Gull Rock

The weather has just been so awesome here we decided to hit the road and head over to Hope for a hike. I love the drive to Hope, so that was why we chose Hope as our destination. There are two hikes to choose from right out of town, one is long and mellow, the other is less long and really difficult, so we chose the easy one, Gull Rock, which is about 12 miles round trip. My dogs were barkin' by the end!

Looking up Turnagain Arm while the tide is WAY out.

Looking west of Anchorage. That dark mountain on the

left hand side is called The Sleeping Lady, or Mount Susitna.

There's a fungus among us. 

It took us almost 3 hours to return from Hope, which

is normally about an hour drive. The fish are running

so this is pretty typical traffic on the Seward Highway at 

this time of year because there are so many fisherman heading

down the Kenai Peninsula for dip netting and fishing.

The Fourth of Joo-Lie.

The forecast for Prince William Sound was looking good for a boat trip to Cordova. . . Too bad NOAA was WAY off! We went to Whittier after work to get the boat ready, but it took way longer than anticipated so we ended up sleeping in the harbor, which turned out to be sa-WEET because we caught the firework show in Whittier that started at 12:00 a.m. on the 4th!

We set out Thursday morning and the weather turned sour quickly and the ocean got really rough, so we decided to hunker down about three hours outside of the harbor in Surprise Cove and ended up staying there for the next 4 days due to a "Small Craft Advisory" from the coast guard. I have to admit that it was pretty nice to just relax, sleep in, and read books! We packed up the dingy and explored the cove when the rain let up now and again. We had to go check out the jellyfish, harbor seals, and waterfalls! On our return trip to Whittier, the sea was calm as could be and the sun started to pop out! It got so nice by the time we back to the harbor that we stuck around and cleaned the boat and soaked up some rays.