Arguably, two of the most quintessential summer foods in Alaska are salmon and berries. So what does an Alaskan do when you haven’t been here long enough to know where the good wild patches are located? (Good luck getting any of your neighbors to spill the beans on that topic!) You go pick your own raspberries at Seaside Farm, that’s what.
Hiking Grace Ridge
Huge thank you to our friend E for allowing us to share her photos in this post. Papa B and I were so focused on just getting through this one that we didn’t take many pictures.
I first learned about Grace Ridge when a friend made plans to hike the north side with her young family in March. After scoping it out online, I knew this was one we needed to do. The views looked fantastic, and several people around Homer raved about it. There are two ways to hike Grace Ridge; the most popular way is a half-day out-and-back hike from Kayak Beach, the primary destination being a lookout point 2.9 miles in with 1745 feet of elevation gain. The other option is the through hike, which covers 8.9 miles and 3,100 feet of elevation gain. After reading about it, scoping out photos, and talking to local friends, I wanted to experience the through hike. It is listed as “moderate to difficult”, but I know people who hiked it with kids and raved about it. We could totally do this (we can do hard things!), and the views would be top notch.
Where Does All the Time Go?
Hello there….anyone still here? (Hi, Mom!) It’s been radio silence in this space for a while because we’ve been busy, busy, busy! We have so much to get caught up on here, but it’s summer in Alaska. And what a gorgeous summer it has been! We’re trying to squeeze everything in, and the season still feels like it’s slipping through our fingers. Our television sits forgotten in the corner collecting dust, and we’ve been out adventuring with visitors, trying to learn how to fish, working on our new home, and soaking up as much vitamin D as we can. I’m really hoping to start chipping away at the long list of posts we’d like to share, though, in the days to come.
The Russian River Trail & Russian River Falls
When it comes to venturing out with kids in tow, I’m still learning the ropes. A couple of weeks ago, our Hike it Baby branch here on the Kenai had a hike planned for part of the Russian River Trail in Cooper Landing. The goal was a seven mile round trip hike to the lower lake, with a stop at the falls if there was enough time. While we are continually getting better at embracing the “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing” motto, it didn’t hurt that the weather forecast looked promising. High 40s with sun definitely makes driving two hours for a hike with two {little} kids much more appealing. Since we had just decided the day before that we would be making a last minute venture up to Anchorage to look at a piece of equipment and run some errands, a hike seemed like the perfect way to break up the four hour drive.
