveled to see a beached whale. Tillamook Native Americans were already there boiling the blubber, so Clark bartered with them for 300 lbs. of blubber and some whale oil.
We loved visiting Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach. It was low tide when we got there, so we were able to go tidepooling. A tide pool is a puddle of water left when the ocean recedes during low tide. It is a great time to spot marine animals and plants. We spotted barnacles, anemones, seastars and hermit crabs. Our kids really enjoy spotting the marine animals.
Piggyback rideHeaded to Haystack RockLove this picture of Kat.They love tide pooling!Kane touching the seastars.Looking for sea creatures in the tide pools.We spotted so many beautiful anemones!Look at the big Seastars!
Vancouver! We had the best time here even with getting lost at first. We started with missing our turn to our RV park which made us go across the Lionsgate Bridge into the city of Vancouver. We took the first turn right and ended up in Stanley Park which is a 1000 acre city park that is almost entirely surrounded by the Pacific Ocean(more details later in the post). As our big RV rubbed the branches of the big western red cedars, I dared not look at Scott. 🙂 Then we came out into downtown where the streets are narrow and I did not have a good map of Vancouver. God was looking out for us, because we ended up making a big circle and found our RV park pretty easily once we got back across the bridge. Did I mention that right before this we had been in bad traffic and it took us a hour to go a few miles?
I had read somewhere that after China and Hong Kong, Vancouver is third for the best Chinese food in the world. After doing some research we headed to Chongqing on Robson Street(this street is in the heart of downtown Vancouver and is known for its shopping and dining) for dinner. We shared pot stickers, mongolian beef and sweet and sour chicken(this was the best we have ever had). Afterwards, our kids wanted to go to the japanese store next door. Kat bought some Pockys(biscuit sticks coated with strawberry) and we bought some mango gummies and japanese “starburst” that were lemon with a crunch in the middle. Yummy!
Outside the Japanese StoreFirst night in VancouverDelicious Chinese Food!
Kat looking at the moon jellyfish. We saw these in Alaska.Kids watching the belugasGetting ready for the 4D showFront of AquariumPacific White Sided Dolphins
Monday, we headed to the Aquarium in Stanley Park(a 1,000 acre peninsula of British Columbian rainforest with hiking and biking trails, beaches, and incredible ocean views on every side). Our friends, the Fites, gave us a book a few years ago called “500 Places to take Your Kids before they Grow Up.” Vancouver Aquarium is one of the 500! Our favorites were the Pacific white sided dolphins, the belugas and the jellyfish(they had over 15 types of jellyfish from around the world). We had seen the moon and lion’s mane jellyfish in Alaska, so our kids were excited to see them close up at the aquarium. We also enjoyed the Sponge Bob Great Jelly Rescue 4D Movie(it is like a 3D movie with motion, water squirting at us and smells released to correlate with the movie). I can’t imagine sitting through a regular movie in 4D. I would totally be over stimulated!
Tuesday, we headed to Gastown. Gastown was Vancouver’s first downtown core and was named after “Gassy” Jack Deighton who opened the first saloon in 1867. We enjoyed seeing Gastown’s most famous landmark which is the Steam Powered Clock(small replica of London’s Big Ben). It was cool to see it chime and blow steam on the hour(I unfortunately ran to the restroom and missed most of it 🙂 ). We headed to Chinatown after seeing the clock blow. Chinatown seemed a little sketchy and the lady at the RV park said don’t go past a certain street in Chinatown, because it is the East St. Louis of Vancouver. We walked a couple blocks then headed to the library. Yes, the library again! It is beautiful! It is shaped like the Colosseum in Rome(it was supposed to be representative of the Library of Alexandria). 4 architect designs were submitted to the public in 1990 and this is the one that won. We spent a hour in the children’s area reading. I love that our kids love books so much! It probably helps that their Nana Kane is a reading teacher and has been giving them books before they were born and we have been reading to them since they were in my belly.
