pictures again

well, my photo-blasting continues...
this time the photos are mainly from the ressurection pass trail and from hatcher pass area (i didn't have the chance to write the post about that one, but i spent 2-3 very nice hours there...)

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbNGzFq3Ys2LwA

oh, and by the way, if you haven't notice - the name of the picture says where and when was it taken (sometimes along with some remark...)

shana tova everybody

well, what did i do since than?
let's see, rested, met Susanna to try and hike a little, went on the gorgeous Resurrection pass trail, and made a dinner. not much...
but i guess i can still write it down in a very long way...

so, here we go...
on Friday, the 16th (i was asked to state the dates), i hitchhiked to anchorage - two rides, the first a ~65 years old guy who loves to travel and took me to Eagle River, and the second a very nice guy who was on his way to meet his wife and 2 kids and go to Seward with their RV... they took me to the exact place i wanted - Lara's home (one of the Holmberg's girl) which was very good because by that time it started raining...

There we saw a very nice movie ("the boon dock angels" i think) with a friend of her, and i spent the night there. in the morning Susanna picked me up, and we headed south, planning to hike up bird ridge just north of Girdwood for an amazing view. but, seeing the clouds on the way there we made a wise decision, gave up on this hike, and headed back to anchorage.
still hoping and still optimistic, we started a hike from the flattop mountain trail head in anchorage (the trail head is less than a hundred meters from few of anchorage's houses).

well, we started hiking alright, but it was very cold. very very cold. and the wind blew quite hard and made it even worse. but we went on. oh, by the way we had 2 dogs with us (dory and horso) and they were very happy and very energetic! they love this temp. anyway, the area was very beautiful (it's very close to the williwaw lakes, and it's almost as amazing), but the cold... man...
well, we bravely kept on climbing up, and when we got to some flat zone, we decided to stop for a snack and a reevaluation of our situation.
we called against going on, and when we started back it started snowing on us! the snow didn't build on the ground, but the snow and the gushy winds meant it's wad damn cold...

well, instead of a full day hike we had only 3 hours one, but it was nice... anyway, we went back to Susanna's place, dried up and went to the largest book store in Alaska - "Title Wave" and it was very nice. after that we picked Antara (Susanna's friend) and we all went to my favored restaurant in Anchorage* - the Moose's Tooth. we had a pizza, and i even tried a beer (Polar something), and it was very nice.

next morning Susanna gave me a ride to Girdwood. i wanted to take a picture of the place, but i was picked up before i even had the chance! some christian gold miner** originally from Idaho took me all the way to the Hope turnoff. He said he loves and supports Israel and that he read the old testimony so many times...
anyway, i thought I'll have a hard time from there to hope, being a very small place (135 people) and we're already out of the season, but in less than 10 minutes (1st car actually) i got a ride...
i spent about an hour wondering around little-but-nice hope, and than started heading toward the trail head, 6-7 miles out of town.

i got there, had a rest, and started hiking, very nice area. i stopped for the night close to a hunters' camp (2 hunters, a dog and a tent). the first hour or so we all tried our best to avoid the mosquitoes, but than it got colder, and they were gone. but than, it was cold...
so cold that for the first time i used my fleece pants!

so on Monday's morning, due to the cold temp. it took me a long time to get going, and i only set out at around 11:20. and i had a long way to hike. but it wormed quite quickly, and i found myself wishing for a little coolness...
anyway, the way was just so great! a great part of the way was through spruce trees (but very wide spread), with every now and than an opening to reveal the most amazing views. so beautiful. fall is such a brilliant season!
well, i kept walking most of the day, with every now and than a break to appreciate the views...
i went past the Resurrection pass it self, and the whole area from that pass to the next (devil's pass) was so amazingly beautiful!

and just after the second pass there was a cabin (there are ~10 cabins along the trail). first thing i happily noticed was that there's no one there. second thing i sadly noticed is that the cabin is out of service for maintenance work. third thing i confusingly noticed was that one of three doors is opened. so i debated for a while, and i decided I'll cook inside, and than i took my backpack in too, and i thought about the mosquitoes and the cold, and my right ear was very itching and swollen and warm... so decided I'm gonna use the cabin. after all, they just left a note saying "this cabin is being reconstructed. please don't disturb". well, i disturbed no one...

