Kodiak- Pillar Mountain & Buskin River

We started off our second day in Kodiak with a drive to White Sands beach. The weather was overcast, but we anticipated sun the next day. We decided to check out the beach and plan on returning the next day when the sun was out.

With the wind blowing and the sun behind the clouds it was a very different experience than the day before, but the beach was still beautiful.

After a short time at the beach we headed back into to town to check out Pillar mountain. At this point driving up the mountain in a warm car sounded perfect.

We drove up the gravel road to the top of the mountain, with views of town, the airport, and the coastline below.

Following the road we headed west around the massive wind turbines, then turned around and headed towards the highest point. At the top the girls gathered bouquets of flowers, and all the kids ran on the grassy slopes.

Back in the car, we followed the road east. When it started getting really steep we got out and enjoyed the mossy high alpine tundra.

We found a spot in the sun and out of the wind, and relaxed in the tundra. The kids started playing some sort of animal game, and could have stayed there for fours. Eventually we worked our way back down the mountain. Once down we headed to Buskin River to explore the beach.

From the parking lot we walked along the river to where the rocks stopped and the sea grass and black sand beaches curved around the corner.

The black sand was warm and the kids were soon back in their swimsuits.

After seeing a few other beach fires, the kids decided we needed one as well. They busied themselves gathering dry twigs and wood, and soon were crouching around a small but warm fire.

It was another sunny Alaskan beach day for the books, and in May too!

With dinner time approaching we headed into town to the Pizza pit for delicious pizza and free ice cream (On fridays).

After dinner we wondered across the parking lot to Double Shovel for a cider. While enjoying cider I met a local artist displaying her work there, and ended up buying a couple cyanoprints to bring home. Buying art for my house while on trips means my house is filled with decor that is not only beautiful, but also holds a memory.

We debated just calling it a night and going home, but I had read that Kodiak had a state of the art swimming pool and prices for open swim were more than reasonable. We decided to rally and go.

After dinner we headed to the swimming pool

The pool was a huge hit. Melozi even worked up the nerve to jump off the diving board for the first time.

We headed home and everyone crashed after another fun day in Kodiak.