Diamond Creek Hike

I've heard a lot of people talk about the Diamond Creek Trail, but had never ventured there before today. Given the news last week about the mysterious "uplift" on the Homer Beach, I just had to get down there and see it for myself. For those of you who don't know what an "uplift" is, I'll try to explain. A 1,000-foot long section of the beach rose up 20 feet from the tidelands sometime overnight July 2-3rd, pushing boulders up from the ocean bottom, cracking sandstone slabs and toppling rocks upside down. There is actually a rock circle there now and scientists continue to be baffled by it. No earthquakes were measured by the USGS during this time period. If you're interested in more of the story, check out http://homernews.com/stories/070809/news_1_002.shtml.

So, during low tide this afternoon, Nali and I headed down the trail, which was about a mile downhill the entire way. It was a beautiful day - 62 degrees and a little overcast. The bugs weren't even bad! The trail empties out right on the rocky beach, strewn with massive driftwood logs. Once on the beach, we turned left and headed toward Homer. The sun came out in spurts and I soon took off my hoody and wrapped it around my waist, rolled my short sleeves up and rolled my jeans up "capri style" in an effort to soak up as much Vitamin D as possible.

A mile and a half down the beach we came upon the uplift. There were several small groups of hikers out today - all with the same destination in mind. Tide pools are now where there were only sand and rocks two weeks ago. Much of the rock looked like slate but was soft like clay. The earth seemed very muddy and slippery, a grey covering over all. Perhaps it's from the volcanic ash that we received this spring from Mt. Redoubt. After climbing around the rocks for a while, Nali and I headed back to the trailhead.

The walk back seemed to go faster. Why is that? It always seems that when you go somewhere, the trip home goes by quicker. I wonder if it is because the "newness" of the trip is over and you don't spend as much time "experiencing" the journey. What a shame! It is just as beautiful going back as it was going out. Nali even seemed to pick up the pace heading back and I kept having to call her back to me. When we got to the trailhead, I rested on a log for a few minutes drinking in the beautiful Alaskan scenery - too much fog to see the volcanoes across the inlet, but the water was still beautiful. I then rolled my pant legs back down to avoid scratches from the weeds as we went back up the trail.

I knew when I was coming down the trail that going downhill the entire way was a bad omen. However, I only had to stop to rest once going back up and even passed a few folks along the way. The mountain air is truly invigorating, especially when combined with the sea. Once back to the car, Nali and I were both panting. I smiled all the the way home. Life is good!