but it was a strange night. i didn't sleep well (don't know why - i was warm enough), i kept feeling as my ears dripping some fluids, and i woke up with my left eye swollen. but it got better as the day went on.

on Tuesday i thought that i already had 2 consecutive sunny days, so i can't trust the weather to stay like that, and it might be a good idea to get out of the trail today. but i still had a long way to go***, so i was still debating. anyway, i started at ~9:20, and walking ~20 meters out of the cabin i found some bear marks on the trail... i don't know it they were fresh or i just missed them the night before, but all along that day i kept seeing bears footprints on the trail, though all the hunters i saw on this hike, with the exception of only one (who got a young caribou) didn't see "even a hair" of any game - caribou, moose or bear...

well, i made a good pace walking through this amazing scenery (this day I've been through a couple of lakes that added to the amazing beauty), so when i got to a sign saying trout lake is 0.5 detour, i left my backpack and made a quick run to that lake.

i carried on, still debating if to get out that same very day or not, when i got into the woods and ran into a bridge over troubled water... well, not exactly troubled water, and it was just this little bridge (2-3 m), but the place was so nice to me... i don't know why. there were no great vies, it wasn't as beautiful as the places I've been through but something there touched my heart. maybe it reminded me of tel dan or the banias back in Israel. anyway, i almost got into the water, but my towel was stuck very deep inside my backpack, so i only washed the upper part of my body, put my fleece on, and sat on the wateredge reading for 30-40 minutes.

i went on, and getting out of the wood and seeing the clouds gathering, i decided to make haste and finish the hike that same day. and so i did. and just as i got to the trail head and collapsed there for a few minutes before trying to hitchhike, it started drizzling. not too bad, but i was glad to be out of the trail...

from there this guy took me only a few miles down the road, apologising for not going any further but saying it might take me out of the rain.
well, it took me out of the rain.
and i was so sorry for that.
how i wished it would start raining on me!
because, where he dropped me off, the mosquitoes just flocked on me, showing no mercy. i hastily put my long pants, and my hood, and did my best to avoid them. but still i got some bites, and only later did i discover that the bites are so itching and annoying! much more than any mosquito bite i ever had!
anyway, it took me 20 long minutes until i got out of there ("i only go 5 miles down the road", "it is 5 miles away from the mosquitoes, so I'll be very glad to squish in the front sit with my backpack!").
and than i got a ride to anchorage with a very nice guy who took me to the very end of town (though he needed the town itself) from where i got a ride with another nice guy from Palmer, who took me all the way to the Holmbergs'...

next morning (21/9) i woke with a swollen left eye again. but again, it got better during the day. i spent the day working on my stuff a little (laundry, fixing zippers etc.), helping painting the front porch, and at the computer.

on Thursday i wanted to start cooking for ROSH HASHANA**** but i didn't know if Lisa, the Vegan Holmberg's daughter would join the dinner, so i waited. around noon, when i decided to go shopping and worst case I'll go shopping again, i found out that Paul took "my" car and didn't leave the keys to his car... so i waited for him. when he got back, i helped painting the porch again, and went shopping.
i didn't have a chance to do much, and we started playing cards. so only after midnight did i start cooking, and i kept cooking until ~3:20 am, after which i went to the computer (chatting) and so i only got to bed at ~4:30 am.

by the way, in the morning my eye was so very swollen! but i put some warm towel (like Kristy advised me) and it almost gone, and the day after i woke up with an unswollen eye. but - during the card game i found out that my right ankle, the one i sprained really bad twice, is swollen. it didn't hurt, it just itched... well, i used my elastic bandage, and some cabbage (my mom's advice - it works wonderfully!) and slept with the leg high on a blanket and a pillow, and it took me two days, but it's much better now...

on Friday i got up ~8:30 am, and pretty much cooked all day long. at the evening we had a very nice dinner, with 8 people (Kim, Paul, Kristy & James, Lisa & Marlen came over too, and there was Rich - Paul's friend. and me...)
and they all praised the food :)
it was so good, having the nice happy dinner (and getting so many compliments!!)

well, that's (almost) it for now... i hope you'll all have a very good year, very fruitful, very happy and joyful.


remarks, anecdotes and other stuff

* Well, I only been to this restaurant in Anchorage... but Susanna and Antara told me that it would probably be the same even if i went to a lot of places - they did the checking up for me...

