Camping on Hinchinbrook

Since Woodsen and I’s first anniversary, we’ve made it a tradition to set out on an adventure around our anniversary, June 10th.

This year, Woodsen again got time off work, but on June 9th, I was talking to a friend and couldn’t help but chuckle as I told her, “We are going somewhere tomorrow, but I don’t know exactly where just yet.” This was pretty typical for us.

We did the dance of waiting until the last minute to see where the weather would be nice, then putting out feelers with friends to see who would be up for adventuring with us.

We had a few ideas, including heading to Port Moller for beach combing (something we’ve never done before), McCarthy to visit friends, or heading towards Fairbanks to see other friends. The weather was favoring either McCarthy or Fairbanks, so when we heard that our friends in McCarthy were there and free, we decided to head that way.

As many of our trips to McCarthy have started, we left Wasilla and planned on making a pit stop in Cordova for lunch at Baja Taco.

Right before taking off, we found out our friends were up for an airplane adventure on the coast. So, after Cordova, we decided to meet up at Hook Point on Hinchinbrook Island, where we would camp on the beach, and they would stay in the public-use cabin.

The first stop was Cordova.

We landed at the city strip, walked the 1/2 mile to town, then Woodsen and the kids headed straight to Baja Taco. I took a detour and stopped at the Net Loft to browse their impressive collection of handcraft supplies and gifts.

It was the perfect day to enjoy sitting on the deck at Baja Taco while the kids played. The girls recently discovered Arnold Palmers and did a few extra chores before leaving Wasilla to ensure they could enjoy them as a reward.

After a leisurely lunch, we returned to the plane and departed for the short flight to Hook Point. It was the perfect Alaskan Beach day. Long sandy beaches, crashing waves, a seal peaking its head up in the surf, and plenty of shells and sand dollars to find.

While we were splashing in the waves, our friends arrived.

When I go to write about our trips, they feel a bit repetitive, but I tell you, playing in the sand, sitting in the sun, eating hot dogs, and hanging out with friends never gets old.

This spring, we found that it works well for Woodsen to put Yukla and Eska to sleep first, then once they are asleep, I help get the older girls to sleep. Handing the littles off to Woodsen and enjoying quiet time has been a highlight of my evenings.

The next morning we woke up in a cloud and got to work making breakfast burritos.

We walked towards the trees on the trail to the Hook Point cabin to see our friends Ben & Ellie.

After a few rounds of coffee, a few of us headed down the beach for a little beach combing.

I found a buoy for a potential swing, and Atlee played in the sand.

With the clouds rolling in, we decided to pack up and head further down the coast toward Kayak Island.