the way too long AK post

Ok, sorry this has taken so long to post. Col and I have been having waaay too much fun the past 4 weeks to slow down long enough for a blog post. At the end of June we(Colleen, Ariel, Sesha, Jake, and I) went for a 10 day trip to Alaska, with six of those days spend sea kayaking in two inlets across the bay from Homer, AK. Sesha’s uncle Steve lived in Anchorage and was an immense help with logistics before and after our adventure. His friend actually drove 4 hrs from Homer just to pick us up in Anchorage and give us a ride. (Thanks Tom!) On the way down Tom also acted as our tour guide, making sure to stop at all the cool side trips and wildlife (just on the drive we saw moose+babies, eagles, dall sheep, beaver, and otter).
For boats, Louie and Jasmine pointed us towards True North Kayak on the Homer Spit. As TNK ferried us across the bay I was the one tasked with remembering directions on the exact locations of our camp spots and yurts. We were dropped us with our mountain of gear at the boats with little fanfare and then proceeded to figure out how to fit a square peg (our gear) through an oval hole (the boat hatches). After two to three hours we had it all packed. We then paddled one mile, got hungry, and exploded the boats again looking for lunch! We made camp on a sandy point two thirds of the way into Sadie Cove and hiked around for a bit. AK, being bear country, had us (mostly me I think) a little nervous, so earlier when Steve insisted we take a revolver with us, I didn’t hesitate. Thus, on our land explorations we quite literally “loaded for bear.” (we didn’t see a one the whole trip). Sesha and our newfound friend Mike (Tom’s summer hand) met us at camp the next morning by ferry and joined up for the rest of the trip. We paddled in the morning to a yurt at the mouth of the bay and relaxed for the afternoon. Near the yurt was a perfect cliff jump, so we had to do it. Swimming in AK was a must-do for bragging later. Unfortunately Mike slipped getting out and put a deep gash on the bottom of his foot (definitely would have gotten stitches if we had been near a doctor). Sans Mike and Sesha the next morning we hiked 4,000 vert. ft. up a ridge to an amazing view of the surrounding area. Above treeline the trail petered out into rolling heather tussocks all around so we took off cross country to the summit on a spongy 8” mat of tundra. Tired of yelling “hey bear” on the way down, we called out different types of cheese for the 4 mile descent with only a few repeats.
I pointed out earlier that I was in charge of navigations throughout the trip. Well, I kiiiinda forgot where a few of the beaches were. They all look so similar after three days of bobbing around on the ocean! It all turned out ok thanks to a salmon hatchery which let us use a phone to call TNK for directions. And we actually found a better spot on an island for one night.
The second to last night, we stayed in a yurt near the end of the inlet. This was a really nice spot because we had a nice view of the bay and there was a Bald Eagle chick in a nest 40 ft from the yurt. I climbed a tree next to it for better photos and really felt like a pro wildlife photographer, dodging mother eagles, dangling from branches, and trying to get the perfect shot. Unfortunately I think they are all just good to mediocre photos. I needed a longer lens. (Of course it comes down to more gear!)
The last full day, Col Mike, Jake and Ariel went for a hike up a knife edge ridge while Sesha and I took the opportunity to paddle 4 miles to the far end of the bay on the glassy morning water. After a paddle through arches, past otters, and dodging seals, afternoon found us camped on the point again for our final night. Sesha and Jake paddled to a spring for water and I decided to go for a solo paddle to some arches off the coastline for the evening (had to paddle through all the arches I could find). After an hour or two of that I got back to Sesha and Jake flipping out about Killer Whales they’d paddled with (so jealous!) for an hour. We went out to try and find the pod at about 11pm (still light mind you) but only found a few porpoises (still, a pretty good runner up prize!). Sesha started each days paddling with, “Guys, today is a whale day,” and she finally got to see them, up close and personal.
We rounded out the trip with a wonderful hour long tasting and tour at the Fry’s Bear Creek Winery (I left with a case of assorted berry wines). The 4 person swing there is amazing! We also shot some guns at Tom’s cabin in the woods. One was a true elephant gun that, after two shots, left my shoulder veeery sore the next day. This was an amazing trip made all the easier by the kind people we met along the way. We were planning our return trip before we had even gotten on the plane to leave!