Diaries of a Ketchikan girl: Powers is in town!

Powers arrived last Wednesday and it has been the most unbelievable week. I feel as though I have taken the highlights from the season and squeezed them all into a few days for Powers to experience. His first couple of days were spent going on tours in town including the Lumberjack show, ziplining, and a Misty Fjords float plane ride. Friday night was our company end of season party. We started off with cocktails at Taquan Air, then took buses to George Inlet Lodge where we indulged in a crab feast. It was delicious of course!

On Sunday, we went halibut fishing. Brian (a pilot for Taquan) has a boat and took Molly, Powers, and me out for a day of fishing. We headed north of town and 15 minutes into the ride a humpback whale surfaced about 20 feet from our boat. He surfaced a few times then gave us a whale tail. It was incredible! We decided then and there that if we didn't catch a single fish it would be okay, because seeing a whale that close is such an amazing experience. However, as soon as we cast the first line, the fish started coming. We 'kept' 8 halibut and 3 cod (we threw the rest back because we hit our limit). It was a great and rewarding day of fishing! That night we feasted on halibut parmesan and discussed our plans for the next couple of days.

Monday morning we woke up to clear blue skies! Kim, Molly, Brian, Powers, and I strapped on our packs and headed up deer mountain. Kim has been in physical therapy all summer for her foot and her one goal was to hike to the top of deer mountain. With much determination she made it! We met Dee and Kristen at the cabin on the mountain peak (our home for the night). The boys went to gather water and the girls went exploring. We had knock out views! As the sun went down and the wind picked up it was extremely cold up there. The cabin has a small stove that runs on fuel, which we were hoping was left behind by past hikers. Unfortunately there was none, so we relied on our boxed wine and extra layers to keep us warm. Our group was playing cards around the table when a headlamp shined in the door. A guy walked in holding an axe... we were a little nervous at first, but he turned out to be a fun young guy who joined in our group game and spent the night in the cabin with us. The next morning we awoke to another beautiful day. We left our packs in the cabin and hiked the 2 miles to blue lake. The visibility was great which allowed us to see many more knock out views. We picked up our packs when we returned to the cabin and made the trek down the mountain feeling very accomplished. Last night Brian had us all over for halibut tacos and margaritas! Halibut tacos have quickly become my favorite dish.

Today was our last day of work. There were no ships in the past three days and today there was only one. Kristen, Kim, and I cleaned up shop, turned in our keys, and are now finished. Its a strange feeling, but I know I will return next year which will help me leave this wonderful place.