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| Someone help me to rotate pictures on the blog....LOL |
This week I had some new and amazing experiences! Seems like
all my Alaskan experiences have been new and amazing, but this one is up there
with the best so far. On Monday and Tuesday, we went on a short overnight
hiking/backpacking trip to a spot right out of Seward called Caines Head.
Caines Head is towards the end of Resurrection Bay that Seward is on. It’s a
fairly easy hike, not a lot of hills, but in order to get to it, you have to
time the tide because a section of the beach is not crossable during some
tides. We were lucky enough that the tide schedule was easy, we had to cross at
9am going in and at 10am going out the next day. Sometimes the tide is
scheduled for 4am…yikes! So Sunday night we packed our bags and planned when we
had to leave the trailhead in order to safely cross the beach at low tide. I
have never been on an over night backpacking trip so I was constantly asking
David “do I need this?....Where should I put this?”. But I did it, I got
everything I’d needed for the short trip in my backpack ($20 at the Goodwill
well spent!). I tried it on with all the stuff in it, it felt snug and it
seemed heavy, but not too bad. Plus I was a Tough Mudder, I could do it, right?
Anyways, we got to bed by midnight and planned to get to the trailhead at 8am.
The trailhead sits on a place called Lowell Point, which is a small community
outside of a Seward 3 miles and it’s a popular spot for cabin rentals, kayak
tours, and other getaways.
We got there on time, paid the parking fee, and we were off!
In my normal adventures and hiking, I like to walk fast or even run, but with
30 extra pounds on my back, I decided to take it easy and enjoy the views and
scenery. The first mile and a half is all in the woods, crossing over big rocks
where the snow must have melted and so was left rugged. It was gorgeous though
and the smell! The scent of the woods there was so fragrant and sweet. It
smelled how you’d imagine a candle named “Sweet Alaskan Spring” would smell!
Then after that mile and half, we came out of the woods to a clearing. An
amazing and perfectly clear spring ran underneath the bridge we were crossing
into the bay. I was humbled by the beauty of the clearing, beautiful creek,
green grassy meadow, all opening up to the bay and giant mountains being kissed
by the sun. We kept walking along the trail, which led us to the beach! The
park sign before we even started the trail described this trek as “Walking on
the Edge”. From the first view, I could see why. The whole way to the north
side of Caines Head, was on the beach.
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| Out of the Woods! |
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| Beautiful Creek |
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| The clearing in the trail leading to the beach portion of the hike. |
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| <3 |
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| More Beautiful Views |
We started our way on the beach, and quickly I heard
“Jillian!! Jillian!”. I was like “who is calling my name way out here?”. It was
my friend from work, Maria, who said she might try to join us, and she did! She
caught up to us on the beach. So David, Maria, and me started to trek the
beach. Within minutes, we were all sweating. For Alaska, it was so hot! I think
it was about 70, but when you are up here 70 feels like 85 or 90! It felt good
when we came across a little stream to splash our hands and face in the icy
water to cool off. Shortly after the start of the hike, we noticed what we are
pretty sure was a seal, bobbing up and down in the water swimming. The farther
we kept hiking, we kept seeing him. He followed us for a good while, sticking
his little head out of the water. I imagine he was saying “hey guys, whatcha up
to?”. We named him Seal, after the 90’s artist famously know for the song “Kissed
by a Rose” and we even tried to sing it a little bit in honor of our new
friend. The seal wasn’t the only wild life we got to see up close on this
adventure. About halfway down the beach, Maria wanted to change, so she went
off behind a rock, and David and I were just standing there still, resting. The David heard something up
in the trees and then pointed out there was a group of about 5 river otters up
there. We stayed as still and silent as possible in order not to scare them
away. The river otters are SO cute! They looked at us, sniffed super loudly,
and made their way down the cliff side to some rocks. They are very shy little
creatures so once we moved they hid in the rocks. So we kept walking and when
we turned around, we saw them waddle across the beach and dive into the ocean.
I guess it was lunchtime for them! From what David’s learned at his job, River
Otters are extremely shy and don’t usually like to be seen by people. ( I have pictures coming and will post as soon as I can retrieve them from Maria's camera!) So the
fact we got to see them so close up and watch the group of them walk around and
get into the water is super rare! We were so lucky!