** lately, when i get a ride, almost as soon as the driver tells me his name, i forget it and am sure he is named John. can it be that 90% of the people that would give you a ride in Alaska are named John? for example, in this post, i think that the first guy, the christian gold miner, the guy that took me all the way back to anchorage and the one that took me from anchorage to Palmer are Johns, the guy that took me to Lara's place at the beginning is named Dave or something like that, and the rest i really don't know... weird...

*** I'm not sure about the distances - the booklet i had, when describing the southern part of my trip said that from the trail end to the devil's pass it's 16.75 miles. but it also said that the cabin is located 18 miles from the trail end. but the cabin was south to the pass. plus, the northern half of the trail said to be 21.75 miles, the southern half 16.75 miles, and on the trail itself there signs saying the trail is 35.6 miles... so i don't really know. but i knew i had more than 15 miles.

**** Friday's eve was the Jewish new years' eve, and i wanted to celebrate it and invited the Holmbergs to join me (in their home...)

^ I've noticed a weird thing about Alaska. many people here are having kids when they are already "in an advanced age". for example, the gold miner who took me from Girdwood to the Hope turnoff was 59 years old and had a 17 years old kid; and quite a lot of people told me they had their first child when they were somewhere between 35 to 42 years old.

^ there's something about waterfalls here that just doesn't work out for me. there are supposed to be some waterfalls on the resurrection pass trail, towards its end. and i even met a guy on the trail who told me I'm about a mile away from them. but somehow i missed them. didn't see a sign indicating a detour... didn't even see a path splitting away. and it's not the first time either - the same thing was on the Primrose trail - somehow i missed the waterfalls supposedly found along the trail. and when Caroline and me got back from McCarthy, we saw a sign saying something about waterfalls, so we took the dirt road, and got to the most pathetic waterfalls i ever saw. even in Israel no one would put a sign for such a thing. anyway, not a "waterfalls" sign...

pictures (and a lot of them)

some pictures taken in the wonderfull week including my second and rewarding visit to seward* and my incredible time in Wrangell-st-Elias park**

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbNGzFq3Ys2Lv4

and this time, the panoramas are already included!

have fun and Shana Tova!

* Harding ice field and the cruise
** including photos from the flight!!!

panoramic photos from the williwaw lakes trail

courtesy to Aviv (Abu Avisag)

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbNGzFq3Ys2Lro

can flat tire be the best thing ever?

well, I'm here again...

wow. so much happened since than...
it's gonna be so long, so i think I'll have headlines just to help us navigate through it...


starting off again
---------------------------
well, the day after i took the holmberg's(*) car, and drove all the ~170 miles to Seward.
I even gave a young hitchhiker a ride from anchorage to seaward - a local kid that wanted to visit his brother in a jail just 6 miles out of Seward. afterwards i took another 2 local drunkards just a few miles out of Seward, to where the road-works ended.


Harding ice field
---------------------------
The weather was quite nice, so i started hiking up to Harding ice field (again), hoping to see the beautiful scenery i heard about a couple of times (first time i could barely see the rock i was standing on). of course, on the way up it started drizzling...
and then, just going past a turn in the path, i saw a hoary marmot, standing on the trail some 3 m' from me! by the time i got the camera (due to the rain, it was in the bag...) it was already in the vegetation, but i took some photos all the same.
immediately when starting off, i saw a couple climbing down the path towards me, and i wanted to tell them about the marmot. but they were faster and told me that there a mama bear with 2 cubs just a few minutes up the path, though they are still away and i have enough time to cross.
well, i didn't. when i saw them they were less than 20 m' off the path and i had to wait for ~15 minutes until they were far enough (taking heaps of photos meanwhile).
when i got to the shelter (almost at the top) i met Pete - a nice American (Ohio) and 2 American girls. i left them and hurried on to the end of the trail, and surprisingly enough, it was amazing! the view was actually quite good, and it was fantastic!
going down i met the two American girls coming up and after a while i met Pete climbing down. since we took our time checking some weird yellow plant, and Pete being a nice guy, we decided to wait a few minutes and make sure the girls are alright (they were freezing even inside the shelter, so we expected them to show up in the horizon in ~10 minutes. but they didn't.
well, it took them a lot more, but they did show up eventually, and we ended up climbing down in a group.
well, after that i went again to see glacier itself, and went off to the nearby campground, where i met the 2 girls.


