Alaskan Summertime Finale and Cousin's Visit

So it's now November and I'm still blogging about my summer adventures ahhh... I'll catch up eventually I hope! At the end of July I spent a fantastic weekend in Katchemak Bay with my friend Jodie. She is super active and discovers really neat excursions across Alaska so I'm always happy to join in when she has something planned. Kachemak Bay is south of Homer which is about a 4 hr drive south of Anchorage. Since it was summertime, we approximated 5 hours because of all the tourist and RV traffic on the only highway.

Map of Kachemak Bay

We took Friday off work to get a head start down there and to make a pit stop for a couple hours in Kenai to dip net since we both had gone the weekend before for the first time and loved it! Unfortunately, we only caught 1 salmon... and by we I mean Jodie. We had big plans to catch a ton and have them processed in Homer while we were off in Kachemak Bay and then pick them up on our return home. However since we only caught one, we decided to just pack it up in a bag of ice and take it with us to eat, so resourceful :) The major downside to this was all our fishing gear sitting stagnant for the weekend in the car made for a really awful smelling car.

Luckily, I have some awesome friends in Alaska with lots of outdoorsy gear which they happily lend out when they are not using it. Erin let me borrow her sweet backpack for the weekend and I jam packed it - it brought back memories of lugging around a huge backpack in Europe and how happy I was very time Sally and I reached our destination and I could toss my pack off. This weekend, our journey started with a short water taxi ride out of Homer. We passed some beautiful remote homes and scenery before we were dropped off at Halibut Cove, the entrance to Kachemak State Park.

Water taxiing with our packs

Pretty ride to Halibut Cove

Windy ride

Welcome to Kachemak Bay State Park

Starting our hike to the cabin

We then began the blueberry filled 2.5 mile hike to China Poot Lake and the public use cabin Jodie rented for the weekend. I finally invested in a pair of hiking poles, which make longer distance hikes much easier. I was especially thankful to have them before this hike since I was carrying a pack and had less mobility and balance. About a half mile into the hike, we starting seeing a ton of bear scat along the overgrown trail. It was slightly terrifying since we were carrying a raw salmon in our packs! So we were talking loudly and I kept my bear spray in hand almost the whole way. Luckily we didn't spot any bears, however I'm sure they were hovering in the brush since the scat was so fresh. It started sprinkling when we were about 5 minutes away from the cabin, so we hurried along the trail to try to stay dry and to get shelter from the bears! It was a relief to finally take off our packs and relax for a bit in the super cute cabin with a well deserved glass of wine. Jodie found these convenient cartons of wine that are perfect for hiking and camping! We finished the evening by cooking the salmon we caught earlier that day and feasting as the rain came down.

Only 0.8 miles left

We made it, just as it started raining

Welcome sight after the hike

Super cute inside

Handpicked flowers and wine 

Heating up the stove

Cooked our fresh salmon and macaroni

We slept in the next morning and then set out for a hike up to China Poot Peak. We didn't even make it a mile before we had to turn around because our pants were soaking wet. It had rained the night before so all of the overgrown brush was still very damp. It was really pretty to see all of the fireweed growing so tall along the trail! After returning from our failed hike, I took a nap because I love sleeping haha. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and reading outside in the sunshine. I nearly finished reading the entire first book of the Divergent series! It was actually a perfect day of relaxation in a beautiful secluded cabin away from phones, computers, and people. And I needed some downtime after my busy busy summer.

China Poot Peak - our attempted destination

Fireweed galore

So many blueberries to eat

Only half bloomed, summer is not over yet :)

Trucking through the overgrown trails

On Sunday morning, we broke out the canoe and paddled around China Poot Lake while waiting for our float plane. We saw it fly by overhead and had to speed paddle back to the cabin! I'd never been in a float plane before so I was super excited when our pilot pulled up right next to the cabin. It was also the first person we had seen in 2 days. The pilot loaded up our packs and then we crammed into the tiny plane, which could only hold the 3 of us and our packs max! It was really fun to take off on the lake "runway" and fly over the beautiful forest and water back to Homer.

Beautiful morning on the lake

Enjoying the canoe

Our plane arrives!

