Busy in Valdez

Bill and Barb picked us up in Anchorage on Saturday, and we made the trek to Valdez. We visited with Katie a bit before heading to bed.

On Sunday the five of us decided to take a hike on the 18-mile trail. It was a little rainy but still a nice hike. Bill and I decided to try our hiking legs again the next day and go out to the old stamp mills. We took the six wheeler back to the trail. Early on we saw a black bear, but we decided to pass him as long as we had a motorized means of transportation.

Eventually we got to a snow bank that we didn’t want to cross w/ the 6-wheeler, and we began our hike. It wasn’t long before we saw a pile of fresh bear scat, then another, and another… We decided to turn back and picnic at the small waterfall we’d passed earlier. We didn’t get much of a hike out of our trip, but it was still a nice day.

Wednesday Bill and I joined his parents on a kayak trip out to Shoup Glacier. It was a beautiful day – we lucked out on weather! The trip out went pretty smoothly until we got to a shallow river at the end. Bill Jr. had  to drag us up since he was wearing a dry suit. We had a nice stay at a little cabin that night and then paddled closer to the glacier Thursday morning. Bill and I got brave and decided a swim was in order to celebrate my birthday! Brrr!

We paddled back Thursday (with the tide, yay!), and arrived home to find the Svirs and this masterpiece created by Katie.

We decided to do the Stan Steven’s tour on Friday. We  saw lots of great wild life and some amazing glacier calving.

Friday evening Bill and I headed over to kick of his reunion weekend at a bonfire. Today we went flying (pictures to come), and tonight we’ll be reunioning again.

Hope each of you is finding something fun to fill your time with!