Kodiak

KODIAK. When most people hear the word "Kodiak" they immediately think of the massive 1000 pound brown bears that call the island home. Interestingly, we now know, these massive mammals feed mostly on plant matter (Salmonberries, lupine roots, eel grass), supplemented by the copious amounts of salmon running up the many rivers flowing off this Emerald Isle...

Diet of a Kodiak Brown Bear, according to the National Wildlife Refuge visitors center.

Now I want to set your expectations up properly from the start and say that Team Leslie did not see a single brownie on our latest trip. Honestly, it costs about $500/person to boat or fly to areas on Kodiak where you can readily observe bears... as you might guess, we're a bit thrifty when it comes to "pay-to-see" things like that. As J puts it, "if we're going to pay that much to fly somewhere, we better be doing a hell of a lot more than taking pictures of a bear." So we put our faith in the powers of Ice Cream Newton and the "pay-for-gas-and-drive-to-see-random-ass-stuff" plan. Mind you, we think that plan paid off in grand fashion as you'll note below. Ironically, the Rogers family in Francestown, NH and the Wharton-Nockles family in Naples, FL have seen more bear in the past year than we have here in AK. In fact, Gran and Great Grammy watched a large black bear cross their lawn in Francestown while we were in Kodiak no less... so feel free to talk to them if you want more deets on bears.

HAWAII. When most people hear the word "Kodiak" they do not think of Hawaii; but they should! We have deemed Kodiak the Hawaii of Alaska. From the dramatic mountains with cascading waterfalls, the lush greenery and abundant flowers, the gorgeous beaches, and the amazing sense of renewal and peace you find there, it really is worthy of the comparison. And for those of you skeptical of the Alaska lush factor (ie tons of rain and mosquitoes), we all returned with sunburns and did not see a single skeet the entire time. I know. Amazing.

Our campsite for the week - waterfall on one side...

River and...

Ocean on the other side!

CALIFORNIA. The grown-up two thirds of Team Leslie have spent their fair share of time along the California coast. And I don't know this for sure, but I have a sense that had we been able to visit these special places... Muir Beach, Stinson, Bodega...  75 years earlier, we would have found far fewer communities and establishments, and instead long stretches of uninhabited beaches, estuaries and cliffs... all spectacular and wild and waiting to be explored. Perhaps a few sun-worn, entrepreneurial, sandy folks selling hot cheese sammies from the back of their pick up trucks in between surfing stints along the way.

Surfers' Beach.

Fossil Beach.

J takes a break from the breaks.

Indigo hits it again and again.

Well the road system of Kodiak, all 60 miles of it, is like that, minus the folks selling the sammies. We were the only explorers out there most of the time and we were more than tempted to throw away our return ferry tickets, buy some more propane for the Coleman, and become the sandy entrepreneurial folks ourselves!! We actually created some stellar salmonberry pies (crescent roll dough in those scary cylinders that pop, sugar and fresh picked berries fried in butter on both sides for 4 minutes...) that just might have paid the bills for a month or two. Alas alack, apparently we have enough practicality in our bones to have kept the tickets and boarded the ferry. Bummer dude.

Really really big berries.

You'd pay big bucks for this roadside in the middle of nowhere, right? Yup. Thought so.

ALASKA. So as much as Kodiak reminded us of other beautiful parts of the country, it did ooze Alaskan goodness as well. Fish, berries, wildlife (I said no bears, but that doesn't mean other large mammals didn't cross our path!), mountains, rivers, ocean, and unexpected twists and turns along the way...

A herd of bison greeted us at Surfers' Beach...

And then a RIVER OTTER photo bombed J's picture!

Ice Cream Newton may have reached new heights...

A SEA GLASS BEACH. Again... A SEA GLASS BEACH. (Kim's heaven)

From a stint at the SEA GLASS BEACH.

Abercrombie State Park - no Fitch - where we camped on Day 1.

A lake down the hill from out campsite at Abercrombie bordered by the ocean.

FOSSILS found on the beach... and did I mention the sea glass?

Some grand fat tire riding...

(King crab shells make an awesome crunch noise when you run them over!)

Dinner caught out of the river by our campsite each night.

SUP picnic on an ocean bay island - Indigo paddles like a rockstar!

SUSTAINABILITY. So beyond having a bounty of sea, river and land life available to responsibly harvest, Kodiak residents are some of the greener humans we've come across in Alaska. Their island is essentially "off the grid" with 100% renewably-powered hydro and wind. (Note the huge turbines in the picture below.) When they get mega screwed over, like having 200,000 pounds of marine debris wash up on their shores from the 2011 Japan tsunami, they not only pick it all up, but get creative in the process...

J gets ready to hit the trails while Indigo gets ready to fly...

Marine trash sculpture...

SLUGS and SAILORS. As you have likely already figured out, I tend toward the positive brain chemistry side of things and my recap of Team Leslie's ventures might have the tint of rose colored glasses. And I don't want all of you ditching your plans for Bora Bora (I actually have no idea where that is) and the Grand Tiki Resort (There have to be a lot of those...) to hit Kodiak instead, without a true sense of things. So I asked Indigo and J to share the "bad" side of their Kodiak experience:

Indigo - "Slugs. Mom, they were everywhere. When you flipped over your paddle board in the morning there were at least fifty. And they were in my boots outside the tent. Gross. Real Gross."

J - "Swearing Sailors." So yes, when we finally emerged from the far ends of the road system and hit the fave bar and grill, the Rendezvous, we found ourselves seated near a crew of gentlemen, one of whom was determined to tell the most offensive, crass, over-the-top jokes at a very high volume. Luckily (?), we'd read that this joint was known for it's local color and took it all in stride. But when the one guy left, his friends turned to us and apologized up and down. Indigo's eyebrows were raised the whole while and she, luckily (?), knew most of the words and that they were not to be repeated. 

F*!@# Yeah!

And the weather. Variable. Honestly, we lucked out. The report had been for a week of rain and we were blessed with a cloud layer that promptly lifted high enough for us to see the glorious peaks around us, sun that warmed us, and even a tropical drizzle that never left us chilled through. But again, we were lucky. And the evening we arrived on the ferry, this is what Kodiak looked like:

Hmm...

So there you have it. If you have a slug aversion, beware. If you're a swearing sailor, welcome home. And if you can't handle a little drizzle, the Grand Tiki awaits.

Catching the ferry home...