the cruise
----------------
in the morning i took the 2 girls to town, and went to mobidik to check out some William guy Caroline(**) said might join us. he didn't know what am i talking about, but it sounded as if he wanna come...
from there i went to the cruise, meeting Pete again (we figured it out back on the Harding trail, so it wasn't a surprise). the cruise started nice.
~20 minutes after leaving the docks we saw our first mammal. a sea otter. so cute!!! just lying on the back, resting, spinning once in a while. such an adorable creature!
anyway, we carried on, and just as we were leaving the Resurrection bay, we ran (or rather sailed) upon a pond of orkas!!!
killer whale! it was so amazing!!!
i don't have pictures, but it was so amazing. they weren't that big (~7-10 m) but still... and one of them almost touched the ship passing by...
it was ~3 hours after the beginning of the 8 hours cruise and for me that was enough. that's why i went on this cruise to begin with. but still the cruise continued...
now we were in a more open sea, which didn't do much good to my stomach. plus, i was dead tired, so i slept a little inside, and that made me quite sick. so most of the rest of the cruise i was standing outside (alone, in the cold, in the rain, with no sweater) breathing fresh air.
anyway, after that we saw a lot of sea gulls, a few bald eagles, a seal, a few sea lions, tonnes of jelifish, and a few breathtaking glaciers. we even heard one of the glaciers cracking - but it didn't break when we where there...
to sum it up, it was great. 8 hours were a little too much for me, but i didn't suffer that much, and i got to see not only the long expected whales, but so much more too!
after that i went back to this William guy who eventually didn't come, and i picked Caroline up at anchorage and we came home.

the way to McCarthy
--------------------------------
next day we set out ~noon, and went almost all the way to McCarthy. it rained a little, but not to much.
but you didn't really think that i will sum up 7 hours drive in 1 line, did you? there's a whole paragraph dedicated to it... actually, more like a few paragraphs...

first, due to my miss understanding Kim's instructions, after an hour we were back at Palmer, but this time we were driving in the right direction...

second, the way was so amazing!!! one of the most scenic drive i had in Alaska (though i went through it 3-4 times). just so beautiful. it goes through the mountains, and the snow on the tops, and the glaciers, and the autumn colors, and the rivers...

(long) third, in one of our photo taking stops i decided to stop doing what I'm doing best. i stopped pretending everything is just fine and decided to check what's this burnt smell coming out of the engine.
but being me, i couldn't tell what it is... everything seemed fine to me. so i checked the oil, and couldn't decide if the fact that the whole stick comes out greasy means that the car's just bursting with oil, or there's not even one drop. bring me, i assumed all is fine (or at least will be), and we carried on. but we stopped at the next mechanic place. when he heard I'm from Israel, he said i must have noticed the Israeli flag blowing in the wind right next to the American flag... (of course i didn't)
it turned out he was in the peace court... in Sinai... and he has a lot of friends in Israel, and he's really nice.
and it also turned out we have no oil. not even a drop. well, we bought 4 quarts, put 2 inside, and strongly believed that now all is fine and it's not a leakage but rather no one checked the oil for a long time.
at least now we were right...
the guy advised us not to go to McCarthy due to the bad dirt road, but rather to take a bus. but his wife said it was improved recently and it should be fine.
we took the chance. what can happen?
2-0 for us.
well, actually, 2-a lot for them...

forth, the way was quite beautiful, crossing forests, rivers, a deep canyon, and all kind of neat scenery. and we made it. almost. but in a good sense. ~5 miles before McCarthy there was a nice place to stop, with a kind of roofed shelter (and signs saying "day parking" so we parked a little way off of them).

by the way, we missed the information center - we got there too late (though we discovered both that it was already closed for the season, and that there are more information centers than people on our way)

McCarthy day 1 (Saturday, 9/9/06)
------------------------
well, morning.
is that a flat tire? well, not entirely, but it seems like the wheel is missing some air pressure...
well, going on, we got to the (closed for season) information center at the entrance to McCarthy.
and across from there, a "tire repair". so we went there, put some air into the wheel, and found we have air leaking from that wheel.
well, the guy (john at first, "dear john" later on) was very nice, though Caroline worked quite hard in order for him to show it. but eventually, while fixing our car, he let us leave the car at his place while going to Kennicott (right after McCarthy there's a river with only a foot bridge crossing it, so you have to either wait for the river to freeze, or carry on without your car) and invited us to use one of his cabin (he has a B&B place) - including the shower, the toilet and all...
by the way, John is American that was born in Trieste (his mother is Italian), and he lived most his life in Alaska, he has a few grown kids, his wife teaches away in the west (leaving him for 9 months a year), and he seems to be totally mobilised - plane, truck, 4 wheelers ("TRACTORON") and bicycle.

