04/30/09 - 05/02/09 Caines Head SRA

Lowell Point to South Beach ~15.5mi +1800 rt

            Super busy at school and work = no hiking/camping/skiing. Major suck! I was looking forward to this trip for a month. There were a few delays, including post-semester assignments, a bridge closure, and home repair, but Chris and I finally left on Thursday.

            Chris didn’t sleep and I only got a couple hours, but the sunny weather energized us. The hike to Derby cove is only passable within 2 hours of low tide (less than +3ft) so we had to follow the tide table. We arrived in Seward at 11am where I picked up some tequila, and we got to the Lowell Point Trailhead by 11:30. The hike started in the fog, with a chill in the air; after an hour views opened up across Resurrection Bay. We knew that one of the bridges over Tonsina Creek was washed out so we were prepared to make a short ford, but when we arrived the channel had changed, so no wet feet. Halfway to Derby Cove the temps warmed up to 60 degrees.

            We wallowed through snow on the trail from Derby Cove to North Beach while wondering if we should have brought snowshoes…not too bad yet. After heading back into the mossy forest we ran into snow again. Wonderful post-holing; only 2.5 miles to go! We both expected deep snow, but gambled that snowshoes would be awkward on the uneven and inconsistent snow. We could have taken or left them. The closer to South Beach we got, the denser the fog got. Thoughts of basking in the sun on the beach vanished for the day as we layered up. After a couple hours we arrived at a cliff overlooking Minnesota Beach. We could hear the waves crashing into the shore!

            The snow melted off more as we got near South Beach. We passed by military barracks before we arrived. I immediately started a search for water. All the creeks that drained into Resurrection Bay were pretty sneaky. There wasn’t one outlet above ground. They instead drained through the beach Shales and Cobbles. I had to head up-valley from the beach to find where the creek disappeared beneath the ground. We found out that the place where the creek descended into the ground changed by the minute. It was a relaxing night drinking tequila and snacking. The fog and sea breeze kept the temps cool

            The next morning we woke up to the sun trying to peak through the fog. By the time we were eating breakfast the sun won, and I shed my parka. Within the hour it was 60 degrees, wooo! There was still a lot of snow on the trails, so we opted not to explore Fort McGilvray. 4 miles of post-holing didn’t sound fun. After the sun set behind the mountains, we left the warm beach and went on a short walk to a dramatic cliff above Minnesota Beach. We heard about a plank of wood serving as a bridge to a cliff overlooking Resurrection Bay, and after some moss scrambling I found it. Then Chris found a trail up…I’m bad at trails.

            There was a 2x6 crossing the 5 foot gap on a slope to reach a section of cliff that was pulling away from the coast. It was only a step or two across, but the crack descended near 100 feet. I didn’t think it was worth the risk. I tried to find some logs to make it safer, but eventually wussed out. After getting back to camp it was back to tequila and mountain house meals.

            The next morning we woke at 9 to get our things together. Low tide was at 2:15pm so we planned accordingly. We soaked up some sun on the beach before we left. The walking was much easier on the way back having footprints to step in. It only took an hour and a half to travel what took us almost 3 hours 2 days previous.

            We saw more people on the way back. One of the reasons we did this trip in May was because of its popularity during the summer. I love camping, but I hate campgrounds. We took some long breaks on the beach to enjoy the weather on the way back, and got back to the car a little after 5pm. The parking lot was swarming with mosquitoes; luckily we avoided them the last 2 days.

            Since we were in Seward, I thought seafood would hit the spot. We ended up at Terry’s Fish & Chips only to run into Brooks and Haylor out of the blue. “That was weird.” The scallops and chowder were delicious.