Freedom on the Fourth

Tim and I spent the weekend of July 4th celebrating our freedom in the beautiful Chugach Mountains of the Kenai Peninsula. The first day, we ate at an old burger place on the patio next to a creek, then we burned off our salmon burgers by climbing to the top of Flat Top Mt. There was a couple who had a pet goat who was hiking with them! We decided to take the "Difficult and Abandoned" Trail and boy was it unmaintained, to say the least! We were literally 40 degrees from vertical in some spots, slipping back down the gravel and trying to grab onto anything we could hold! It was definitely the most challenging climb either of us have done that was that long. We had to keep our distance so that the person up ahead wouldn't fall on the one below and we also had to dodge rocks that the other one knocked down accidentally! We got a superb workout to say the least! You can see part of how far we came in the photo to the right (You can't even see the steep side of the mountain below, in the photo).

Once we made it to the top, we sat up there on the very edge (left) with our binoculars, looking for wildlife and caught up on each other's life for the last 4 weeks. We could hear the river rushing below in the valley and there was a cool mountain breeze. We sat up there for over an hour and it was amazing.

The next day, we took off for Kenai. We spent the first half of the day in Girdwood. Got the famous sourdough bread, clam chowder and sweet rolls at the Bake Shop- they literally slap a whole cup of butter onto the side of your plate with the sweet roll!!!! Then we hiked Winner's Creek Trail behind Alyeska Resort to the Hand Tram.

We passed a river on the way that Tim had to wade through (left)and I got it on video, we're estimating that

the water was about 37 degrees! It comes from glaciers, so it's very cold and blue. We also crossed a crystal blue waterfall (lower left) that was unlike anything either of us had ever seen!! We were just amazed.

We finally made it to the hand tram (a metal basket that you self propel yourself on using ropes, across a river gorge) and I was more scared once I got on it than I thought I'd be! We

were way up there, but the view was definitely worth it!

Then we headed to Hope, which has the coolest, historic main street! We camped at Porcupine Campground in the back of the Bronco and slept with shirts wrapped around our eyes to block the constant light! Hope is a quaint, very small (pop. 137) fishing town with a view just out of this world (below).

The next day we woke up and went to eat at one of two eateries in Hope- The Discovery Cafe. Tim stopped before we pulled in because he saw a moose. We watched it for a while then parked, then Tim saw it again, only it looked much smaller than before...then we realized it was a mother and baby. We were 20 feet away from them and they just watched us and ate! We were completely dumbfounded! Then they walked off together into the woods and it was one of those sights that you'll never forget- a true highlight! The breakfast was phenomenal, caribou sausage, eggs, buttermilk pancakes, coffee, milk, sauteed potatoes and wheat toast.

Then we headed for the big adventure- Whitewater Rafting on the Six Mile!!! Once we got all suited up and to the river, the guides started getting into the rafts and going down the river while we were all seated on the bank. We watched as our boats left without us, knowing we were obviously going to have to swim to our boats...great! They went pretty far away too! Once it was time, we dove on in and boy was it freezing and FAST!! You had to swim so aggressively just to make an inch, freezing water was splashing us in the face and getting into our mouth...it was super intense, I have to admit I got a little freaked out for a split second! Then we flipped onto our backs and floated to our boats. Tim and I got on the BEST raft, 6 other in shape guys, the coolest guide and me! No one on our boat flipped out, but someone in the one before us did and it was right in between to Class 5 rapids! We got him back though. I couldn't take pics in any big whitewater because we had to paddle and seriously hold on for life! It was truly a blast!

Then we drove to Seward. We walked downtown a bit and saw some of the runners and their battles wounds from the Mt Marathon race, (http://www.sewardak.org/news-events/marathon/marathon.htm), walked along the harbor and got some ice cream. There were signs for Tsunami evacuation routes and we'd never see them before so we got some shots :).

Then we headed to Kenai Fjords National Park. We hiked right up to Exit Glacier. There were signs along the way with years on them to show where the iceberg was at those times. Once we got up to the toe of the glacier, you could hear the water melting off of it like rain and you can see it in the photo to the right. We saw another moose on the way, walking across the river. We tried to walk across the river, staying dry (had to in order to reach the glacier), and definitely weren't successful. Haha! It was so funny, we both ended up soaking wet and hiked back with boots full of water!

On the way home, I saw two bald eagles flying over the mountains and we enjoyed so much beauty it was just unreal. We relaxed all day Sunday and caught up on all we've missed!

John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed,

Tim & Rachel