oh, and he warned us about an aggressive bear (possibly 2) hanging around in the area, so we decided "1 mouth" (guess whose) to camp at this side rather than camp in the mountains, and just go on 2 day hikes.

well, we left the car, crossed, and since we didn't really know where and how to get on the shuttle, we started walking and the day was so nice, and the way so beautiful, so we decided to walk the whole 4.5 miles to Kennicott, where a few trails actually begin.
in Kennicott we asked at one of the information centers about the trails, and were told all are open (not too much snow), and that the Jumbo mine is "neatier" than the Bonnanza one.

so we hiked to the Jumbo mine.

AMAZING!
absolutely amazing!
Caroline said it was the most beautiful place in Alaska. i still like williwaw area better.
but it was absolutely gorgeous.
and such a good weather, too!

we hiked back, and got a ride through most of the way from Kennicott to the foot bridge.
we went back to John's place, tried to call Lauri, the Holmbergs' local friend, pitched a tent, and cooked dinner in John's B&B's kitchen. surprisingly enough, we weren't the only guests in this B&B... there were another couple there. Moty and Rachel. Israelis. from Kiryat Chaim...
it was nice talking to them, though it was weird, and i kept starting my sentences in English...
anyway, we went to sleep - me in my tent, showered Caroline in the cabin. it's good that Caroline went to the cabin - it was a very very cold night!

McCarthy, day 2
-------------------------

Hope you're not too tired... the best part is yet to come.
by the way, I'll be happy if you'll put remarks (or even send me responding letters indicating you read what i wrote).

well, morning. the rain got a little into the tent at night, but nothing serious (i kind of build it quickly due to the nice day we had). got up ~6:30, strolled a little bit, and went back to the tent, to read a little. since the rain got stronger, i just went back to sleep, and only at ~10 i wake Caroline up thinking we're gonna play some cards and give up on hiking in the rain.

but brave Caroline decided we're hiking (her last day before flying out...). so we took the shuttle to Kennicott, and started going to the nearby rout(?) glacier.
it proved like an easy but very not worthwhile hike. especially when compared to the day before. due to the rain we didn't even bother to go all the way.
going back we missed the ferry by ~10 minutes (1 every hour), so we started walking. in some point on the way, we saw a not-too-large black bear running away from us. i don't think he was a nice little puppy, but probably not a grownup.
~1/2 a minute later we were picked up.

we got to John, packed our stuff, and went to visit Lauri. the most amazing house!!! first, it's on the hilltop, with an incredible view of the valley (river, trees, colors) and surrounding mountains (summits, snow, trees, colors). and the house itself - big wooden house they built themselves, with many logs in the walls, with a great hall containing a piano and a gymnasium (high rope, horizontal logs ~2m high, sport mattresses). later Caroline will say it's the most amazing house she ever saw. we spent thee about an hour and a half talking, laughing and having good time, and sort of ran away just because it was due time to the next adventure...

the weather got much better, the sun came out and the clouds cleared off, so John was to take us on his plane!!!
we hurried back to him, and even got there without any navigational mistake!

anyway, he took us on his plane, and it was so amazing!!! i couldn't stop taking photos... he took us real close to a huge glacier. so amazing! and it was just about sunset, so the light was almost perfect.
oh...
we decided that for Caroline it was a grand finale for her Alaska trip. for me, only at the beginning of my trip (2 months and 2 days!)...
from here it's only downhill...

it was so wonderful!

and we even got to see a moose, doll sheep etc.

but the views from the air... ah... Caroline started thinking of getting a flying license...

and afterwards we took advantage of his repeated offer and even i spent the night at his cabin. he even brought us towels (his humble donation to "clean environment")...

downhill
--------------
i hope all my downhills will be as good as this one...

next day we drove back (~7 hours), Caroline packed her stuff, and i took her to meet Lara Holmberg in her apartment in Anchorage, cause she was due to fly in the next morning. i stayed there a little, came back home quite late and only got to bad ~1:40...