Super excited

And we're off

Front row seat

Views of the bay below

After we hopped off the plane, the pilot started unloading our packs and I glanced over and saw him start contorting his face in the most bizarre way I'd ever seen. I was so confused for a couple seconds and thought maybe he was having a seizure... and then he dropped the pack and blindly jumped down and dunked his head into the lake and started spitting and yelling. It soon came together that the bear spray had deployed in the plane and he unfortunately breathed it in. I felt terrible! After a couple minutes he could breathe and see normally again, but we had to air out the plane for awhile. Apparently bear spray is supposed to be put into the floats rather than kept in the cabin, lesson learned... I now always have it in a plastic bag when I'm carrying it around in the car or enclosed spaces! At least I now feel a little safer about bears because I know the spray has a very powerful effect, even when not sprayed directly at the face. After that fiasco, we stopped for lunch in Homer at a super cute French style cafe that we discovered the year before on our girls trip to Homer.

Cute patio cafe in Homer

Delicious lunch

I got the opportunity to participate in an amazing event in August, the Texas 4000. The Texas 4000 is a 70 day bike ride that students from the University of Texas do to raise money and awareness for cancer. About 70-80 students each ride more than 4000 miles over three routes that start in Austin, Texas and end in Anchorage, Alaska. The students work together for 18 months to arrange all accommodations and food in advance (hosts, churches, camping), plan the specific daily routes, raise over $800,000 for cancer, and train for the ride ahead. Several of the cyclists I work with were asked to escort these riders into Anchorage for the last 25 miles of their journey. It was a super inspiring opportunity to talk to several of the riders and hear the stories of why they are riding to defeat cancer. Some of them had never even gotten on a bike before being selected into the program! The physical journey they endeavored for their cause is unreal to me, especially side I had to give up riding for a few months after my MS150 ride from Austin to Houston. It was a fantastic way to spend a Friday afternoon for a good cause (even though I was surrounded by Longhorns ha).

Anchorage welcomes the Texas 4000 riders

Coworkers hanging out with the riders for lunch

About to ride in the last 25 miles - I couldn't bring myself to make the longhorn sign

Starting the ride!

I had my final set of visitors in August - my cousins Christopher, John, and Nathaniel! Since they are all super active, I felt a little pressured coming up with activities they would enjoy. I started off with my favorite thing in Alaska - white water rafting Six Mile Creek. It was my third rafting trip (so I'm basically a pro) but the beautiful scenery and thrill of the rapids never gets old. We had one crazy bump where everyone in our raft fell out into the freezing cold water! I was of course being super motherly and immediately made sure all the boys were afloat and got back into the raft quickly. I might have yelled a little aggressively.. But I didn't want any of my aunties to be mad for sending back injured boys :) We ended the day with a trip to my favorite pizza place - Moose's Tooth, an Alaskan essential.

The next day I took them on my favorite hike - Crow's Pass. It was an eerie and foggy day, which made the scenery new for me. There were a lot of berries along the trail, although they weren't quite ripe yet. I managed to scare the boys as much as I could about bears so they were prepared for their Denali backpacking adventure that week. They spent several days up in Denali National Park hiking in the wilderness and came back rugged and ready for showers. I made them text me all of the areas they were assigned to camp in before they lost cell service at the entrance of the park. And I promised myself I wouldn't get worried I hadn't heard from them until noon on the day they were supposed to get back to Anchorage (after 4 days in the wild). Luckily I finally got a text from John at 11:50am and I could focus again, yes I am my mother's daughter when it comes to worrying, but I really am terrified of bears. They apparently picked up a hitchhiker on the way while in my car, crazy boys!

