Family Outing

Friday morning showed promise of a beautiful day. We woke up to a clear sky and almost 45deg. weather with little wind, so it was cool but comfortable. Since Thursday had started ugly and then turned clear and we had already seen how quickly the weather could change we decided to take the morning off from unpacking and go explore a local fort. Fort Abercrombie was an army based used during WWII. It is currently opened to the public to explore trails, camp and see old bunkers used during the war.

The trail was a little rugged however with B on daddy's back and puppy on A's, it's her new baby, we hit the trail. Those three were almost as much fun to watch as the scenery! The trail led us around Lake Gertrude to a small strip of land that separates the lake from the ocean.

We wandered through the woods, which are much different than back home. The trees were covered in moss (I think it was moss anyways), and aren't anything like Ga. pines. The limbs looked like ladders going all the way around and up the tree. They were too tempting not to climb on or at least over a fallen one.

We also went over brooks that flowed into the lake. I'm assuming they are formed by snow run off from the mountains. Wherever they come from they were cold but still wonderful to look at.

The trail had makeshift bridges built over them made from 2x4's it looked like, very high tech! The little bridges really added to the charm of the trial.

I was a little amazed at how well A did on this little hike. Some parts were quite steep however after daddy showed her how to run down them like they were a roller-coaster, with her hands up and squealing, she loved it!

The view from the tallest part was amazing it over looked both the lake and the ocean. With the day being so clear we were able to see more of Kodiak Island as well as some outlaying islands.

By the time we reached the ocean A was getting a little tired of walking so daddy turned into a pack horse and carried both his girls. We found a carrier over the weekend that we can put A in when we do more hiking. However, I don't think the carrier will compare to being on daddy's shoulders, the view is much better up there I'm sure. B also didn't seem to mind A being up which surprised me. I think she enjoyed the company.

We reached the beach around lunch time and took a small break before hiking the other half of the lake. A enjoyed playing on the beach and saving the shells that had washed up. We had made a short trip to the beach close the the house the day before. While we were there we found a hermit crab and a muscle of some sort that had been washed up during the tide. After examining them and saying "hi", A put them back in their home, the water. So she was very concerned to see all the sea life stuck to the rocks at the beach at Fort Abercrombie. After plucking a clam or something off the rock I convinced her that she didn't need to put them ALL back in the water they would be okay until the tide came back in.

Leaving the beach it was just a short walk to the WWII bunkers. While you can't go into most of them and some are collapsed, they were still very interesting. Some hiking trails still have trenches from the war as well, we didn't see any on this hike though.

After leaving the bunkers we came across a water fountain that you don't see very often. The camping at the fort is all primitive with only outhouses, no running water facilities. I wasn't expecting the water fountains to also be so primitive. S tried to get some water out of it but didn't have any luck, it was a little difficult to pump with the girls on his back and A trying to help from his shoulders. From the water on the ground we assumed that it did work we just could get the water up.

Finishing the hike back at the car we had a picknick of PB&J sandwiches then headed home for the girls naps and to finish up unpacking. It was a wonderful family outing and led into a beautiful weekend. The outing gave us the perfect break to keep us motivated to finish the house so we can go outside and play more. We should be coming into the prettiest part of the year for the island so we should be getting several more days like Friday to enjoy.