July 26, 2013 Friday
Day 19
Well it is day 19 and we can no longer put it off, it is Laundry Day. Boo! It is so sunny and pretty out. Luckily I got a somewhat early start, and was the first one in the campground laundry, so I got all 3 machines. The laundry house is fairly nice, lots of windows, and I was finished by 11am.

We packed a picnic and drove north to Settlers Cove, where they say you can find a nice sandy beach. Well, apparently, they haven't been to Emerald Isle where there is true sand. I guess by Alaska standards, the small gravelly stones are closer to "sandy" than the giant rocks and boulders on most beaches we have seen so far. Nevertheless, it was beautiful in a rugged way, the sun was shining and it was beautiful all day. We hiked a few trails at Settlers Cove, saw Lunch Creek Falls, then we decided to go back to Ward Lake which we had briefly visited yesterday afternoon. We picnicked by the waters edge, then hiked the trail around the lake. It was a gorgeous hike and it had everything - a well maintained trail through the forest complete with creepy moss creatures on steroids, giant trees, ferns, colorful wild flowers & all kinds of berries, plus we had views of the lake and jumping fish the entire way. Fantastic!

After all that hiking we drove into town to have a beer at Fat Stan's, which had been recommended to us by some locals. At the bar, we met some of the performers from the local Lumberjack Show - small world - a couple of them had attended UT and were forestry majors. They were working summer jobs at the show, but looking for their career jobs with the Forest Service. Michael especially enjoyed talking with them and answering all their questions.

Had dinner at Ocean View Restaurant, then drove to Herring Cove to once again look for bears and we finally saw a black bear! He came out of the tall grasses and walked into the creek; several eagles were perched nearby, and they came swooping down to the water. Very cool!

Wildlife Sightings
Bald Eagles
BEAR!