April and May

Good weather continued into the first half of April.  

We had a great family hike at 27 mile, exploring the East side of the river bank for the first time.  Wonderful sand, cotton-woods, and mountains.  Easy hiking with the no vegetation yet.

Peter decided at the very last minute to have his head shaved by the Cordova fire department to raise money to help local families fighting cancer.

 A sunny hike up the meadows with Darcy

A couple of sunny kayaks from home

Apparently it's the season for wetsuits and warm hats!

Darcy and I had a ridiculous paddle to three-mile bay to find shorebirds.  Trying to time our outing with the one weather window of the week, we ended up paddling home through a driving hail storm!

Lee came to visit for a few days, thanks so much for dealing with the nuttiness of our family and the unpredictable weather xo 
 

Shorebird Festival and mud

A muddy bird hike out on Hartney Bay mudflats with Lee, Vera and boys, and Suzanne and Alan.

A family bird trip with Lee.  Lee and Peter ticked off 23 bird species on our round circle hike from home.  Leif was more interested in the life under rocks..

 Halibut!  Dustin and Peter had an exciting fishing trip in our little inflatable... they caught halibut and a close-up view of a whale.  Lots of fish to eat and share.  What a treat.

Vera turned 40, and we celebrated with a paddle with the shorebirds.  An incredible evening of action with thousands of birds. 

 
Science Fair project time.  

Peter looked at whether cabbage stores better in a bag or not.

Leif and Liana fishing for sticklebacks (they are too fast and smart!)

Low tides and beach combing

First salmon of the year. Dustin joined our friend Mike for the first subsistence opener.
Such beautiful fish.

What a rich harvest.  Thank you Mike. 

We smoked half, and canned half plain. 

Evie came round for an impromptu play-date, and joined the fish-packing team!  They're fast!

Peter labelled all the jars, and both boys stacked them on the shelves.  Happy team work.

 

Saddle Bag glacier hike

Finally--warm enough for shirts to come off.  

Oh dear, I think Leif lost his little-boy body over the winter.

Fun to do this trail each spring, and see how much less effort it takes as the boys get older.  Leif ran much of the way home; it was our fastest year yet.

First wild flowers.  We've made it to summer!