Alaska Blog #4 – Mostly Sitka, AK

Dear friends and family,

We sure hope that after this entry, we will not have to write that here we sit in our camper with the rain pouring down. Funny, Juneau the “Forest Capital” also gets 107 inches of rain per year. We hiked for 3.5 miles in it today (up the Mendenhall Glacier East Trail) and while still beautiful, we looked at each other and said ….we need some sunshine here. So to tempt fate, we purchased two expensive Gortex hiking hats and we will let you know if the trick worked! If you had seen our wet hats you would understand the purchase.

A philosophic note-as we were boarding the Fast Ferry ‘Fairweather’ from Sitka to Juneau, the captain announced that due to the narrowness of the “Peril Straight” (huh?), he would be making … and I quote “bold corrections in both course and speed.” What an interesting way to think about life …certainly not all phases of one’s life… but some? So watch for the bold corrections.

More highlights:

• Hiking in SE Alaska has been very … you guessed it … wet. That said, we have had some wonderful hiking moments -- some even in the sun.

*Herring Cove: Bears and shotguns – so we had just returned from this wonderful hike up from Herring Cove with the beginning made up of chest high grasses. We knew that there were more Grizzly Bears on Baranof Island than people, so much to Tom’s dismay I had been working through my Broadway tunes repertoire. As we exited the trail, two young men, with shotguns strapped across their chests, were about to begin it. I asked about hunting (naively) and they said …oh we are just hiking but we never hike without a shotgun! Bears, you know! We then found out that the bears are in transition right now waiting for the salmon and berries. And what do they eat? Grasses. P.S. Some Sitkans have never seen a bear.

*Boardwalks and more boardwalks: Almost every hike we have taken since we arrived has involved wooden planks, steps, and bridges. Many of each! Really many, many as the photos will show. While Tom has been amazed at some of the wonderful woodworking, my knees have yearned for the now enviable CO switchbacks! 

• The Flora: While we were in absolutely perfect timing for the Rhoddies (everywhere), we are still a bit early for the masses of wildflowers. We see hints of Fireweed and had a few beautiful stretches of Lupine. Miss Rumphius was busy in Alaska. We have learned quite a bit about some of the rainforest and muskeg plants … Devil’s Club or Skunk Cabbage anyone? The blue flower is the Himalayan Poppy that we saw in an Arboretum. Lovely, no?

• The Fauna tally: One Grizzly Sow and Cub (from a distance on the ferry); two whale flukes (pretty up close and personal); a raft of sea otters (just as cute as you think they are); many, many Bald Eagles; Redbreasted Sapsuckers; Great Blue Herons and of course those two wolves. Keeping track belies the magnificence of actually seeing each of these creatures in their natural environment. Thrilling.

• Sitka itself: We just loved Sitka with its intriguing and complicated history … Tlingit, Russian and American … and its beauty. There is a wonderful National Historic Park that explores both the Tlingit and Russian cultures and histories. As is true everywhere in North America, it is very sobering to contemplate what has happened to our native peoples. And it would trivialize it if included as a blog entry. Just know that this awareness is a part of our trip – as well as a great appreciation for the tenacity and creativity of this special group of people. We also learned a lot about commercial fishing … and that up here talking about eating farm raised fish … well, thems fighting words. We hated to leave … had more to see and wished we could have stayed and enjoyed some lazy days there. We also had 2 beautiful days with bright sun. I tell Tom I would like to visit again!

• Death by Motorboat: Oy vay. Our new friends Darryl and Sheri (whose son lives in Aurora!)and the two of us hired a smallish boat with this express purpose: poke around the numerous, wonderful looking islands and to see otters! Period. Done. Our operator after showing us otters, persuaded us that it would be good to see whales. Just down the next wave, he’d say. Two whales later, and still feeling confident of the boat and driver, he persuaded us that we must see St. Lazarius Island – a lava rock island where millions of birds roost, including the tropical looking Puffin. OK. When we reached the middle of open ocean (this can be embellished in the years to come as well as the kayak adventure), he said … this is a bit rougher than I thought. Then when the deep swells began and a big one crept up beside and he said, ‘wow that was a big one.’ … I was DONE. White knuckled it all the way back (the dang Puffins were cute!) and collapsed in our bunk. Be surprised; be very surprised if ANY of our further adventures involve water and a water conveyance.

As we mentioned before we have been lucky to meet new friends and we have been sharing our lives and some adventures (like wolves and death by motorboat). Darryl Painter is a fantastic photographer. Please give him credit for the eagle, otter and puffin photos. We were along for the ‘ride’ and he was good enough to share them with us … and now with you. We hope to see them again in Denver in late fall.

We love hearing from you. We apologize for brief responses in advance. Sending special love to our goils and boys and pets.

Until next time.

JP and Tom

Alaska Blog #3 “the blog less travelled”

Dear family and friends,

We sit cozy in our camper with the rain coming down in spurts. Petersburg, AK gets 107 inches of rain per year and it is certain that some high percentage of those inches have fallen since we have been here. Still, we had the pleasure of arriving in sunshine and have an appreciation of how beautiful it can be when those special sunny days occur. This combination of glacier capped mountains, endless water and rainforest is most dramatic and appealing. Here are a few more highlights since we arrived in Alaska.

