Beach Day

Yesterday we all had off from work! I woke up to sun pouring into my window, which instantly brought a smile to my face. Not a cloud was in the sky. Jossie cooked pancakes for breakfast, then Powers, Jossie, Molly and I loaded the car with towels and a cooler and headed to South Point Higgins beach...my favorite beach on the island. We made a bon fire, which we didn't even need since it was so warm out. We walked along the rocky coastline and played with hermit crabs and spotted starfish pods. After several hours we noticed our skin turning red, so we loaded the car back up and headed home for an evening of movie viewing. I will post pictures from our beach day soon.

The little boat that could...

Paul bought a boat two days ago. Well, its a skiff and it cost only $150. While it needs a good scrub down and one must constantly be pumping water out of it, this boat is perfect for fishing! Yesterday was sunny and warm so Hale, Dave, Paul and I decided to christen the boat after work by taking it out for a spin and doing some jigging. We started heading towards the south side of Pennock Island and barely went fast enough to feel a breeze. This is the perfect boat for me as I always get so cold by strong winds. Although I've been told that it runs faster than you'd believe with only 2 people in it. Once we reached the south end of the island the engine cut out. The boat must have known what it was doing because it landed us in a cod hole. We were catching cod with every drop of the line! Several cod later and a rickety ride back to town with the sun on our faces, we were happy folk:)

The Vibrant Rainforest

Today I fell in love with Alaska all over again. I honestly did. This morning I went out to our work site and went on the rainforest sanctuary tour. The colors and smells of every plant, tree and lichen were so vibrant. A steady breeze was moving through the forest which made the water in the creek dance and the leaves sway. A sense of peace came over me and took away every bit of stress. Words can hardly begin to describe the beauty of the rainforest here.

And the adventures continue yet again...

I knew the minute I flew in to Ketchikan last summer that I would return. Here I am. The mountains and water are just as beautiful as before. This beautiful land hasn't seemed to skip a beat since I left.

Last weekend I ventured back onto the water for a day of halibut fishing. Sinkey and his wife drove their boat from George Inlet to Mountain Point to pick up Paul and me. The water was so rough that we had to hang on simply not to fly off the boat! We decided to head back up George Inlet and jig for rockfish instead...a much safer bet. The weather forecast had called for rain, but around 9:00am the clouds broke and gave way for a sunny day. We caught many fish, but only kept two large yellow eyes. They are a beautiful florescent red and I will post a picture soon.

Its good to be back in the land of adventure...

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.


the humpback next to our boat


Our cabin on top of deer mountain


the halibut and cod we caught

Totem pole capital of Alaska

Despite it being a very rainy day (the weather now is mostly heavy rain and in the low 50's) Molly, Kim, Kristen, and I did not want to spend the day indoors. We put on our rain gear and headed to Totem Bight State Park. The park sits right by the ocean and is home to many totem poles and a clan house. In the early 80's these totem poles were moved to this property and the park was created. They are all so beautiful and its interesting to learn what the different animals on the totem poles mean.

We then drove south to the end of Tongass Avenue (the main road that runs along the coast through Ketchikan) to Settlers Cove. We hiked Lunch Creek trail that runs through the rain forest. With all of the recent rain the rain forest is in full bloom. Everything is so lush and green. We watched the salmon running with seagulls and seals anxiously waiting at the mouth of the creek for the fish that are unable to make it upstream. I am going to miss the rain forest and ocean when I leave Alaska.

Samantha's visit

My friend, Samantha, came to visit me last week. It was so much fun having her here! On her first day we went out to the zip line site after work and walked the course. We saw 6 bears, including a cub sitting in a tree, a mother and 2 cubs playing in the stream eating salmon, and 2 large males eating grass in a field. It was incredible to see all of those bears up close! After bear watching a group of us went to Tory's for halibut tacos (we cooked the halibut that Kristen and I caught). It was delicious and I am excited to share the fish with my family.

The next afternoon we went over to Dave's for a crab boil. Dave and Pat had caught 22 dungeness crabs. They decided to have a crab killing, cracking, and cleaning contest amongst the girls and had a prize ready to go for the winner. We each had to crack as many crabs as possible until all of the crabs were gone and whoever had cracked and cleaned the most crab won. I won! My prize was an XXXL t-shirt that says "Got crabs? Alaska". We then threw all of the crabs into a big pot and had a boil! I will never grow tired of dungeness crab. I'm glad we were able to have some fresh seafood while Sam was here.

The season is really starting to wind down. Less ships are coming in each day and we have less departures. Soon we will have days when no ships come in at all. It will give us a chance to go on some multi day backpacking trips if weather permits which I'm really looking forward to. Another sign that the season is coming to an end is the salmon running. They are still spawning, but they are starting to die. I walk to work around 6:30am each morning when the tide is low and dead salmon line the rocks on creek street. You can only imagine the smell it produces...


Cub


Sam and me before the crab cracking contest