Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The Kenai Peninsula Canoe Trails

Every summer, we try to spend a long weekend on the Canoe Trail System on the Kenai Peninsula. This year, we spent that weekend in May with our dear Alaskan friends Nate and Leah and their baby Anna.
Here is the AMAZING thing that shows why Nate and Leah are perhaps the best parents ever. Anna is only about 1 year old, which is a feat in itself for a canoe trail excursion. The canoe trails involve portaging over land, carrying all one's gear and the canoe, going from lake to lake. Imagine carrying all that gear AND a baby AND all the baby's gear. Even more amazing is that Anna was born with spina bifida, and has little to no movement of her legs. So, here we are, in backwoods Alaska as these amazing parents take the time and the energy and the love to share the beauty of nature with their little girl.
We feel blessed to have them in our lives and to have shared this weekend canoe adventure. Here are some pics:
You know you're in Alaska when....every sign is covered in bullet holes.
A moose swam across a lake right in front of our canoes.
An amazing loon that repeatedly swam under our canoe, popping up on either side. We could actually see the body of the loon as it swam through the water.
Chris, Nate, Leah, and Anna in a water portage - always nice because we don't have to unpack and carry our canoes.
This should be in a brochure....fantastic accommodations, fresh salmon grilled on the fire...

Chris portaging our canoe. Note key components of an Alaskan man - brown "Xtra tuff" boots, a 44 on his hip for bear protection, a beard.

Nate and Chris portaging our canoes. Leah and I offered to help...

A wonderful weekend of laughs, stories, campfires, great food, great adventure, wildlife galore, and more - THANKS NATE, LEAH, and ANNA!

1 comment:

Boltz Family said...

What about the red hat? You forgot to mention the red hat! Definitely a necessity for the Alaska man.
Thanks, Hyers! What you also failed to mention was that the only way we could do that trip was to have your help in carrying all our crap and making a fabulous camp. We had a blast! Looking forward to the next Hyer/Boltz adventure!