Sea Lion Cove

A few weeks back, I discovered a wondrous thing.  Something that only happens when a very certain set of circumstances happen to line up just so; the bosses need a break, there's no trips booked, and it's sunny. 

We shut up shop and embark on a company adventure!

Now, this adventure came as no surprise that morning, we had been planning it for a few days.  We had a picnic planned, a little bit of work to do on the way there, and all day for exploring.

This particular time, we were headed out to Sea Lion Cove on the northwestern shore of Kruzof Island (the one with the volcano).  It's only about an hour by boat but we had some chores to do on the way.  There was a4-night expedition planned for the for the following week and the boys needed some refreshers on their potential camping spots.  For the rest of us, that meant basking in the sun while we had sites pointed out to us.  And what beautiful spots they were.

Boats in the harbor.  Photo by Cailen

Photo by Cailen

Willow likes to ride up on the bow to watch for fish, not that she has ever caught any.  Photo by Cailen

Now, to get to Sea Lion Cove, we had more than a gorgeous boat ride in store for us.  We had a hike that had been described to me as "moderate elevation gain".  I now know that my boss is insane and has a really skewed sense of the word moderate.  It was pretty darned steep due to the fact that we had to get over a mountain (and back down it) to get to this particular cove. 

Photo by Cailen

 Our path first took us along an estuary on a trail that was covered in bear sign - both prints and scat - to a set of log stairs that went nearly straight up the mountain.  When we finally reached the crest, we discovered an immense muskeg (an Alaska bog) complete with lily ponds and soggy ground that extended the entire way between the two peaks. 

Photo by Cailen

Photo by Cailen

 The trail then descends down the entire other side of the mountain with tree roots and rocks as steps.  By this time, the provisions that we were all carrying for our potluck picnic were getting quite heavy.  Thankfully, we were soon rewarded with the beauty and serenity that is Sea Lion Cove.  Throughout the entire hike, we didn't see another person.

Photo by Cailen

A fire was quickly built and lunch was prepared.  We pack a pretty good picnic, if I do say so myself.  Curried chicken tacos with all the fixings.  Chicken queso dip and chips.  And homemade scones.  Ya, it was delicious. 

After lunch, we had an hour or two to explore and play before we had to start heading back.  We were trying to catch the tide on it's way back up (so the boat would be floating again).  As this was rather near the solstice, we had daylight until about 10pm when we got home. 

Tide pooling and general shenanigans ensued.  Seth and Connor went swimming.  Cailen and I wandered with our cameras.  And Willow ran circles around us all. 

Photo by Cailen

Photo by Cailen.  I can't even remember what she did to make me laugh :)

Someday, I hope to be this good at yoga...

... Or this good...

...Right now, all I've got is Tree.  :)

These happen to be some of the coolest rock formations that I've seen up here yet.  The way they were eroding was so pretty!

Mt Edgecumbe at dusk.  Photo by Cailen.

The Wilderness Explorer, sister ship to the boat Mom and I were on last summer!

Mt Edgecumbe

This is my buddy Cailen

It's amazing how much this place looks like the Oregon Coast!

Limpet shell

Cartwheels are a must on any beach!

On the hike back to the boat.

All in all, I'd say that the day off was a wonderful time had by all!  My knees hated me for a week or so (until I hiked Verstovia, then they really disliked me), but it was worth it.  I only wish that I could get back out there easily.  On the bright side of that, it's very remote and private; we had the miles long beach completely to ourselves. 

Oh!  And on the way home, we saw FOUR humpback whales and a Minke whale!  And some sea otters!