after less than 5 hours i got up, and went with Paul & Marlen to the place where they're building Lisa's and Marlen"s home, to help if i can. it was very cool. when we came, there were 2 exterior walls standing and 2 lying on the floor. when we left, all 4 exterior walls stood erect, and most of the interior walls was standing in place.

today, i didn't do much, but the time passed so quickly! didn't manage even half of what i wanted to do...
but since I'm in no hurry, that's not a big deal :)

Lessons
-------------
- a flat tire can be the best thing ever

- when you're taking a car for a long drive, check the oil, the water and the wheels. including the spare. though, not doing that may lead you to a nice adventure (at least when looking back on it).

- don't fight the weather and the trail. if both are against you, maybe something better is waiting for you...

- bears are so adorable!

- autumn is a nice period of time to be in Alaska. the most amazing colors and the weather is good. at least autumn 2006...

- there are nice people everywhere, but the Alaskan are still sooooo nice!


anecdotes
-----------------
- after boarding off John's plane we found out that JA2, the name of the model, stood for John Adams 2nd airplane. he built it...

- Lara spent ~6 months in the same little-town-no-one-knows-of-heard-of-thought-about-going-to where Caroline happened to work for a year and a half.

- the flight was on the last end of my second month abroad. a much better way to celebrate it than to loose a camera (that's how i celebrated the end of my 1st month abroad). well, who said i never learns?

- the temp. in the last few days, was higher than 25C. during the days, of course....

- the dirt road to McCarthy is bad, but we saw private cars over there (the Israeli couple, for example).

- in some point on the way to McCarthy, there was a car stuck into a bunch of trees, in ~45 degrees. when we asked John about it, he said the guy works their, and he came to John, asking for his help "cause he has 2 flat tires"... when they went to see the car the guy apologised and said it was dark, and he couldn't see the situation... they figured it will cost ~half the car's price to pull it out...


starred remarks
-------------------------
(*) Holmberg is Kim's surname. The reason i started using this instead of Kim (though Kim is much shorter) is that it's not just her but the whole family are so nice, hospitable and worm... Paul, the father, Lisa and Kristina (the daughters that lives at home), Mathew and Lara (the children that doesn't live at home), Marleen (Lisa's husband), James (kristina's fiance) and even the pets (and they have lots of them).

(**) Those of you who doesn't remember, Caroline is the British girl (living in NZ, so you'll hear about her quite a lot in the future) with whom i hiked in the williwaw lakes area.

(***) it's already almost 4 in the morning, and I'm dead tired. so i hope you'll like that post. i enjoyed it so much!!!

pictures from the most picturesque williwaw hike

these are pictures taken during the most amazing hike in the williwaw area (of which i've already told you).

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbNGzFq3Ys2LnY

hope you'll enjoy watching them at least 1/4 of how i enjoyed taking them...

Home(r) and back again

well, hi again...

so, lets see, what have i done since last time... actually, not much. though i guess that the post will still be quite long...

i went hitchhiking all the way to "the end of the road" - the most beautiful town of Homer.
i couldn't manage it within the same day, but i made it to Homer.
so beautiful...
picture yourself the end of the earth, where the sea begins, and than you have a 3-miles long strip going into it. now, behind you there are green nice hills, and a nice town, and when you look out to the sea - it's actually a bay. and you can see the other side, just a few miles away.
mountains. glaciers. snow. summits. ice field.
just amazing.
not much to do, but so much beauty!

but let's give a little account of my personal doing anyway...
Kim took me to the Hwy, and from there i had a ride (I) to northern exit of eagle river, about 20 miles south, with a local man who likes to travel; then another ride (II) a few miles further with a local guy to the southern exit of eagle river; from there yet another local guy (III) took me to the Hwy exit near the airport (inside anchorage); the next ride (IV) was still a local guy that took me out of anchorage (though he didn't need to go that way - in fact, he apologised he has to work, so he can't take me all the way to Homer); and here's a change - 3 local guys (V) took me to the junc. near Girdwood, some 30 miles down the road...; then i was picked up (VI) by a German-Alaskan guy and his old mom, going to pick up his nephew from Whittier he dropped me at the Whittier turn off*; next (VII) came two polish guys who worked 2.5 months in an Alaskan cannery and now they're traveling for a week in Alaska and 3 weeks down in Seattle. they went to Seward and dropped me off at the Homer turn off; after them a local fishing guide (VIII) took me to sterling; and a young guy that moved to Alaska recently after spending 6 summers here took me (IX) just over soldotna; an ex-Alaskan (now from Utah) took me a little further (X), and since it was already ~19 and i had no luck for about 30 minutes, i camped for the night. next morning a dog sledger took me (XI) to ninilchik and said that if I'll come back, i might be able to crush at his place (he's building a new home just below the Russian church in ninilchik village); and a fisher, probably a Russian guy, took me all the way to homer.