• The Alaskan Marine Highway: What a wonderful way to travel. Think of it as a bus on the water. It takes all of us … from 40 foot bus motor homes, to cars that need to be towed , to walk-ons (one couple brought their little guy’s mini trike and he amused himself riding around the deck). Perhaps the most spectacular route on the entire ‘highway’ is the stretch between Wrangell and Petersburg called the “Wrangell Narrows”. From the photo you can see that this is no small ferry and yet at times the Narrows lives up to its name with the two shores only being about 2 football fields apart. The pilot had 70 navigational beacons and made 40 navigational corrections in the space of less than an hour!

• The land of the 10:30 PM sun: I suspect as we travel toward June 21, it will truly be the land of the midnight sun, but for now, it is not quite. Right now, it is 9:00 P.M. and it feels like a very long dusk. Lovely shadows!

• The most beautiful campsite in the universe: In Wrangell (our first AK stop in this very authentic feeling town (not much dressing up for company) we headed north for a National Forest campsite about 8 miles out of town. Our site, perched high on a cliff looking miles up and down the Straight of Zamovia, was surrounded by snow capped peaks. It was breathtaking. To add to it all, there was a pair of Bald Eagles nesting in a large fir tree about 50 yards in front of us. I called it the total “Bald Eagle Experience”

• Making new friends: Waiting in lines for the ferry can create new friendships. One fellow, an engineering professor, is building a cabin that is either 45 minutes by boat or a.6 mile hike in through the muskeg (AK’s sponge …. very wet, very mushy, very intriguing). He was bringing the fixings for a bathroom so his wife would visit. He had enlisted a young engineering professor friend of his to help. I cannot guess how many trips they made over the rocky beach or up the sloughly path before they invited us for dinner (we did the hike piece). What a memory we have of steaks from the fry pan, wine in acrylic glasses (his wife sent them in the truck) and looking out of this barely finished beautiful cabin toward the icebergs of the La Conte Glacier. Wonderful conversation, too!

• Death by Kayak: No doubt as the years pass the embellishments to this adventure might include a rescue by a Coast Guard helicopter or the necessity for a ½ mile swim. No embellishments really needed as the actually truth is pretty good. It was rainy and a bit choppy when we went out on a guided adventure up a tidal creek (more like a tidal river if you ask me). While it was pouring rain, it was still very beautiful and I quite liked the kayak. While breaking for lunch, the storm that was expected later arrived with gusto. Trying to round a point in high winds against the tide was hard enough, but watching our young guide paddling her heart out and being swept into the reeds made it very real. Then she became quite serious and told us we must paddle as hard as we could as she had called for a boat to come for us. Since the tide was going out, the boat might not be able to make it to us. We had to beach the kayaks, wade through two feet of water and somehow (I am still not sure how) hoist ourselves into a high-prowed boat. I am calling it “the Kayak Adventure that Shall Not be Named”.

• Camping at the end of the road: I had not planned any more entries as I certainly do not want to become annoying … but tonight we are camping at the end of the road – literally there is no more road on the island! As we were eating dinner watching the tide go out and watching the sand bars appear, there appeared two beautiful wolves wandering back to the woods via the sand flats! I am afraid that no one will believe us except that we have witnesses as we saw them with another couple also camping at the end of the road.

Love to all with special shout outs to 355 and Truckee!

Sitka next.

jp and Tom

Blog entry 2

Alaska Blog Entry #2

June 5, 2010

Dear family and friends,

Here we are in Prince Rupert, BC waiting for the Alaska Marine Highway ferry to leave tomorrow afternoon for Wrangell, AK (12 hours). This requires a 3 hour check-in that includes, of course, US Customs. Fun fact: We will cross the US-Canadian Border six times during this trip! We have now travelled 2300 miles. But as ‘they’ say, it is the journey that is important and our journey so far has had special moments … so here are a few highlights:

• Springtime through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington and BC was the western version of Ireland with the brilliant green of the fields and hillsides. It was gorgeous. The many different animal babies were fun to see … especially while walking a bit in this sheep ranch in Wyoming. We hope we weren’t actually trespassing.

• Friendship renewal … our friends Lynn (depending on who you ask, my childhood friend since we were 11 or 12 -- you do the math)and husband Mike were dear enough to take a week out of their lives and travel from Kelowna to Prince Rupert with us. Such fun … even when this young fisherman had to cast for Mike’s hat.

• A wonderful jewel of a museum in New Hazelton, BC (‘Ksan Historical Village) where we were able to visit with the curator and find out how and why this First Nation group was able to accomplish this amazing tribute to its culture. Let’s just say much determination. The Gitxsan People live on the Skeena River – River of the Mist. And as you can see from our garb, we have been living the misty life with enthusiasm.

I think I have caught you up. We’ve had a wonderful journey to begin our Alaska adventure.

Love to all,

To KT, HP, RG and BH lots of love. To Lily and Scooter, too.

Tom and JP