Mothers Day this year i had to work, but last year i had the opportunity to go kayaking in Prince William Sound, for free. That's a pretty good value, the catch being that it was the first kayak trip of the year for the company that ran the outfit. That means, indirectly, that it was cold. In fact, it was far colder than i had expected.
Prince William Sound is on the other side of the mountains from Anchorage where we live. We had been enjoying a very nice spring, flowers were blooming, grass was green, etc... Travelling 2 miles through the tunnel to Whittier was like travelling back in time two months. The temperature plummeted and suddenly there was still 3 feet of snow on the ground. I think it was 42 degrees and we had to get in the water where you would occasionally get splashed. After about two hours of being cold i got used to it and my heart finally decided to start pumping blood in to my hands.
I wanted to explore and stretch my legs, but there was still a ton of snow out there
We were part of an Auxiliary Coast Guard invitational hosted by the Kayak company as gesture of goodwill. I think it was also an exercise for the guides to get into the groove of paying attention to all the crazy mistakes a client might make, and since it would be coast guard members making the mistakes, it would be an eye opener for them as well, because they would then be more likely to know what these guides have to deal with.
Dressed for the nightclubs
The guides were doing a good job and played close attention to everyone. We paddled out along the coast for about two hours, making one brief stop along the way. We stopped at a very small cove of sorts where we were able to have lunch before returning back. I've seen pictures from along the coastline on sunny days where the water was vibrant and clear. Unfortunately the clouds made the water dark and reflective, but on the bright side it never really rained, and best of all it wasn't windy. That made the temperatures tolerable.
