The days are one. Poor Andrew-I am constantly asking what day
of the week it is! Today was a great
day, another one. We awoke later than
planned-sleeping nightly in the fresh night air? Or it never gets dark and we
lose track of time? Yeah, probably that one.
Our guide we had at Denali said that he had to actually set an alarm to
remember to go to bed! I can completely
understand!
It is interesting how a person’s mind can
play tricks on them. We visited many of
these same places ten years ago, with the boys and the dog along. I remembered more eagles in Homer! I remember distinctly just staring at the
poles and lines and they were everywhere.
We maybe saw a dozen the entire time we were there. There were TONS of gulls, but not as many
eagles. Could it be timing? We are a couple of weeks earlier than last
time? I feel the world is much greener
as well. Maybe I am just noticing it
more. Our guide at Denali did mention
that Alaska is seeing, on average, a rise in its temperature by 6 degrees! It may not seem like a lot but he said it has
a lot of ripple effect for those that need those cooler temperatures.
We took one last walk on the beach and
there were otters playing in the surf.
They turned and turned and back floated away. Joy!
The Homer public library saved the day. Our campsites have all touted “WiFi,” but we
haven’t had good WiFi at most of our campgrounds. But you can always depend on public libraries
to save the day! We could go in, I could
update the blog from yesterday, but I could not get all of my pictures to
upload yet for our map, so please bear with us!! Andrew could book some things we are going to
be doing the next few days (harbor tours!!), and I could catch up on a few
emails. Most of the time was spent in trying
to get the blog uploaded and pictures sent between my phone and PC.
My phone actually takes great pictures,
but it just doesn’t zoom like I’d like it to.
We see many people with their huge cameras, but we also see some with
smaller ones and some of those have incredible zoom! I can tell because I look over their shoulder
sometimes, by accident, of course, while trying to take my own picture, and I
notice how much more they could zoom in.
I may have to check into that.
While driving in and around Kenai, we
looked for Dall sheep. We didn’t see any
but it is so hard to tell as they are white dots and there are still white dots
of snow WAY up there. They literally
hang out beyond the tree/green line! Another
tidbit of info from our guide (He really had tons of info to share!) was that the
Dall sheep are actually losing their safe zone because that tree/green line is
shifting up higher and higher up the mountains, which means so are bears and wolves,
their predators. It’s getting harder for
them to survive.
While we were driving towards Seward we
came upon another sign for a Russian Orthodox Cemetery. Hmmm, is it just like the one we encountered
a few days ago near Eklutna, with the colorful spirit houses? It was just off the main road so we checked
it out. No spirit houses, but a great view of Mount Iliamna and Mount Redoubt.
The cemetery itself was waist-high or higher with weeds and wild flowers and
other vegetation. There was a youth
group working diligently mowing, weed-eating, raking, and more mowing,
weed-eating, raking. They had the same
crosses, which are very unique, and many graves had white picket fences around
them, with flowers planted within said fences.
There was actually a white picket fence around the entire cemetery and
then smaller ones on the graves.
Interesting. I feel I need to
research why they were different than the one we encountered with the spirit
houses.
Interesting tidbit about Mount Redoubt,
besides the fact that it and Mount Iliamna are really lovely to look at! Mount Redoubt apparently is a volcano!! It erupted in December of 2008 and kept doing
so for months. It finally quite “perking”
in September 2009 so then it was finally deemed safe for airplanes, etc.
We turned right to check out Exit
Glacier. Andrew’s eyes light up like
Christmas trees when he can get a good hike in.
Exit Glacier seemed to fit the bill, at 4.2 miles up, and a strenuous
climb. Well, we did do it, well, most of
it. We hiked up and up, stone steps,
narrow pathways, muddy pathways, narrow muddy pathways, rocks to go over and
around, more steps of stone, crossing water rushing downstream, and then we get
to the snow. Yes, we had to trek of a
narrow trail on a hill of snow. We did
one, then another, and finally after four of these, we decide perhaps we should
head back down. We actually had hiked a
little over 2 miles up already. We only
had about ¾ of a mile of strenuous up and then it was 1 ¼ miles straight so we
could see the Harding Ice Field. We
looked up and wondered how we could do this and it wasn’t hard to say, “Nah.” Several people were coming down from the
cliff tops, and they were crouching and sliding and slipping. We felt great about our climb-just short of
2000 feet UP. On our way down, several people
passed us and they said they could only go so far as well as the path was “literally
a snow and ice torture path” beyond that “top.”
Another group came and they said they did it but knew what to
bring: spiky ski poles and spikes on
their hiking boots! Another group said
they made it to the top but decided not to after they read the sign that said
not to go further due to avalanche. We
forgot to ask if the sign meant there was a danger of avalanche if people cross
or if an avalanche had happened to make it dangerous. So we felt validated in our decision to just
head back down.
Of course, we are leery of bears. Everywhere you go you get told to watch out
for them, what to do if you see them, and that they have been spotted. Every tree or bush or rock seems to be one
when you are walking by. You do a double-take
to make sure it really isn’t a bear. I
feel like a character in the book series “The Animorphs,” where the kids can
morph into various animals. I am for
sure there is a bear, or moose, or whatever, but when I look back it is a tree,
or stump. I always check again to make sure.
J When we were closer
to the bottom of our adventurous hike, a group coming up said that a bear had
been seen on the trail, climbing up just 15 minutes before. How they didn’t see it and how they heard
about it we didn’t think to clarify. So
we talked loudly—that is what the forest ranger at Denali said works best. He said that bear bells actually sound like
birds so bears don’t really leave and can still be surprised. Bear spray works but it is pretty powerful
stuff and you really have to aim well or you will just have a really angry
bear. He said the rangers just walk around
and once in awhile yell, “Ranger” really loudly. So after the news of a bear sighting, Andrew
and I talked loudly to each other, launching into various songs, and just
calling our names out to each other. We
didn’t see rumored bear, so we either caused it to rethink climbing up the
trail. When we were leaving the area,
there was a new sign posted on the notification board that warned of a “defensive”
bear sighting! What!!??!
We did also go to the base of the glacier
and it was so much greener than I remember as well. Of course, ten years is a lot of time for
trees to grow. The glacier itself was
really back further. They have signs how
far it “reached” at its maximum, and each year it gets “smaller” and
smaller.
We are now in a campground in Seward,
literally in town, but there are tons of RVs and many tents here. Amazing.
We are going on a harbor tour in the afternoon and will bike around town
before that. We were going to hike Mount
Marathon, but the signs repeatedly warn against anyone non-professional attempting
that hike.
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