Gastown Steam ClockReading in the LibraryVancouver Library
Guess what we did for dinner? We headed back to Chongqing for more Chinese. I just loved our walk down Robson seeing all different types of people, stores, restaurants. It is hard explaining to Kane and Kat why someone is homeless and especially why the guy sleeping on the ground has a dog. “How can they have a dog?” they asked. Such a beautiful, clean city! It is amazing to see all the high rise apartments that actually look nice.
Yesterday, we went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. It was originally built in 1889, so the man who owned the land could get to the other side of the river without having to hike 20 kilometers to get to the other side. Fortunately, they have updated it since the days of hemp rope, but it still swayed as we walked across. It is 450 feet across and 230 feet above the Capilano River. On the other side(which is a coastal rainforest), we got to venture from magnificent Douglas Fir to another on a series of elevated suspension bridges called the Treetops Adventure. The finally thrill was the Cliffwalk. The Cliffwalk was a cantilevered, suspended walkways jutting out from the granite cliff above the Capilano River. Kat was so excited that I totally had to pretend that I was too! I almost freaked out when I had to walk on the glass area where you could see down. Glad she didn’t notice! 🙂
Love them!Capilano Suspension BridgeSilly KaneTreetop AdventureKane looking for fish on the Suspension Bridge
Today, we headed back to Stanley Park for biking. Our friends, the Marings, were in Vancouver a few weeks ago and highly recommended going biking around Stanley Park. We had the best time biking today. The weather was so perfect: blue sky, sun, in the 50s. There is bike and walking path around Stanley Park. It runs along the Seawall. 90% of our bike ride was next to the ocean. We biked by the harbor, we saw 4 sea planes land, we had a picnic that overlooked Coal Harbour and Lionsgate Bridge, we watched men fishing, we sat and played on the beach, we played at the playground, we gave thanks to God for this incredible day! Truly, we feel so blessed!!
Biking around Stanley ParkLooking out toward North Vancouver across Coal HarbourPicnic timeHike in the RainforestHuge Maple LeafKane was so content to watch this man fishingLionsgate BridgeAt the BeachKat collecting crab shells and putting them into a pileCool TreeKane in the tree
We planned on taking the Aquabus ferry to Granville Island to the Market, but ended up driving over since it was getting late in the day. The Public Market was filled with fruit and vegetable, seafood, sausage, and meat vendors. As well as a variety of hand crafts and artisan type food vendors. I just loved the energy in the air! We bought a few things then walked around the island a little bit. Lots of cute stores, selling lots of cute things(its weird not being able to buy something, we are on a tight budget). We walked down to the marina and checked out the yachts. Kat wants to live on one now. 🙂 Should we trade in our RV for a sailboat?
Ice cream at the Market at Granville IslandView of Vancouver from Granville IslandLooking at the yachts
The last thing we did today was laundry and then I took our kids to the heated pool at our campground. They were so excited! Such a fun filled day with our kids!! Precious time. I just want to bottle days like this up and save them.
It was a rainy couple of days in Valdez, Alaska. We think this town could be absolutely magnificent, but since the mountains around the town were covered in moving clouds and mist the whole time we were there, we are not sure. We went out to the Fish Hatchery yesterday(9-10-13). We saw a black bear close up(within 20 feet of the jeep). He was out on the sand flats during low tide looking for a little lunch. 🙂 It was really cool seeing the salmon swimming up the river in the hatchery. We also saw seals going after the salmon. There were about 10 seals swimming around the back of the hatchery looking and diving for salmon.
Scott and Kane went fishing the next day by the hatchery, while Kat and I made some Fall M&M cookies. Another rainy day in paradise! 🙂 Kane caught a 7lb silver salmon and they saw seals, sea otters and sea lions and another black bear.
After the boys got back, Kat and I headed to the library for the second day in the row. She loves that place as much as me! I loved seeing the old hardback Nancy Drew books!!
Even though it rained the whole time we were in Valdez, it was great to see and the drive there was spectacular! Richardson Highway that took us to Valdez was Alaska’s first highway(it all started with a 5 foot wide pack trail). This goes back to the Klondike Gold Rush, when thousands of people were trying to find the easiest route to the gold fields. Rugged mountain towers on all sides of us as we drove through lush green and yellow(trees are turning) valleys and wild rivers. Our favorite part was Keystone Canyon. It is a narrow canyon with straight up and down rock on all sides. We saw multiple beautiful waterfalls falling off steep cliffs. Such a beautiful drive!
