One of the best and worst reasons to live up here is Kachemak Bay: best because it’s beautiful, and there are a million things to see and do on it, worst because most of the coolest stuff is across it. For a couple of n00b/broke mofo’s like we were last year, getting across the bay is prohibitively expensive.

All the best stuff is over here.

For the entire 12 months of 2009, we managed to get on or across the bay exactly twice. The first was a $10/person trip around Gull Island during the Shorebird Festival in May. The second was our Grace Ridge camping trip. Other than those two events, we just looked wistfully at the water and wondered about the secrets hidden on the far shore.

This year, things are different. We are slightly less broke, which is good for many reasons, one being we might be able to afford a trip or two across. Even better, we are far more integrated into the community. That translates directly into more opportunities.

As of today, I’ve been on the bay more times in the past 5 days than I had the entirety of last year. 3 trips so far since Thursday. Total cost: $0.

Thursday, I was sent by the Tribune to participate in and take pictures of the annual halibut tagging quest. Every year, Homer has a halibut derby, where fisherpeople can purchase a derby ticket for the day, and if they catch a tagged fish, they win fabulous cash and prizes. Skippy also participated for Era Aviation (her employer), so we spent the day catching fish and enjoying the weather (sunny, cloudy, snow, rain, sunny, really sunny, cloudy).

Yesterday and today, I volunteered with the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies to help teach marine ecology to school groups on a big tour boat as we cruised around the bay. We dropped a crab pot to catch tanner crab, caught plankton with jars attached to pantyhose, looked at said plankton under microscopes, tested the water for salinity and pH, learned about oyster farming in Kachemak Bay, and saw: otters, cormorants, murres, bald eagles, thousands of gulls and a pod of orcas.

Friday, CACS is sending Skippy and I over to video and photograph a group of local school kids as they explore the tide pools. Expect some interesting photos to be posted following that excursion!

We saw mountain goats along this bluff.

Last Friday, Skippy and I, along with two of our friends Adrian and Krista, packed up our backpacks, hopped on a water taxi, and spent the weekend hiking the Grace Ridge Trail in Kachemak Bay State Park. Both Skippy and I purchased new hiking boots to replace the ones we had blown out before leaving Indiana. Yes, it’s been over a year since I last took a serious hike!

The Grace Ridge Trail always comes up as a favorite destination for locals who actively hike, so we decided to try it out. We also brought along Ashlee and Macgee.

The water taxi dropped us off on a remote beach in Tutka Bay. The first mile of trail was maintained and makes good use of switchbacks to slowly gain elevation.

Then, abruptly, the switchbacks end, and we found ourselves at the base of a very long, very tall, nearly vertical (so it seemed) uphill climb.

We struggled mostly to the top (or so we thought) for the next couple of hours. Once we reached the top of what we could see, we discovered that there was another tall hill. Having spent our energy reserves already, we made camp and scouted out the trail. On the other side of the big hill, we found…yes, another big hill.

That evening, Adrian fixed halibut burritos (yes, he packed in a vacuum-sealed bag of frozen halibut), while we sipped a concoction of lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and whiskey. Ashlee and Macgee fell fast asleep on the alpine tundra, which was like a springy bed.

The next morning, we climbed our two hills to find a taller freaking hill behind them. Thinking this surely must be the summit, we traversed an extremely narrow path up, with not quite vertical drop-offs (you would roll a long way if you fell) of hundreds of feet on either side.

We finally reached the top of the hill, and found the tallest hill yet. Now, remember in the first paragraph, where I mentioned the we had just purchased new boots? Well, 5 days isn’t really enough time to properly break in boots. So our feet hurt, pretty badly. I had taped up my toes and applied a preemptive layer of moleskin over most of my foot, but that only delayed the inevitable. Oh, I had also hurt my ankle the week before, stupidly running on the beach at high tide with Macgee. He stopped suddenly to sniff a large dead salmon, and I stepped on a big rock and rolled my ankle.

Basically, my feet hurt.

A lot.

So instead of climbing the last hill, we decided to cut across the sweeping alpine meadow in front of the summit. It was a lot longer and steeper than it looked, but we made it across without losing anyone.

On the other side, we found a path down over a large patch of snow. We pulled water out of its run-off, as we were almost completely out. It was cold and delicious.

As we made our way down the trail, we dropped into the clouds that had rolled in to cover the Bay that morning. It was a welcome respite from the constant sun we had been subjected to on top of the hill.

I’ve done most of my hiking in Indiana, Utah, and California, and I’m used to the flora of those states. Big trees, shorter scrub trees that tangle you up, and ground-level ferns and other plants. Here in Alaska, the ferns are taller than I am. And there’s a giant plant here called “Devil’s Club” that’s basically a medieval torture device with a pretty green leaf on top. We walked through densely packed sections of Devil’s Club, with the trail barely visible.

After what seemed like an eternity to my poor raw feet, we finished our hike on Kayak Beach. We set up our tents, cooked dinner, and went to bed in a dense fog. The dogs were so tired from the ordeal, they fell asleep right on the rocks as soon as we stopped hiking. We eventually moved them to a grassy patch, so they had a softer bed to nap on.

Our last day was spent crawling around the rocks, looking for sea creatures exposed by low tide (okay, that was just me), and waiting for our taxi to come pick us up. While we were playing cards, a pod of orcas swam by, with a really annoying sailboat giving chase.

It was an excellent trip, and long overdue. I’m looking forward to tackling Grace Ridge again, with broken-in boots, healthy joints, and no dogs (while he did great on the way up, Macgee would not stop pulling on the way down, and that’s both dangerous and annoying. If only he wouldn’t run away off-leash…).

Here are seriously more pictures than I should be allowed to post. Wade through them at your peril. They are in chronological order, so you can even follow along with my story.

One of the places we saw on our move to Alaska is Muncho Lake. The lake is gigantic, and sparsely populated. We passed a campground, the only one we had seen in about 20 miles. We kept going, though, wondering if there was any sort of town or just a grocery store where we could get some food. We rounded a blind curve, and found The Northern Rockies Lodge. We dined in their German restaurant, and setup our tent in their campground. It was late, but I managed to get a couple of pictures out of it.

On our way out of British Columbia, we encountered several herds of wood bison along the road.

We also stopped by Liard Hot Springs. I had been to some hot springs in California, but it was extremely crowded and apparently only “mildly warm” springs, so I didn’t get in. Liard is much smaller, and much much hotter. You can actually see the source of the hot water, as it boils up from underground. It’s quite a hike back to the spring, so I didn’t take my camera. It would be really cool to visit in the dead of winter.

In the parking lot, I did spy a squirrel doing cute things in a tree.

I kept snapping photos of it, and it kept letting me.

And then it decided I had taken enough pictures, and climbed further up the tree. But not before giving me some decidedly American sign language.

The boss returned from Juneau on Saturday, and brought 4 inches of snow and 4 sled dog puppies. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

First things first, the puppies!

And now, snow!

Skippy and I went outside this morning to let the old dogs out at 8 this morning, and I ran back inside to get my camera after seeing this:

How’s that for some color?

By the time I had gotten a good exposure, changed lenses, and moved up the path, the red had faded. Here’s what I was able to get with our cabin in the frame:

And finally, a leftover picture from last night, taken after the panorama seen in the previous post.