Monday, September 10, 2012

Alaskan portages

pre fall floor mosaic
After five portages; two very long land portages and three lake channels, we arrived at Lonely Lake on the Kenai Pennisula.  It took us close to three and a half hours to arrive to our final campground.  It rained all day and evening on Friday and continued to be overcast most of the time, but we enjoyed our company and had great fun chatting and touring the other lake islands during our four day venture.
our campground at Lonely Lakes
Below is a glance of the exquisite grasses that grow in Alaska.  I love these types of Alaskan wild reeds.  The water channels were incredibly winding, muddy and narrow.  On the way back home, the creator turned the fall colors up a notch.  It was wonderful magic; golden brown lily pads and other scattered leaves arranged in the perfect aesthetic greeted us at each lake site.
lake grass 
Below, you can see who is doing much of the hard work rowing while I am quietly looking around for tidbits of inspiration.  I find that being outside is physically challenging.  It takes me a long day to immerse into the wilderness, finding the terrain entirely different from what we experience in our daily domestic existences.  It is a natural treasure to be in nature, to be absorbed and foremost it is a great cleansing for the mind.
Ken rowing in the background while I am observing