Black Bear hears us!Library time!Great day to make M&M cookies!He caught a Silver!Kane fishing near Solomon HatcheryGushing waterfall!Can you see the mountains in the clouds?Do you see the fall colors?
Last Saturday, before we left Seward, we headed to Exit Glacier(part of Kenai Fjords NP) in the rain. This is the only accesible road in the Kenai Fjords and one of the most visited glaciers in Alaska since you can hike right up to the glacier. We had a short 2 mile round trip hike to the edge of the glacier. Then we were off to Anchorage for 2 days.
Here’s our boat!It was cold out!Aialik Glacier-see the ice floating in the water?
We are behind in our posts, but trying to get caught up. Last Thursday, we took a 6 hour marine cruise from Seward to the Kenai Fjords National Park. The Kenai Fjords sit at the edge of the North Pacific Ocean. It contains Harding Icefield(which is one of the largest icefields in the US) and feeds about 38 glaciers. The park was named for the numerous fjords that were carved by the glaciers moving down the mountains from the ice fields. Going by boat is the primary way to see this park. We saw dall porpoises(they look like orcas), sea otters, seals, sea lions, bald eagles, puffins flying, blue glaciers, and magnificent views. Scott, I, and a few others on the front of the boat saw a brief view of a humpback whale(saw come to surface and saw tail), but was really far out. Kids did not see it, but they were thrilled to see everything else and they were totally excited about the “all you can eat” buffet. 🙂 Kids earned their Junior Ranger badges on the cruise also, since there was a Kenai Fjords Park Ranger on the boat. Aialik Glacier was our favorite! It was magnificent-so blue, big and beautiful!
Aialik Glacier
Kane getting his Jr. Ranger badge.Kat getting her Jr. Ranger badge.
We arrived in Seward last night. Seward is a little harbor town that sits at the head of Resurrection Bay. It is also known as the “Gateway to the Kenai Fjords.” It is hard to believe that we are already at our last stop on the Kenai Peninsula and that it is September! Where did the time and my schedule go? Guess I am learning how to let go, at least, a little. 🙂
The rain poured down in buckets last night. I was very thankful not to be in a tent! Yesterday afternoon I paid for our water taxi to take us to Caines Head State Park today, where we planned on hiking up the hill from North Beach to a little over 2 miles to Fort McGilvray(which sits in a tangle of trees 650 feet above the ocean. The fort was part of the Seward Harbor Defense plan of the early 1940s, and it was designed to prevent Japanese forces from infiltrating a key American supply line fed by the Alaska Railroad), so when I kept waking up to pouring down rain, I just wanted to cancel. Luckily, by the time we left, it was only lightly sprinkling. Yes, I was very thankful!
We ended up only having a little light rain, some sunshine, then just cloudy. We we were so thankful! We took a water taxi(10 minute boat ride) to the the North Beach of Caines Head State Park. They dropped us off about 12pm and we had to meet them back at the beach at 4pm.
Climbing into water taxiKane loved the boat rideThis is where the taxi dropped us off at North BeachDrop off at North Beach
It was a beautiful hike up to Fort McGilvray through the forest with sweeping views of the bay. We had lunch at a picnic table next to the gun mount overlooking the beautiful bay. Little info on the fort: Fort McGilvray was carved out of enough rock to build a series of concrete passageways and storage rooms, which were then camouflaged with dirt, trees and grass. On each of two outside corners of the facility, flanking the battery command station and overlooking the bay, stood a 6-inch M1 heavy artillery gun capable of striking a target more than 10 miles away. They started building it July of 1941 and was dismantled in 1944 only 90% complete.
Ammunition BunkerWalking the dark hallway to look at rooms of the fort.Outside view of fort
We took our flashlights and walked through the dark, lonely hallways. It was spooky. I felt like we were in a horror movie and the bad guy was going to jump out any minute.