Start of Crow's Pass hike

Cousins in Alaska

My favorite flower 

Nearing the top of the hike

Eerie fog rolling in

Glacier views at the summit

Boys taking in the views

After a big feast that night, we planned their last day in Alaska. They decided on mountain biking in Kincaid Park while I was working, since it's an activity I'm too scared to partake in. After their adventures of the day, I cooked my favorite Alaskan meal as a departing dinner - king crab legs. I dropped Nathaniel and John off at the airport and took Christopher out to meet some of my friends. We spent the evening dancing away at Chilkoot Charlies, an infamous bar which brings out only the best in Alaska ha. After sleeping in the next morning, we ate brunch at Snow City Cafe and walked around downtown a bit. It was a chilly late summer day, but I forced him to take a walk along the Coastal Trail so we could philosophize about life :) We ended the day with a trip to my favorite microbrewery in Anchorage - Midnight Sun! We went hipster with my hat and his new bandana and had some of my favorite beer before I dropped him at the airport. It was so great to show my cousins my life here in Alaska.

Walking the Coastal Trail

Midnight Sun Microbrewery drinks before leaving Alaska

As summer was winding down to a close, I had one last fishing trip with some co-workers as a team building event. We headed down to Seward at 4am and spent the day on a charter catching salmon and halibut. Two folks on board caught ~100lb halibut which was quite impressive! One of them had to be shot before the captains brought it on board so it wouldn't flop around and hurt anyone.

Halibut fishing is a workout (and kind of boring in my opinion) because you drop the line 200 - 300 feet and then just sit there until you get a bite. However, occasionally you need to reel in the line to make sure you still have bait. It is quite a chore and arm work out to reel it in because it is so deep and heavy. I finally got a bite and was getting a bit nervous because I was supremely struggling... I had to take a few breathers and the line kept slipping backwards into the ocean. I really didn't want to be embarrassed in front of everyone if it was a dinky little fish. Luckily it was about 50lbs and the 3rd biggest catch of the day! Worth the intense arm workout. After splitting our catch amongst the boat, I ended up with 17lbs of halibut and 16lbs of salmon.

My catch of the day - I couldn't lift it after reeling it in

Our boatload of fish

Well stocked freezer

My first salmon meal

Blueberry pancakes with my fresh picked blueberries!

Katie's Visit and Dipnetting

This summer brought so many fun visitors up to Alaska. Next up after my parents was my good friend from Texas A&M, Katie. She teaches at American schools abroad and I got to visit her over in Dubai last year.. so I was super excited when she booked a ticket to come see me in Alaska this summer. She is one of my favorite travel buddies and I can't wait to visit her next year in Colombia!

She came up with her brother Patrick, who lives in Denver, and therefore is a super awesome outdoorsy guy. We started off strong with the ambitious Twin Peaks hike overlooking Eklutna Lake. The hike was definitely a tough one, but the views on top were spectacular. There was a lot of fireweed in bloom, which is the most beautiful flower that grows all around Alaska. It reminds of the the Texas bluebonnets, except its a super vibrant pink color and stands out amongst all the green. It's a really interesting flower because it blooms from the bottom up. And they say once the blooms reach the top, summer is over. Luckily, it wasn't even quite halfway bloomed on our hike :)

Base of the lake

Birch trees galore

Katie and Patrick in front of the Twin Peaks

Lovely hike

Beautiful view amongst fireweed of Eklutna Lake from the top of Twin Peaks

We then continued north to the cabins at Hatcher's Pass, easily one of my favorite places in Alaska. This was my third time to go and I've gotten to experience all seasons there now! We woke up the next morning and explored the Independence Mine site up the road. Katie kept referring to is as District 12 from the Hunger Games. It's crazy to imagine only 50 years ago this area was a little booming gold mine town.

District 12 aka Independence Mine

Ruins amongst the beauty of Hatcher's Pass

After exploring the mine, we took the short hike up a hill to the spot where the old houses used to be. It was a nice switchback trail that claimed to be "family friendly" which was good because of all the hiking we did the day before at Eklutna Lake. There were a ton of earthy mounds along the trail that had me convinced we were in Hobbiton (maybe I'm a little obsessed with Lord of the Rings haha). It was such a nice surprise to find a really beautiful hidden lake atop the trail.

