Seduction Point Hike

June 12th

Pulled out of our lovely turn-out campsite, while the two vans who slid in after we did, lazed around longer---one from California, the other from The Yukon. Sang "happy birthday" to 7 y.o. Kyra, as we drove. She got her beads and bracelet kits I sent from Jasper, told her they were from Canada, and that we were in Alaska now, which she liked. The tooth fairy left her a dollar for her old front tooth, and she was making one of her bracelets as we spoke, with a party for her tomorrow.
 

Mark has been sharing his wonderful former experiences with me, and this trail in Chilkat State Park was one of them. It led us for a 7 mile round trip, through dark woods, starting at the trailhead with a huge pile of the blackest bear scat in the middle of the walk, and kind of dribbled along the path for a bit. Yes, I was nervous, thought about just having our bear spray, as compared to the Maureen gal we met at Liard hotsprings, equipped with her shotgun, machete AND spray, and the Lewis and Clark core discovery group describing these fearsome, invincible bears (grizzlies) that would not go down with one or even two gunshots. Walking with bells on our walking sticks, I made sure to emphasize mine with stronger jolts on the ground, throughout the entire jaunt.

 

 

The trail took us through the dark to more open, airy woodlands, with consistent ups and downs, over rooted and rocked footage, demanding one to keep an awareness of watching the ground, most of the time. There were beautiful wildflowers of white tansy, buttercups, prickly roses, and dark orange columbine, and other multi-tiered yellow flowers and violet type blossoms, with bogs of giant leafed skunk cabbage and lovely ferns. In 40 minutes, we made it to a meadow that opened out onto the Chilkat Inlet and more stunning and quamarine colored glaciers across the waters, where we rested on the shore rock.

 

 Another hour and we came to our goal of Twin Coves, with two curved small bays, lined with black and grey-rust colored rocks for the beaches. Here, we lunched on our PBJs, and then Mark assumed I would want to walk around the bend to get a closer look at the longest and bluest glacier, Davison, which is what he did on his last visit. This was a treat, since I didn't realize we could do this. Luckily, our walking sticks assisted our carefully placed steps over some sharp and then fairly accommodating flatter rocks, to discover the most glorious, up-close and personal view of the glacier. He also discovered the rock chair that we most comfortably cozied in, while staring at the vision of the bluest turquoise-aquamarine glacier yet, and the closest to the shoreline.

Other rock formations around us were beautiful colors of the rust, gold, with the white circles of dried moss creating gorgeous art, and one had an almost petroglyphed design of graceful foliage carved into the length of the dark grey stone. Long, lyrical grasses added to this perfect setting and moment.

Trekking back, we both became more fatigued with each step up or low-down, and were happy to see the whiteness of "M" through the wooded trailhead. We drove to the nearby day-use area, and parked nearest the bay on the right, with the view of Rainbow and Davison glaciers in front of us, a field of fireweed, yellow tansy and white flowers, tall grasses swaying. The sun was shining, we showered, rested, then Mark BBQ'd luscious salmon burgers for dinner. It was our own private nesting area, with only a few vehicles driving to the end of the road and boat ramp for a few minutes, and then leaving us alone.

Mark found a geocache at the end of the road, through the wooded area which led to an open, sunny Rocky Beach. Lots of rocks and grasses, but no specific site nor clue for the treasure cache, but a lovely stroll at the end of the day, with that long-lasting sunlight gracing us another day. We sat outside for awhile, said good-bye to this paradise, to find that turn-out on another part of the inlet, to slumber by.

Watched Eric Clapton's Crossroads Concert, again, with amazing musicians; most I had never heard of, so was so glad they were acknowledged to a public like us and their audience. Mark and I kept hedging on turning it off, since the music was too mesmerizing, but finally did, close to 11 p.m. Longer bedtimes since on the road, due to combination of daylight energy and watching such fun, interesting footage on the TV he has collected, and/or writing, chatting.

Went to bed after gazing at another unreal mountain, water camp picture.