so beautiful...

i went to Homer hostel, but there was nobody there, so i waited a little bit, tried to follow their "if we're not here" instructions, but couldn't find anyone. so i left my backpack there, and went to hang around a little, taking advantage on the sunny day.
i got to the information center right away, and they said i came on the right weekend (it was Friday) - on Saturday there's some kind of Indian gathering, they come with their canoes in the morning, after a while there's some traditional meal, and in the evening they have a drum performance of some sort. plus, the art galleries have a special opening or something, so you can stroll along the main street, and enter each one of the galleries, eat and drink a little, and by the time I'll get to the main event in the museum i will probably be full and drunk. hurray!

plus, since i don't have a car, she advised me to just go down to the beach, and take advantage of the low tide which is building now (the summit is about 90 minutes ahead) to stroll along the beach.

so i did as she advised me. i went to the beach, and strolled north. nice. but when you look back - beautiful. i keep going north, on the annoying stones. nice. look back - beautiful! i kept thinking well, maybe just around the corner... but nope. so after about an hour i gave up and went back. at least on the way back i kept seeing the beautiful scenery...

still no one at the hostel. so i tried my luck with Internet. but the library was closed for 2 weeks starting on that same very day, and the place they sent me to denied having Internet access though there was a sign "Internet".

still no one at the hostel, so i decided to go to "seaside farm" the other hostel, which is 5 miles out of town. i didn't remember seeing it on the way there, but...
Vaars, the local guy who took me didn't know the place, but he checked in the phonebook and we discovered it's 5 miles out of town but to the east and not to the north...
well, the hostel was weird, with a very little and underequipped kitchen, 2 guys living there instead of renting a place and stuff like that. but it was clean and in general it was OK.
next morning discovered that this galleries' opening was the day before, and i found out the gathering consisted of 4 canoes, very few Indians, and on the whole - very disappointing... so i tried to cross the bay in order to hike among the glaciers, mountains, lakes on the other side, but it was just to expensive - crossing meant taking a water taxi that cost like a half day whale-searching-glaciers-seeing-wildlife-watching cruise in Seward. guess what i preferred...

so i just spent some time on the beach, looking at sea-gulls and the "forbidden land" across the bay, and then i went back to the hostel. and the rest of the day being rainy i just stayed there. napping, reading, eating, talking.

next day i found some small-but-lovely hiking paths near town, and afterwards i started going north to ninilchik. after ~2hours and 3 rides, i got to the hostel, took a bicycle and explored the area. i tried to find the dog sledger that gave me a ride and asked me to come over, but i couldn't.

so next day i hit the road back to Palmer, and i had a ride with the hostelers' son to soldotna and than a guy that was going all the way from Homer to Palmer - his wife has a stand at the Alaska State Fair... so he even got me in for free... and it was very interesting to talk to him. he's very interested in the Israeli-Arab problem, and he read quite a lot. he even read Churchill's' 6 volumes of WWII history, and he just finished a book about Ben Laden... and i got to see the whales again**
the fair itself was almost OK... but it was kind of interesting, to see what is it like, a state fair...

anyway, afterwards i came home (Kim's place), and today i helped to clean a little, had a nice nap, and the whole family gathered (fishing season ended and they came back home) and we had a nice dinner (yami lasagna!) and we played cards, and it was really nice!

*with them i got to see my first whales!!! at the time i thought they were orchas (that what they told me), and i didn't really get to see them, only the white spray when ever their backs touched the water, but...
**it turned out this are Belugas. quite a small whale (~4m) and they hunt salmons when tide is changing and there are strong currents. and this time i really got to see them. it turned out that they are black while they're young, but they turn white when they grow, and then, you can hardly see them from afar. but i saw the black fins! and i took a lot of pictures, and zooming in i got to see the grownups too!

well, until next time...