Stroll through Hobbiton

Hiking up the "family friendly"

Beautiful lake atop the hill

Katie and I

She's so strong 

Katie and Patrick spent the week down in Seward while I was working. When they returned, we decided to check out a bit of Anchorage night life. It doesn't really compare to Houston by any means, but there are a few gems in Anchorage. We started off with happy hour at Glacier Brewhouse and then headed to Bernie's, which has a really big outdoor patio and we listened to two live bands! By this point it was getting pretty late, although you couldn't tell by the 11pm sunshine. So we ended up at a few other places throughout the night dancing the night away. It was so fun to catch up with Katie and show them a little bit of everything in Anchorage!

I've been taking advantage of the concerts up in Alaska this summer because I definitely miss the abundance of live music I used to have access to in Houston. One of the bars here sponsored a summer concert series and sectioned off a block downtown for the monthly shows. In July, the headlining artist was Grouplove! I was really excited and convinced my friend Emily to join me for the concert. They put on a great show and we had a lot of fun dancing and taking selfies of a selfie (a new concept that Katie taught me haha).

Grouplove!

Emily's new friend

Legit selfie of a selfie

Our posed selfie of a selfie

Joe Dirt came to the concert

And this guy wouldn't stop dancing behind me

So windy! And 11pm sunlight

We couldn't get too wild that night because I helped plan a group outing the next day to go dip netting. This is quite a treat in Alaska and something I've been looking forward to for a whole year because you must have resident status to partake. The dipnetting window is really short (July 10 - July 31 only), but essentially any resident who has lived in Alaska for over a year can get a permit to catch up to 25 salmon with a big net. I'm not super into fishing because I get sea sick and standing around with a rod all day is kind of boring to me. But dipnetting seems so much more exciting!

So we rallied up the crew for a 4am departure down to the mouth of the Kenai river to catch some salmon with the incoming tide. Emily found a place to rent chest waders that allow you to walk chest deep into the water without getting wet. They were super stylin and I felt very rugged wearing them haha. I was also pretty bundled underneath since it was a chilly morning. The dipnets we used were 5ft in diameter and with pretty long poles that were definitely easy to drag around. We finally made it to the beach with all our gear around 10am and found a great spot to set up right as the tide was coming in. It could not have been a more beautiful day with the volcanoes visible across the ocean.

Mt. Redoubt volcano

Me in my spiffy waders and dip net

Super Alaskan girls

Ready to catch some fish!

We didn't have a net for everyone, so I took one of the first turns out in the ocean. Since the tide was out, the sand and mud flats were like "quicksand" and my boots would sink in every step. It was a workout just to walk out into the water! I got my net set up vertically and caught a fish within 3 minutes. It starts yanking on your net and then you are supposed to flip the net down to trap it and drag it all the way into shore (another super intense workout). I was so excited when I felt it tug my net that I didn't know what I was supposed to do next! One of the experienced guys was yelling directions and I made it all the way to shore before I realized I flipped my net the wrong way and the salmon had escaped :( So on attempt number two it took a couple more minutes but sure enough I caught another salmon and super quickly flipped my net the right way. Emily actually caught two in her net at the exact same time!

Emily and I dragging in our salmon - so tiring!

Almost got them in

Yay I caught my first fish!

And then I stunned it with a club

Wahoo first catches of the day

Girls fishing in the Kenai

I then traded my net with someone so that I could begin the scary part - gutting the fish. I still can't believe I did this myself as I'm super queezy when it comes to blood and gross things in general. But I'm definitely being more adventurous in Alaska so I figured I would try it out once. I said my goodbyes to the fish and thanked it for letting me catch and eat it haha. It was so slick and hard to hold on to, but I finally got it steady... and then off with it's head! After the head removal, you have to gut it on the bottom so that the meat stays fresh. That was actually more gross than the head removal! Then you toss all the guts back into the ocean and store the fish in a cooler.

Beheading my salmon

And then gutting it

Still smiling, must be thinking about how good it will taste!

Some people were catching fish left and right, but I only successfully caught one. It was a really fun day though, and definitely an Alaskan experience! We stopped at St. Elias Brewing Company in Soldotna for some celebratory drinks before heading back to Anchorage to fillet and vacuum seal the fish. I ended up with several meals worth of red salmon, which I've been definitely enjoying!

Enjoying a well earned flight after fishing

Successful day!