July 29 - Clam Gulch Waterfall

This is the bird that usually sits on the rocks. Some people say it's an immature bald eagle, others say it's an immature golden eagle. I think it's an immature bald eagle because there are two mature bald eagles usually watching it from trees on top of the cliff, and we can hear them calling to each other.

Several people told me that there was a waterfall 4 miles down the beach, so I decided to go investigate it. You can see that there is a waterfall, but it is not very impressive..

You can see the cleft in the cliff where the waterfall is.

The foliage around it is very dense I think because it is fresh water, not salt water.

Along the way, there are houses brought down to the beach temporarily for fishing season.

This one looks like a tiny house! It's on wheels, so it can be towed to that location and to lift it up in case the high tide reaches it.

This one has a concrete pad, but the pad seems to be tipping over!

Someone made an oven out of rocks, sand and mud. I wonder what they are baking!

July 28 - Hike to a glacial lake

The Homer harbor

It ws a long walk to our boat.

On the boat, we all had to wear masks.

The sea was very rough.

We went to another island that had black sand.

The 5.5mile trail to the glacial lake was very easy to follow and very wooded.

There were beautiful vistas along the way.

There's the glacial lake!

You can see the glacier behind the lake in the middle of the picture.

You can see some large blue pieces of the glacier that have craved off recently and clear pieces of ice which have calved off a longer time ago.

Unfortunately it was time to go.

Back to the wooded trail.

But I could still see the glaciers.

Sometimes the trail was a log with railings!

Sometimes it was a set of steep wooden steps.

At the end of the trail, there was a set of wooden pilings that are obviously no longer used.

Here comes the boat to pick us up!

Look at the gulls attacking the back of this truck where there was a pile of fish heads and other fish leftovers!

These kiters were jumping off a cliff and then floating over the ocean! Now that's a real adventure!

July 27 - Kayaking and cruise trip

I went for a kayaking and cruise trip out of Homer.

The name of the company for 'True North Adventures."

Everyone had to wear knee-high rubber boots so here they are stacked on the porch of the company. I wore my own boots

This is the cruise boat. It's name was "Bonnie Ann."

Even the step onto the boat had Bonnie's name written on it.

The cruise boat brought us to an island on the other side of the bay where the water was not quite so wild.

These are sea kayaks.  They are longer and wider than a usual kayak and they have a rudder for steering. The rudder is controlled by foot pedals. Push the left pedal and you go left. Push the right pedal and you go right. The person who sits in the back, controls the rudder.(I wish I had a rudder on my kayak. It makes it so much easier to steer.)

Everyone wore a 'kayak skirt and a life preserver. The kayak skirt keeps water from getting into the kayak. I was lucky. There were two couples and, so I got to ride in the front of the kayak controlled by the guide. 

On the island was black sand. 

The guide knew exactly where to look for animals. We saw a black bear and lots of seals.

We saw mussels and barnacles which was cool because I'd never seen them alive before. On the Clam Gulch beach, I only find dead barnalcles and mussel shells.

There were many interesting landforms we could see from the ocean.

This one was called "Elephant Rock'.

Soon it was time to return, so we beached our kayaks and waited for the cruise boat to bring us back to Homer.

The sea was really rough on the way back. 

Becky and Linda loaned me their tent so I could stay in Homer overnight since the net day I was scheduled for a hike to a glacial lake.

The view from my tent was beautiful!