A Stone's Throw

J and Indigo heading down the Harding Ice Field trail above Exit Glacier

HOME. So our parents (who live very far away) might cringe at this, but when I was brainstorming about this blog post and a way to meld all our recent adventures into one common theme, the word that came to mind was "home." Alaska, and specifically Seward, feels like the absolute perfect match for us at this time in our precious lives.  And don't conjure up images of an actual beautiful home with hardwood floors, huge windows and a killer deck... we are currently renting the bottom of a duplex with the majority of our belongings still in boxes in our half of the garage. So this is more about the daily way we move through the world - our life here - not our stuff. Which, to me, is exactly how it should be. (Disclaimer: If we end up building or buying a home with huge windows and a killer deck, I'm okay with that.)

A STONE'S THROW. So what is it that makes Seward, Alaska feel like the place we are meant to be? Quite simply, we are surrounded by epic beauty and the opportunity to enjoy it with friends and family, right out our door.

Case number 1: Biking and  Skiing

In late June, J and friend Trent leave our home via bikes at 6PM one day and return at 6PM the next (just in time for a salmon chowder dinner party in our backyard; well played, gentlemen). During that 24 hour period, they...

mountain biked up the Lost Lake Trail and camped for a few hours...

climbed Mt. Ascension, looking out past Resurrection Bay to open ocean, down on the Harding Icefield and out to both ends of Kenai Lake...

and swooped back down a good 4000 feet on skis before snagging their bikes for the remainder of the descent. All in a day's work.

Cases number 2: Cute Animals

In August, my cousin Molly flew out from New Hampshire for over a week of Alaska exploring and shenanigans. I'll admit it was a very rainy week (sorry, Molly!) but we managed to play like wet rock stars, and meet some incredible animal friends here in Seward along the way. Molly had quite the knack for capturing their pix, so a shout-out to her for sharing!

First up was a quick bike ride to the the small boat harbor, which we discovered was a haven for hungry sea otters. Quick fun fact about them: sea otters have the thickest coat of any mammal with a whopping one million hairs per square inch - no wonder they're such adorable fur balls!

This guy kept diving down and getting crabs, which would then crawl around on his belly, until he snagged them with a fast paw and CRUNCH. (Kinda made you want to eat salty potato chips!)

A tufted puffin paddling and diving at the Sea Life Center.

Visiting a kennel, meeting puppies and being pulled by sled dogs training for the Iditarod were things Team Leslie had yet to check off our Alaska list, but Molly, an animal-lover to the bone, inspired us to give it a go! Turning Heads Kennel was a 5 minute drive. 

7 week old puppies were hard to give back...

9 DAY old puppies were even harder!

Wise words!

Case number 3: Blueberry Patches

For my 40th birthday in August, I  reserved the Dale Clemens Cabin in the backcountry above Seward for three nights and invited folks to come up for an afternoon, night, or the whole darn time. At the time of the reservation, we lived in Kenai and I thought that exotic Seward would be a fun change of pace; little did I know that we would be living 10 minutes from the trailhead! But fun it was, and we picked enough blueberries to make Sal proud!

Pumped to hit the trail!

Molly charging it, through mud, mist and Devils Club.

Party cabin!

A friend hiked in a two tier champagne cake from The Moose Is Loose - cabin food heaven.

View from a truly killer deck.

Case number 4: Sea Kayaking

For several years I had heard about a hostel on Resurrection Bay that was only accessible by water taxi. Fabled to have the best sea kayak rental rates around, beautiful facilities and a magical rain forest and ocean backdrop, Kayakers Cove sounded dreamy. So when a group of girl friends invited me out there for the night the weekend before school started, I decided to sneak away for a little recon mission and find out the truth. With a dry bag packed full of warm clothes, Luna bars and box wine (what else does a girl need?), I walked down to the small boat harbor to catch the water taxi.

40 minutes of calm seas, clear skies and spectacular island scenery en route.

We scarfed a late breakfast of bacon and muffins in the hostel common area, and then got suited up with boats and gear, all for $25/day... amazing.

After a few hours of paddling the coast, sneaking up coves to waterfalls, and picking more berries, we returned to the hostel for a hike, some dinner and a bonfire.

The forest trail behind the hostel was as magical as magical gets.

Even the outhouse was cool! (Red ribbon = occupied.)

Case number 5: Wildlife

Even though our old town of Kenai is way more synonymous with salmon, there are still a few to be found in these parts. J and our old buddy Chris gave rod and reeling a go our first week in town; J ended up setting down his rod and picking up this Sockeye with his bare hands!

"This is how we do..."

and we got a little artsy before turning it into dinner!

So Mt. Marathon Bowl has always been a go-to place in Seward for us because it holds snow. Back when J was on his crazy ski-every-month streak, we would clamber up into the bowl in September and seek out some dirty white stuff to slide on for a few feet. Now this geologic feature sits above our backyard. We can see the craggy tips and snow fields and the cranking waterfall from our deck (Yes, we do have a deck... not a "killer deck" but a deck). The trailhead to climb up the few miles into the bowl is about a mile from our house. When we first moved to Seward in late spring, it looked like this:

J kicks back after a quick hike up and ski down...

while Indigo takes advantage of the breeze to fly a kite!

Now, in late summer, it looks like this:

A perfect spot to have after-dinner cocoa,

do the dishes,

and hike down after a night under the stars.

Two weekends ago we climbed up to spend the night. It was supposed to be grand weather - blue skies, warm (high 80's), and no chance of rain. As we finished up dinner and chatted over hot bevs, an animal watching us in the dusky light caught our eye: a lynx. The next morning, we watched a pack of coyotes gather on an adjacent hill and heard them "yip yip yaoooooo..." A mama moose and her newborn waltzed through as well. Mountain goats dotted the rocky slopes. J commented that it felt like we were in Wild America. We were less than a mile as the crow flies from our house.

So there you go. I sound like a shameless commercial for the wild Alaskan frontier, but it's all here and real and a part of our life... it took us a few years up here to find it, but we did... and we are so grateful.