Being here, made me want to learn more about WWII. It also reminded me of how thankful I am for our military that protect our country. I am thankful for Scott’s Grandpa who fought in WWII. I can’t even imagine what it was like to live through WWII. Seeing Fort McGilvray brought up some interesting questions from the kids also. Why did Japan want to attack the US? Are there wars going on now(yes, I have sheltered my kids)? Is the US friends with ______(I think they named every country)?
As we waited for the water taxi, Kat loved playing with the smooth, shale rocks while Kane tried to climb on some bigger ones as well as skip some of these(they were perfect skipping rocks). We enjoyed watching a sea otter floating and diving down into the ocean. The view across the bay was majestic with the mountains and glaciers. I am so blessed!
Lunch with a viewOne of 2 massive gun blocks, positioned at the edge of a 650 foot wall of rock, giving artillery officers and excellent view of Resurrection Bay. Mounted two 6 inch M1 guns that could shoot up to 10 miles away.Glacier across the bay
Yesterday, we did an all day nature tour across Kachemak Bay with the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies. They have a field station which is on a wooded isthmus between Peterson and China Poot Bay.
We were thrilled that we were the only ones on the tour! Private tour for the cost of a big group tour. We had our own nature guide, Kent, who was knowledgeable and great with our kids. We took a boat across to Peterson Bay where their field station is up on the hill in the woods. We landed on their dock, then had to cross on a hand pulled ferry. Kids thought this was very cool! We had to use some muscle to get to land!
Heading across Kachemak BayWe passed Gull Island on our way to Peterson Bay. Around 20,000 seabirds build nests on this little island.Kane searching for sealife on boat ride.
PULL! We had to pull rope to make ferry move from dock to island.
They have two high tides and two low tides here in Alaska, so we arrived about midway between low and high tide, so we hurried over to Otter Rock to do some tide pooling. We saw a couple lion mane’s jellyfish that were on land as we headed to Otter Rock. I did not realize they still can sting even if they are dead(this one was still alive, but got stuck when the tide went down).
Poor little Lion Mane Jelly got caught in low tide.
Kent taught the kids about Kelp, otherwise known as seaweed to people like me. He asked the kids if they had ever eaten Kelp and they said no. He asked if they had ever eaten ice cream and if they had, they had eaten Kelp. Kelp is used as to thicken products such as ice cream, salad dressing, jelly, toothpaste, gel. He cracked us all up when he squeezed some of the goo out of the kelp and put it in his hair. He said he was needing some gel! 🙂
Kent teaching our kids about Kelp. Wish I had a pic of kids faces when he put it in his hair.Kelp
Our kids were excited to see if they could find anemones, sea urchins, sea stars(not starfish, they are not fish 🙂 ), octopus, etc. Unfortunately, since it was not right at low tide or minus tide, we did not get to see all the creatures that you might normally see, but it still was fun! We saw a brown bear print in the sand on way to Otter Rock. In the tide pools, we saw little fish that live in the tide pools, christmas tree anemones, barnacles, kelp. It was awesome to explore the tidal pools with someone trained in environmental education. Great science lesson for the big kids also!
Bald Eagle on Otter Rock. This is where we went tide pooling.Looking in tide pools for sea creatures.
Kane climbing around Otter Rock.
After tide pooling, we headed up to the field station for lunch. Then we headed out into the forest to hike over to China Poot Bay for a little Geology Lesson. Our guide truly amazed us with his knowledge of all the plants, trees, and berries. The kids ate their way through berries on the hike. We found and tried these berries on our hike: trailing raspberries(Kane’s favorite till he tried the red currants), watermelon berries, red currants(they look similar to poisonous baneberry-kind of scary), black currants, high bush blueberries(Kat’s favorite), salmon berries and crow berries. It is no wonder that we passed fresh looking bear poop on the trail about 5 times. Unfortunately, we did not get to see the bear. We also passed lynx poop(kind of reminds me of a cat hairball). It is kind of funny, but we get excited about spotting poop and trying to figure out which animal it came from. 🙂
This pic cracks me up at the field station after lunch.Hiking through the forestLearning about berries
One of our stops on our hike, was at China Poot Bay. It looks out to Kachemak Bay State Park. It is soo very beautiful and serene! Our guide gave our kids a short geology lesson on the rock, chert, that is found there. His lesson included using an Oreo for demonstration purposes which the kids got to eat afterwards, so the were very in tune! 🙂 As we turned around to look back out to the ocean, we saw a sea otter about 15 feet away and 4 harbor seals farther out.