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| On the beach! |
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Trekking the Beach
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| We found a waterfall on the way! |
After hiking across the beach for a few hours, we got to the
trailhead on Caines Head. Personally, I was grateful for some shade, I was
getting really hot and forgot sunscreen. We got to the fork in the trail and
decided to sit for a bit. It felt SO good to take my heavy pack off and get a
snack. Dried mangos, trail mix, and dark chocolate never tasted so yummy! Maria
even had homemade coconut cookies, yum! After a picnic, we decided to take the
trail to Fort McGillivray. The trail splits where we were and you could go to
the old military fort or a trail called “Alpine Trail”, but the Alpine trail
loop was another 8 miles, and I didn’t think I had it in me. We hiked another
2.5 miles to the old fort, of course all up hill…but our climbing was not for
nothing, once we came to the clearing, we were on the cliff, with the most
amazing view! It was a perfectly clear day, no clouds, and warm weather! We
could see 3 glaciers, Fox Island (a small island with a resort on it), and the
edge of the bay. All 3 of us took our packs off, laid down by the cliff, and
took a nap in the sunshine! After our nap, we decided to set up camp there,
since it was such a beautiful place, and spend the rest of the day relaxing,
reading, and enjoying the view. Maria had to hike back out at low tide that
night so we said our goodbyes to her and set up our tent with a million dollar
view. I was so tired from a few hours of sleep the night before and from the
hike with the heavy pack, I took another nap!
***I’d like to add in a little bit about making sure you are
properly hydrated on a hiking trip. I don’t think I drank enough water on the
way in and had about 20 minutes of being super irritable and grumpy. So my
apologies to David and Maria, thanks for putting up with my sourness for that
little bit.
In the evening, we looked down at the bay and saw some
wildlife swimming around. We were trying to figure out whether it was whales or
porpoises. But after some debate we decided it was a couple packs of Orca
whales. We watched them swim around from high up on the cliff. It was amazing
and we really wished we would have brought the binoculars!
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| View from the top! |
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| Our friend we made at the top! |
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| Camping on top of the world! |
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| I love this picture. |
While up on the fort, we explored it’s old lookouts and
shelter (not sure what it was used for). It was really dark inside the shelter
structure and had many rooms, which looked like dungeons, but maybe also looked
like storage? Any history lovers want to help me out here? Here are some
pictures…
Minus being a little chilly, I slept pretty well in the
tent, only waking a couple times. Camping in Alaska in the summer is challenging.
Besides kind of always having a thought that a bear will eat you, you wake up to the lightness of the sun,
expecting it to be 5 or 6am, but you look at the clock and it’s 2am and still
light out. I think for me, it will take some getting used to…but after going to
sleep for a few more hours, we woke up at the right time to allow time for
packing up camp, and getting to the beach for the tide schedule. The hike back
felt shorter and quicker to me. On the way back, my muscles were feeling weak,
my shoulders ached from the pack, and my belly was growling for some food! We
let time pass and discussed what to eat for lunch when we got back into town.
It was tie between breakfast or Thai food. There is an AMAZING Thai place in
town called Woody’s. We ended up deciding on Woody’s Thai Kitchen because their
panang curry is to die for! We were delighted to find they were open!
Once we got to the car, I was so happy! I took off my stinky
boots and even stinkier socks and threw on my Teva sandles to let my swollen
feet relax! I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself! I was proud of myself for
making it through the hike, carrying my bag, camping, and making it all the way
back (with only a minimal tiny grumpy patch). I felt it was a great first
introduction to backpacking and I can’t wait to do it again! But this time, I
think I’ll leave some things behind….maybe 2 beanies and 3 headbands was a
little excessive.
We got to Woody’s Thai Kitchen starving and I was excited
because they weren’t that busy! We ordered Thai Iced Coffee which I had never
had before. Let me say this, this was the best coffee ever! Perfectly sweet,
strong, almost chocolately, and topped with cream! It was AMAZING and perfect
after being sweaty and hot from hiking. I might have a new addiction…Our food was, as always here,
amazing. We stuffed ourselves! We dragged ourselves home, lugged our bags
upstairs, took hot showers, and passed out for a nap. A hot shower and nap
never felt so good!
I am so happy I got to experience this trip! Backpacking is
amazing. Who knew this California city girl would fall in love with nature so
much? There is something so special about being out in nature, experiencing the
sights, sounds, and smells. Backpacking helped my mind to quiet, any anxieties
to settle, and allowed me to let go of the crazy world, even just for 2 days.
Time goes slower when I was backpacking and I felt I could actually listen to
my body and let go of any stinky thoughts. I am really looking forward to doing
more backpacking, hiking, and camping! I think I found another love...
For next week I’ve got some fun stuff happening too! On
Monday and Tuesday, my mom and little brother will be here for a visit! I hope
Monday we can have chance to go on
a walk out by Exit Glacier and on Tuesday we are going on a tour of the bay,
whale watching, and seeing glaciers. I’m excited to see my family and
show them all what I’ve done here in Alaska so far! Maybe if my mom sees what
I’ve been up to here, she’ll maybe worry less? Or maybe it’s a mom thing to
never stop worrying about their kids…? Anyways, until then! Hope you all have
an amazing week and I’d love to hear from you and how you are doing! Also, come
visit! We have a couch for you to sleep on!
