Thursday, June 30, 2011
Fire
Camping
6/21/11
Prince William Sound Kayak Trip
On Monday we came back from a four night kayak trip at the Prince William Sound. The first day we drove out to Whittier and got our kayaks and gear. When we got it all figured out and packed and stuff we water taxied a ways out to Hobo Bay (hehe hobo hehe) and got dumped there with our stuff in a pile on the beach next to us. After taking a quick trip to get water we loaded our kayaks and headed off to our camp site. It was a really nice day, really sunny (unusual for Alaska, unfortunately) and calm. We saw a ton of whales, orcas from far off and some other ones that came really close but we don’t know what kind they were. It was really awesome!!!
The second day was pretty much the same as the first except we didn’t see any whales (bummer) but we saw a few awesome glaciers instead. Dad and Kayley paddled really close to it but it was really windy so everyone else gave up and waited for them to come back. We camped pretty close to it so we could hear it thundering all night long. It also started raining so it was pretty hard to sleep because it was really loud.
The next day we all went up close to the glacier and had to paddle through a ton of icebergs that had fallen off of it. Then we paddled over to a big bay that had like three glaciers going into it and camped really, really close to it. Dad stayed up really late because he wanted to see it all fall down. Of course it fell down like five minutes after he went to bed.
The fourth day it was really cloudy and gross and we paddled around the bay and visited all the glaciers. Sarah also climbed on top of an iceberg for money. Then we paddled all the way back to Hobo Bay except for a mile or so and stayed at a really crappy campsite. It started raining before we finished dinner and when we got ready for bed we realized that we had left Zander’s and my sleeping bags on the beach at the last campsite. So, pretty much that night was really cold and wet.
It kept raining all night and on and off all the next day too. After cowering in our tent for a really long time in the morning we ate and then dad took Zander and I of on a really wet and muddy hike to a granite mine that we never found. Instead we found a few rusty trucks, a few oil drums and a few random tires. We also found a lot of mud and slime. While we were doing this Kayley, Sarah and mom went fishing in the kayak. Then we packed up and paddled off around the point to Hobo Bay which took about 20 minutes. We paddled around in the bay for a while just to kill some time and then set up a little rain cover thing with a tarp and sat there for a while playing cards for M&Ms and drinking tea and eating soup until the boat came. When we got back we went out to dinner before we drove home. Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Glaciers 6-28-11
Glaciers: a large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or valley or spreading outward on a land surface. A glaciar is made by snow piling up with so much presure that it turns into ice and never melts in the winter.
This Glacier is one where two glaciers come into one. The dark line in the middle is where they combined. You can see the other glacier on the right colliding with the big one on the left. This glacier is called Surprise glacier. This picture was taken from a couple miles away, but we paddled about 100 yards away from the base of the glacier. We slept right under it and it was hard going to sleep because every 20 minuets a chunk of ice would fall off it and make a big booming sound.
To get to the glacier, you have to paddle through a sea of icebergs and small melted chunks. Here, we are trying to get to the glacier without hitting the big icebergs. It is really cold and the water is silty and looks tropical, but it is so cold that if you stay in the water for longer than a minute then your mussles will freeze up.
Icebergs come off a glacier that has hit the sea (tide water glacier) and big chunk's fall off it into the water. In the water, they are 89% under water and 11% above. So you have to stay away from the big ones or your boat will get stuck on them. This iceberg has run aground and the flat part on top with the overhanging is the part on the surface. The tides pull the icebergs out of the bay as they melt.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
FRED THE FISH!!!!!!:):):)
"bear hunt" / car campout
On Monday we drove to Cooper Lake on the Kenai Peninsula and camped out there for a night on our way to Homer. Like right when we got there our beloved father dragged Zander and I out"bear hunting". So pretty much what we did was walk half way around the lake swatting at mosquitoes and trying to be quiet and look for bear tracks and things. It was hard to be quiet because Zander was dramatically narrating our "strenuous and life threatening journey stalking monstrous grizzlies". He never ran out of material because we had to cross mud and gross swamps and go through bushes and over rocks and stuff. And he could always go back to the "evil bloodsucking insects" (mosquitoes). All we found was a pile of moose crap and a few tracks. Anyway, we went for about 45 mins until dad just gave up and turned around. When we got back to camp we found out that Kayley had caught her first fish and named him Fred. She walked her fish on a string attached to the hook that was stuck up its throat (!!!) up and down the shoreline in the shallow water. Fred was a really sparkly and rainbowy rainbow trout and he was surprisingly big (maybe like a foot and a half long). 
Unfortunately, we had fried Fred for dinner.... :( He was yummy! We also had really good chicken soup for dinner. We eat well when we are camping :) The next morning was awesome because we had M&M pancakes for breakfast!!!!!!! :)
Toodles~~Mia<3
shooting with cousin Nathan 6-22-11
Zander
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