There you have it. I went on my back packing trip with the girls. We signed in at the trail head as the "Girls Night Out" group. We had 5 adults and 3 kids. I wasn't sure I was going to go once I heard the girls were coming with their moms. First because I didn't want to intrude on a Mother/Daughter thing. And second, kids change the dynamics of conversations and somewhat defeat the purpose of a Girls Night Out when there are kids along. All in all it was great, and let me tell you, I was sure glad I didn't have a kid with me. It was a fun break.

The trail was gorgeous. It went along a ridge above the south end of the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet so we had views of the inlet and the mountains to the North the whole way. The ferns were almost neon against the dark brown, almost black, soil and trees. Some of the fir trees were enormous, standing there for centuries. Some of these giants had been blown down by high winds this winter.

We camped right on the point of Gull Rock with nothing but a 30 foot vertical drop separating us from the water. It was amazing to be higher than gulls that circle this point. To the south of us and tucked back in from the jagged shoreline was a cove. Black sand, mud and rock formations made me think that if this place was warm it would be an ideal place to go skinny dipping.

I couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of this land. Truly it is a beauty to behold.

And the wildlife you ask? We almost had an accidental bear encounter! The back half of our group started yelling and causing a ruckus so we turned back to find the moms with Bear Mace at the ready. They heard a loud crashing coming towards them from off the trail. They started yelling and whooping and made the crashing stop. After a moment a tentative retreat was heard going away from the trail. All classic bear behavior, apparently.

We also ran into a moose. This time it was my group at the front. We were coming around a bend, just chatting away when we heard the "moo" like noise of a moose. We stopped and yelled and heard it pass us off to the side of the trail. We spotted its fresh tracks along the trail around the bend and followed them almost all the way to camp. With the many streams we crossed and the easy access a trail provides as opposed to blazing through the thick foliage, its no wonder this moose liked our trail.

Since I didn't actually see him, does he still make the moose counter?