Only in Alaska: 48 Hours

BELUGAS. So our 48 hours begins in the middle of last Friday afternoon with a text from J:

"Baloogas at the bottom of the stairs right now!!!"

Despite the spelling and cryptic nature, I knew what was up and flew out of my office; at long last, the elusive, ivory, grin-mouthed whales were making an appearance off the coast of our beach! Sure enough, I jogged down the stairs to the wide stretch of sand below to find white backs rising up and sinking down into the water; a whole pod of them with dark headed harbor seals mingling in between were cruising up the coast, presumably munching on silver salmon. J had the fat bike and handed it over so I could ride and catch up to them...we weren't the only ones appreciating this rare visit!

And to have a sense of why these whales are interested in being here right now, check out these shots of our buddy Chris wrangling a silver - between his and J's handiwork combined, they scored four in one afternoon... tasty!

STAND UP PADDLE.  Saturday we ventured out to a favorite haunt, Engineer Lake Cabin, with the plan of picking some more berries (seems like all we do, right?) and enjoying a fall weekend in the wilderness. J decided to challenge his balance prowess and use our SUP to transport some of our gear across the lake while Indigo, Chris and I hiked around on the trail. It turned out to be an absolutely serene evening and the addition of the paddleboard made for some excellent rainbow, loon and river otter viewing.

And the cabin came with it's own row boat... but it was BYOCostumes!

AURORA. Then late that night, after a delicious mini-Thanksgiving meal with very fresh cranberry sauce by candle light, we were gifted with a glorious spectacle... not only green, but some pinks, too. Keep in mind that none of this sky light is residual sunset or anything; it's all aurora borealis!

SIT DOWN PADDLE. And to top it off, we hit the Kenai River on Sunday for a packraft trip down "The Canyons." Yellow leaves, turquoise blue water, and bright red fish that we would hit with our paddles and scoop backwards as we moved over waves trains.

From ocean to river; whales to salmon; rainbows to auroras... a fantastic 48 hours in AK!

Berry Merry

BACK "INSIDE." Before jumping into fall happenings in Alaska, let me take a brief moment to honor the truly spectacular summer adventures had on the "outside." We managed to hit all four corners of the lower 48, be loved up by friends and family galore, and party our white Alaskan buns off... Thanks to everyone who contributed to the hoopla - we love you LOTS! 

Oregon...

Florida...

And New England!

BERRIES. There's nothing like getting settled and grounded back at home than, literally, getting on your hands and knees on the ground and harvesting a bit of nature's bounty. Sure enough, in the days following our return to AK, word got out about a bumper crop of berries, so Team Leslie left mounds of laundry and unwritten thank you notes aside, and headed for the hills.

Our first attempt took us up a trail in the mountains edging the Kenai River. We passed fellow hikers happily coming down with gallon ziplocks, stuffed with high bush blueberries! Encouraged, we climbed and climbed, only to find that time and elevation were not on our side; the goods were another 3+ miles ahead. Indigo and her friend Ruby (yup, we roll with a colorful crowd) did manage to find a single bush, which they rushed with elbows swinging, to get a few satisfying ker-plunks into their buckets. Amazing how once you shift your expectations, even twelve berries can make you grin!

Our next try was the result of a failed kayaking weekend with Kim and some lady friends - Plan B turned out to be a gorgeous hike outside of Seward. Low and behold, high bush blubes were dripping from the sides of the trail!

And finally the whole fam headed out on an official mission, backpacks, sleeping bags, tent and all, to get some goods figuring that if we put our energy into hiking just one way, we could get high enough to pick and have all the time in the world...

For low bush crans,

For low bush blues,

For Alaskan autumn views,

For fun with family,

And berry picking buddies!

In classic "Blueberries for Sal" form, we even spied a big black bear across the valley, doing some picking of his own. 

Happy fall, everyone!