Alyeska with Fugates

At our Fulltime Families rally in California, we met the Fugate family from Alaska. They mentioned their plans to be here over the summer and we talked about getting together. We spent a day together at the rocky beach of Eklutna Lake.

The following night we met up with them at the Bird Creek campground to camp with them for two nights. On our way to the campground we passed a wildfire that had been burning for a few days near the McHugh trailhead. We saw helicopters scooping water from the Turnagain Arm into a bucket to drop on the fire. At our campsite, there was quite a bit of smoke in the air and ash fell on us at one point. We were concerned about the fire coming our direction, but we stayed updated by the camp host. They did end up closing the road, the only route between Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula, so that caused a major traffic situation. The kids had a great time playing in the woods together and making up games before we went hiking. 

That afternoon we took the kids to Alyeska to hike the Winner Creek Trail. This hike was very different than any of the other hikes we have done in Alaska. The forested 4 mile hike was all trail and very little elevation change. All along the trail were ripe berries- blueberries, salmonberries, watermelon berries, crowberries and raspberries. It was an all you can eat feast!

Here we came to the hand tram that takes you to the other side of the river. We all took turns crossing since it only holds 2-3 people at a time.

They were so cute holding hands on the hike.

After the hike, we took the tram up the mountain for some amazing views.

I love this lonely pale green tree amidst the dark pines.

Of course Asher insisted that we walk to the closest snow patch for him to play for a bit before we rode back down the mountain.

The Alyeska Hotel looks like a palace surrounded by lush green grass, trees and mountains from this vantage point.

The view of the Turnagain Arm from our campsite. This was taken close to midnight. It used to be even lighter outside thru the night, but since the peak of daylight hours (22 hours each day!) in June, it's been getting increasingly darker. Still quite light though. Light enough for me to read in the tent without a light on until I fall asleep.

The next morning we headed back towards Anchorage past the fire. The day before they ended up closing the road completely as the fire crept towards it. Today both lanes were open the fire was only about 15% contained and had split into multiple fires. Some small areas were burning only 30 feet from the road!

If you look closely in this photo, you'll see a helicopter that has just filled its bucket with water and heading back to the fire.

We stopped at Potter Marsh to check the status of the salmon. Last time I saw only a few fish. Today there were hundreds! I counted about 5 different species of salmon. One fish was more than 2 feet long!