above, sunset at kayak beach...i think this picture was taken between 11:30 and midnight...sunset is late here in the summer. below is a cool duck...will have to look up the name tomorrow, it's from day one paddle for me.
above is mt augustine, the volcano furtherest from anchorage, below is the next active volcano headed north called mt iliamna. have no idea why it came out sideways..it wasn't that way when i loaded it. sorry.
i was quite obsessed with these eagles perching on this rock so took many pictures. there were many cool pictures so you may see this again when i load more pictures tomorrow.
so more pictures are uploading, but they are taking forever tonight so i'll just go back and fill in later...so it may be a bit mixed up, but it's late and i'm getting sleepy. last week was spent working, cleaning house and preparing for this weekend kayak trek. was meeting 3 friends (sandra, jennifer and paula) out at tutka bay for a paddle. i am not always expedient in making my plans. i think it's just so hard at times getting the house ready, finding someone to deal with the dogs (especially rio) that it can be stressful. once i'm gone it's easy for me to relax and just enjoy the beauty. i know it's good to get away from my pets on occasion and my simple, comfortable life here. i'm a bit of a homebody. i love to cabin up and follow my happy routine. my friend scott volunteered to take on the furs for the weekend. lucky for me he was in town this week. lucky for me that i got wednesday night off to prepare. it was a bit of a crunch. had to arrange the water taxi out of homer to the bay and plan on the 5 hour drive....
above is an otter that we spied chilling on the beach. of course, once he saw us he felt rather vulnerable and booked for the water. we saw lots of wildlife...the bulk was bald eagles so lots of eagle pictures. i got to test out my new camera some, but it's too difficult to change lens' in a kayak and also i tended to keep my powershot out on the kayak deck for fear i'd get salt water in the new rebel. mostly, the rebel sat in it's dry bag on the deck.
below is an eagle...their nest was right by our yurt so lots of baldy activity and sounds. i love the chitter. i used to have them wake me up every morning in ketchikan. i'd open my eyes to the chitter of bald eagles and look out at the ocean.
work was steady for me. of course, i was unable to get an on call for friday night meaning minimal sleep the next day and much more to do in order to get to homer in time for the water taxi. the charge nurse tried to pawn off a patient in the early morning and after some heated discussion we did "tag team" the patient and get him settled into bed. i had a respiratory kid who was doing okay and i was kept busy by a kid who got run over by a van. he was pretty dang lucky really. nothing too major except for his nose being removed...i guess that seems pretty major, but i mean of all that could go wrong when you are 8 and going under a large van....hey not too bad. i stopped by the grocery, packed a bit and crashed for maybe 2-3 hours of sleep. i woke rushed about, loaded the car, tried to fool the dogs into thinking all was normal...but they were so onto me. they really don't fool easily. my friend scott showed up right as i was about ready to leave and grabbed leashes and dogs and headed off for a walk so i could just sneak out. i heard later that rio figured out pretty fast that i was not with them and put her breaks on. she booked it back to the house and didn't want to leave again...no doubt for fear i'd return and she'd miss me. that is life as a blind dog with seperation issues. she is better overall. i did make it out before they were dragged back to the house by the stubborn, panicked mastiff.
i hit the road and before i'd made it to girdwood ( a mere 35 miles away) i'd been clocked going 77 in a 65 and pulled over. so after i got my $200+ ticket i slowed down. i had to keep in contact with the water taxi place as they were trying to put me on with other people so they weren't using the boat and gas for just one person. my friends had arrived the night before and taking a water taxi early saturday am. i called them and when they told me to just try and hurry...i informed them i had proof of hurrying in the form of a ticket. i slowed down and i must say that was quite effective in waking my arse up.
above and below are just pictures at the very low tide sunday am. i'm a lover of the tidepooling and the girls laughed at how quickly i got up and ready to hit the tidepools. the water was beautiful, flat and calm. with other kayak friends we would be out on the water for the best part of the days kayak...the mornings tend to be lovely flat calm...these girls liked to sleep in and kayak when the wind seemed to pick up in the afternoon....so i tidepooled. so above muscles and barnacles and below seaweed.
the trek to homer is always beautiful, but it was uneventful after the ticket. i got to the water taxi on the spit at just after 5:30. the boat was headed out for a pick up so they held it up and it was a mad rush to get me and my gear on the boat and also to get me outfitted with a kayak. happy i just rented with them so all was ready at the dock. of course, it was such a rush i worried that i wouldn't have a skirt or lifejacket and paddle and all that stuff. the captain kept assuring me it was all on the boat. it was. i must say i was very happy with a purchase i'd made earlier that week of a normal, non-mummy sleeping bag. i tend to really move alot in my sleep and those mummies just make me nuts. i get all torked up and actually my back was killing me after the hope trip. the $25 bag will be great for cabin rental nights in the summers. i was plenty warm. it's only rated to 40 degrees F. my mummy is 0 F rated. we stayed in private yurts...see below. it was pretty comfy. they hadn't stocked it as well as they are supposed to but we did find enough wood to burn and keep us warm.
like i said...in the morning i went out to see what the low tide would bring. lots of starfish and not too much else really. i did enjoy watching the eagle in the nest.
we paddled into tutka bay more when we got out on the water. then crossed over and headed for a lagoon. the water started to get more choppy. not my favorite, but once we hit the lagoon the water became so sweet and calm. we all just silently allowed our boats to be pulled into the lagoon with the tide. eventually we had to leave, eat some lunch on a little beach out of the lagoon and then do the hard paddle to our second yurt site at kayak beach. it was hard only because the wind had picked up and water was quite choppy, not to mention there is lots of boat activity so the wake can really give you a toss. before we turned yet another "last bend" (that happens all the time when you paddle....your destination is always around the next bend). we saw another eagle or two and that cute otter.
the new camp was amazingly picturesque and i took many pictures to prove this. it was just a great place to be settled in, especially as the day just got more and more beautiful. the sunset was specacular, we had a great fire going on the rocks above the beach and had million dollar views. we were up til late enjoying every minute of it. some campers from another yurt around the bend into sadie cove came and shared some wine and the view with us. oh...did i forget to mention the killer whales we spotted while paddling and also a large sea lion that came up fairly close. i kept hoping the killer whales would cruise by,but no luck there. thus is the end of day one...i'll add more pictures and tell you about day 2's paddle tomorrow. it's well after 2 am and this girl needs her sleep. it's taking way to long to load stuff tonight. not sure why some days it just goes and others it takes forever....enjoy the pictures
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