My wife and I had not had a night alone together since our daughter was born. Not that I am complaining; I love my sweet little two-year-old daughter more than anything. But when the chance came to hand our kiddo off to the grandparents and do an overnight exploration of Grace Ridge in Kachemak Bay State Park near Homer, Alaska, we took it.
Kachemak Bay State Park is a wonderland of impressive crags, sharp ridges and cracked glaciers. It was one of the first places in Alaska I was able to explore back in 2007 and one of the reasons I fell in love with Alaska. In 2020 we backpacked in to Grewingk Glacier with our packrafts and paddled around the towering icebergs that splinter off in the lake at the toe of that mammoth glacier. This time, we wanted to see a new area of the park, and we were not disappointed.
Grace Ridge is a 9-mile hike up and over a mountain through the alpine tundra with views of Tutka Bay and Sadie Cove off to each side. We approached it by staying at the Kayak Beach yurt the night before. It was what I kept calling an "old school" adventure for us, the type that we used to take all the time before undertaking the even bigger adventure of becoming parents. It had all the features of one of our trips circa 2010: a mountain climb, some evening lounging after gulping down backpacking food, even a splash of inclement weather. We were treated to an incredible display of light that left me clicking the shutter for hours on my camera the evening before our hike. The pictures I got that night and during the foggy climb the next day were incredible.
All-in-all it was a super successful overnight trip in a part of Alaska that gives a taste of adventure without being too out-of-reach. I highly recommend it to any photographer (or anyone, really) who happens to be in the area. The views and the photographic compositions are hard to beat.
(A collection of photos from the location/trip. For best results, click to enlarge)
