Exit to Exit Glacier

Here are the accounts of May 27th or "Last Day of Alaskan Adventures with Joey"   =(

Sadly the adventures had to come to an end as we headed back to Anchorage for our red eye flights this day. Our last moments together for two months... and some crazy moments they were. Tried to go tide pooling in Homer before we left. When I say tried to go tide pooling I mean that we went out to the beach at low tide and walked around but didn't really see anything super cool. I guess when there are super low tides, you have a greater chance of seeing octopus. Oh well. We originally wanted to do a hike out at East End Road where you could see some nice views of Kachemak Bay, Kenai National Park and the volcanoes, but it rained over night and we didn't get up early enough. Again, oh well. So we left Homer and as a last huzzah, we went back towards Seward so we could hike out to see Exit Glacier. Along the way we stopped at Tern Lake to watch the Arctic Terns hunting for fish.

This one liked perching on the sign.

I like thinking it means "Stop for Tern."

Exit Glacier is the most accessible glacier in the park; all of the others can only be accessed by boat or hiking long distances. It is a short 1 mile or so hike, but you get to stand very close to the glacier which is a surreal experience.

The Outwash Plain of Exit Glacier. 

Joey and glacier!

On the Outwash Plain.

We wanted to get closer, but we would have had to ford a river.

I just included this to show the difference between June 2007 and May 2014.

After this quick, rainy hike, we got back to our rental car to discover it had a flat. I went to ask the park ranger lady if there was a repair shop nearby in Seward. She said there were two, but both would probably be closed at that time. Darn sleepy little Alaskan towns, closed after 5pm. So we had to drive the WHOLE way back to Anchorage on the spare tire. Luckily the Sterling and Seward Highway speed limits are not that fast. A little nerve-racking but we made it Anchorage in time to get some more fish and chips and some tasty salmon chowder at Humpy's. I am very happy that Joey got to come out this year, and that we got to see parts of Alaska neither of us have seen or explored. I look forward to many more adventures, Alaskan and otherwise, with him!

And now here I am, over one month into the field season, it goes by so fast. Will try to update more again soon. But in other news, seriously check out my Parasitic Jaeger blog. I am happy to announce that it is a hit! Well, to my class I guess. The TA does a weekly "Mail Bag" video where she has been featuring different field notes blogs for the other students to see, and she asked if she could feature mine for this week's video! Woo! I think I'll try to post that video here when it is posted next week, although it takes a REALLY long time to upload on this ssssllllllooooowwwww internet connection here.

The Halibut Fishing Capital of the World

Day 4 of Alaskan Adventures with Joey

Mmm, tasty!

Our first, and only full day in Homer, so we drove down the 'spit' to find some seafood and look at boats. We originally discussed getting a boat taxi to take us across Kachemak Bay so we could hike around some glaciers and look for wildlife, but they were all really expensive. Oh well, we still had a good day and it was actually kind of nice to have a more mellow day. Well, it was mostly mellow.

We walked around on the spit, looking at the shops and boats. The Time Bandit, made famous on "Deadliest Catch" is docked in Homer, so we did the obligatory tourist shots of it. We stopped over at Captain Pattie's for some Kachemak Bay oysters, chowder and a beer. Afterwards, we went to Homer Brewing company to get some Alaskan beer. It was a cute little place, and a pretty tasty porter (China Poot Porter). We took our beer back to our cute little guest house and watched the Sandhill Cranes.

AMERICA! 

Teehee, *snort*.

That's a lot of netting!

So many fishing things everywhere! 

Time Bandit

Time Bandit and Joey

Homer Brewing Mascot

Our peaceful guesthouse

View from the back patio of the guesthouse

She also rents this yurt! You have to use an outhouse if you stay here.

Sandhill Crane flying by the guesthouse

Interestingly, we spotted a Northwestern Crow with an odd bill deformity. These are the best pictures I could get of it.

After that, the day got a little crazy! We wanted to go do a hike, and found this one where you get to climb down to the beach at low tide. It sounded pretty nice, and we would have gotten down as the tide would have started coming in, but the trail was closed. Actually, that didn't stop us. No, getting chased off the trail by a moose did though! We made it 100 ft or so down the trail when we saw a moose just standing in the middle of it. She looked at us for awhile and then started walking down the trail, so we sort of meandered with her. After another 100 ft or so, she turned around and started walking toward us. So we walked back with the moose following us all the way to the car. As soon as I opened the door, she wasn't having it, and went on her merry way. A little nerve-racking, but I think she was only curious and never seemed agitated by our presence.

Communing with nature.

After our experience with the moose we walked down to the beach then got some food and went home. I am not sure, writing this almost three weeks in to the field season if this is all that happened. But it is as much as I can recall. I will also write a quick update on what is going on here before I do the final post for the Alaskan Adventures with Joey.