Geology lesson with oreo cookie.So happy to spot a sea otter!China Poot Bay-so beautiful!China Poot Bay4 Harbor Seals, 1 Sea Otter, and 1 Oreo Cookie makes for happy kids!
We loved seeing our kids excitement over moose poop, to a berry they had never tried, to hearing a bald eagle call(it was amazing to hear its call-it is so dainty, not like it is portrayed in movies), to a being able to hold a dragonfly(our guide rescued a dragonfly from the pond and Kane wanted to hold it). Our kids got to touch the sea creatures in the touch tanks after our hike. Kids were excited to be able to see sea stars, sea cucumber, and crabs and actually be able to hold them. What a day! Priceless!! We say “Thank you God” every day for this time together.
A lake on the trailBlueberry time by the lakeKane’s holding a dragonfly!Touch tank funLook at this!Waiting for our boat back to Homer!Boat ride back to Homer
I had read about a place called the Swan Lake Canoe Route in the Kenai National Wildlife. I did not know if we would have time or if the weather would cooperate for us to canoe some of the Swan Lake Canoe Route. This area is a big, flat region on the west side of the peninsula which is pockmarked by innumerable lakes connected by waterway or hiking trails(portages). This is area is big and remote. We decided to do it, even if it was raining.
First, we had to pick up the canoe at the rental place. They let us use a trailer to pull the canoe. Our first experience towing something with the Jeep. Scott said the jeep was proud to be doing the pulling for once. Then we had to drive 18 miles to the West Entrance of the Swan Lake Canoe Route(unfortunately, it was a gravel road that looked like it was in a war zone, and the trailer was a rattletrap, so it took us almost a hour to get there). And did I mention it was lightly raining? 🙂
We actually made it to lakes with canoe!Where’s the lake? Oh, down the trail about 800 yards.
We felt we had accomplished a lot by the time we got our canoe down to the first lake! 🙂 If we could actually get in the canoe and get on the lake without tipping it, then we really would be feeling great.
Canoe Lake 1(Yes, that is really the name of the lake) – This is the lake with started at.
I was so very happy when we got out on the lake! We paddled around Lake 1. I felt like we were alone in the world… we didn’t see a single soul once we left the road. The boys fished, Kat hung out and I tried to keep them far enough away from the shore. Kane caught a couple tiny ones.
Kane caught a little fish.
Then we started looking for the portage for Canoe Lake 2. By this time, rain had picked up and I felt like I was really roughing it.
We found the portage!Portaging the canoe to Canoe Lake 2. I think we got the heavy canoe!
I was elated after we portaged to Canoe Lake 2 in the rain. Kids were happy and excited too. Well, that came to a quick end, when I tipped the canoe while climbing over kids to get in. Luckily, water was only thigh deep, so I was only wet up to my belly button, and kids feet and lower legs only got wet. Scott got to enjoy the scene from the bank. He only wished he would have had the camera running. Kat was traumatized for a bit and became the “don’t move in the canoe” police. She definitely got a better understanding of what tipping the canoe meant, luckily in shallow water.
My sweet girl was not excited about canoeing after I tipped us.Headed out to Canoe Lake 2 after tipping.
We paddled around Lake 2 and fished a short bit, then we were ready to head home.
On the way back, we decided to try the canal rather than the portage, even though Max (the guy who rented us the canoe) had said it was unusable due to lilly pad overgrowth. The kids were laying bets on whether we got stuck or had to turn around. Well, Max was wrong, the lilly pads weren’t a problem, the partial beaver dam was! Luckily since I was already wet, I got out, moved a few branches, and drug the canoe through. We made it! The only casualty was our fishing line which got snagged and pulled out about 100 yards before we realized it.
It was a great adventure for us all. It was so quiet and peaceful. Just a light rain, the smell of nature and a great sense of accomplishment for us all. I would love to come back here someday, go further and camp out overnight.
