where in the world is RAD: August 2013

Alaska - Denali and Kenai Peninsula adventure

So this girls trip came about thanks to Heather's 40th bday. A year and a half in the making, spurred on at Bjorn's request. Robin and I went round and round on where we should go adventure camping, and decided AK was the place. Couldn't be happier with our choice. We were prepared for cold, rain, grizzlies, mosquitoes, you name it. What we got was unbelievable weather, with lots of sun and tank top warmth, and very few animals that tried to feast on us :) It was a great trip with great friends!

Here are my top 5 pictures of the trip:

Happy girls on the Kesugi Ridge with Denali in back of us.

Our campsite on Grewingk Glacier and our leisure day of reading, snacking and drinking wine.

Our view of Denali from our campsite on Kesugi Ridge.

Explorer Glacier along Portage Glacier Road.

Adolescent grizzly getting his salmon on.

last day in AK

Stopped at my favorite brewery in AK - Midnight Sun. Good food AND good beer. And we should know we tried almost a dozen breweries in Alaska!

And yes this is Sunday Funday, and that is a goblet of JuJu I'm drinking. Which would be OJ combined with a Belgian Quadrupel beer. Delicious!!!!

Water taxi from Halibut Cove back to Homer

We got incredibly lucky with the weather. It was sunny and warm one day. Then overcast the next but it never did actually rain on us. As we bid our farewell to our Glacier, the Halibut Cove yurts and Kachemak Bay - the storm was moving over the glacier.

Halibut Cove on Kachemak Bay

We stayed in these Yurts right over the water in Halibut Cover after our backpacking adventure to Grewingk Glacier. Was nice to have a hot shower and table to sit at to eat after a cold day kayaking on the glacier!

Kayaking at Grewingk Glacier

Our lunch spot

Kayaking

Wakeup and kayak!

We hired a guide to go kayaking with out to the glacier. We woke up to overcast, threatening rain, and COLD!!!! Finally the Alaska we were prepared for :)

Our book day at Grewingk Glacier

So our hike out to the Grewingk Glacier was short and sweet, and since we arrived at 2 pm and the sun didn't set until 11 pm, we had a few hours on our hand. Thanks to a tipsy Safeway purchase, we decided to read some smutty books, snack and drink wine. ALL. DAY. LONG. it was awesome.

Grewingk Glacier

We took a water taxi across Kachemak Bay from Homer and landed in Halibut Cove. From there we backpacked up to Grewingk Glacier to stay the night.

Taking boat taxi from Homer across Kachemak Bay

Funny street sign on Kenai Peninsula

I don't know why, but these 2 streets strike me as hilarious..

Boats in Homer Spit

Homer

After leaving Cooper Landing, we drove all the way to the end of the Kenai Peninsula to Homer. Homer has a little spit that extends out to the ocean. The spit is where all the fishing boats dock. And it also has a few clusers of buildings with coffee shops, restaurants, souvenirs, and of course a bar :)