In order to get to the cabin on foot, hikers have to time the tides just right, because the route is only passable at a significantly low tide. We did our homework and set our schedule and, as luck would have it, Courtney had to go into work to take care of an “emergency” the day of our trip. Uh-oh. We left town an hour late, but thought we might be able to make the window after all.
We hiked the several miles, carrying two nights’ worth of weight and Tallis between us, with all the speed we could muster, including fording a stream with a washed-out bridge. We felt like we were going to make it when we encountered “The Rock”.
“The Rock” juts out from the beach into the water and is covered in algae, seaweed, and other forms of slime. Without going at least waist-deep in seawater around the outer edge, we could not pass. Not knowing if this was the worst of the obstacles ahead of us nor how much further we had to go, we had to make a quick judgment call: try to pass, or go back to the car. With a baby and too many unanswered questions, we had to GO BACK! All that way, with all that weight, with a quickly rising tide, and rapidly falling darkness. Aauugghh!! We did it, though, and Tallis was incredibly patient the whole way. After hours and hours of being carried on our weary bodies, I thought “I bet this will be Tallis’ first memory.” Poor kid! Only time will tell if he remembers that particular adventure. The day was so strenuous and stressful that we didn’t even get the camera out. Oh well.
Upon arriving at the car in the dark, we then had to decide our next move. Drive back home, or stay in Seward and try again the next day? Well, we didn’t want to waste Courtney’s days off by going home, and we quickly ruled out HIKING the next day, since we’d already fulfilled our hiking quota for the trip, and opted to check into getting a water taxi. So, a couple hundred dollars and a dozen hours later (hotel, restaurant breakfast, water taxi) we finally made it to our cabin for the final night of our reservation! We made the most of it, even with some wet weather.
In particular, Courtney and Tallis spent a lot of time together on the beach, doing the father-son bonding thing. (Courtney still talks really fondly of having that time together after a busy summer of too much work.) Of course, Tallis had a great time with all the beach rocks!
We also took a short beach hike during the evening low tide. In the original plans we thought to go all the way to Caines Head and Fort McGilvray, an abandoned WWII facility in the recreation area, during our stay. Well, we pooped ourselves out the first day, and ended up short on time as well as energy, so an hour or two just down the beach was enough. There was a small but nice waterfall not far down the way, where we stopped to fill our fresh water jugs. Courtney turned on the video camera and checked in with Tallis to see what he thought about going on another hike strapped to one of his parents:
Can’t blame him!
After the hike Courtney and Tallis spent more time on the beach exploring and enjoying the view.
I was more of a homebody and watched them from the cabin as they wandered the beach together, reading stupid books left by past campers. (Does anybody REALLY like James Patterson? How is this man a best-selling author? Ick.)
We had pasta, Tallis’ favorite, for dinner, and wished we had packed dessert!
Spending the night in the cabin was ROUGH, no doubt. Without a portable crib or Tallis’ favorite blanket, we had a hard time getting a certain little boy to sleep soundly. We left those essentials home when we thought we would be hiking in and had to minimize weight, but since we ended up in the water taxi where weight was not an issue, we cursed ourselves for not having brought them along. No Winnie the Pooh either. Oops.
We were pretty certain that the cabin was not reserved for the following night, and considered staying on an extra day, but we ended up ready to go home! Had we proven ourselves as people who don’t stay home just because we have a kid? Yes, we had. And that was apparently enough! We needed the adventure and the peace and quiet and the wilderness, but then we needed our own home. The water taxi came and picked us up right on time, during a good rainfall.
So, do you think Tallis will remember this adventure?
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