Backpacking Silvis to Deer Mountain Trail

I really wanted to go on a serious hike and had my eye on the Silvis to Deer Mountain trail (the longest marked trail in Ketchikan). Friday afternoon I put my pack on my back and hopped the bus out to George Inlet. Sinkey drove Paul and me to the end of the road (the trail head). We hiked the 3 miles of switchback trail past lower Silvis to upper Silvis lake. Its a large lake in the mountains. It was getting dark by that point so we set up camp. Given that we live in a rain forest and it had just rained for a few days straight, starting a fire was going to be a challenge. Luckily Paul is an avid backpacker and was able to start a roaring one with a lot of work and some patience. When we awoke in the morning, we cleaned up camp and filled our water bottles in the lake. We then began the rest of our 15 mile hike. Once we got around Silvis Lake we climbed Northbird Peak, Ron Jones Mountain, and the ridge to Deer Mountain. It was a clear, sunny day so the views were breathtaking. The hike was very challenging involving mostly up and down hills, but when I would get tired all I had to do was look around it would energize me. By the time we got to the bottom of Deer Mountain around 10pm, we were exhausted. After some food and rest we were both feeling extremely rejuvenated. I'm looking forward to doing that hike again next season (if not this season!)

Some views from our hike:

My week with Kristen!

Kristen visited this week, so it has been extra fun filled. We went to the lumberjack show on Tuesday and it was amazing to see the things those guys do every day all day long (log rolling, log climbing, speed chopping, etc) After the show they let Kristen and me stick around and throw axes. After some practice, I got a bulls eye! It was so much fun! Tuesday night, Paul and Pete (the chef at George Inlet) came over and made sushi for Kim, Kristen, and me. Pete used fish and crab they had caught. It was absolutely delicious.

On Wednesday, Kristen and I took Chubs (Tory's dog) to Ward Lake. We walked the trail that surrounds the lake then laid out a large picnic blanket and took a nap. It was a beautiful day and a great way to spend the afternoon.

Friday was a very rainy day. The docks are always fun in the heavy rain (hint of sarcasm). That afternoon, Kristen and I packed up our backpacks and hopped a bus to George Inlet. We loaded up the boat with our supplies and Paul and Sinkey took us out to catch some crab. We headed out on the water and showed Kristen the beautiful scenery through the various inlets south of town then pulled some crab pots. About 8 crabs later we pulled the boat up to a beach. Sinkey started a fire and we cleaned and cooked the crab. It couldn't have tasted any better. It was raining, but the camp site had a large tarp overhead so we camped out in just our sleeping bags. When we woke up Saturday morning (Kristen's birthday) we cleaned up camp and headed out for a day of fishing. We trolled for salmon and jigged for rock fish. At the end of the day we had about 10 salmon (pinks, king, chum) and 5 rock fish. Paul vacuum sealed the fish and put them in a box to ship to Kristen's home... what a birthday present!

Yesterday, Kristen and I went zip lining (we went at different times because I had to work), but we both had great fun. She got on the ferry today headed to Juneau to visit her brother. I was sad to see her leave...



Our beautiful fish


axe throwing


our camp site


Kristen and me

I saw my first bear!

This week has been full of many adventures. On Tuesday, Becca and I hiked Deer Mountain. Most of the snow is gone and the views from the top were gorgeous. I've now hiked Deer Mountain three times this season and every time is a different experience with different trail conditions and varying views.

On Wednesday, Paul took me king fishing. We went out to Herring Cove in a skiff and started snagging. I caught one! It was 25 lbs and took about 15-20 minutes to reel in. I'm learning how to catch fish and how to properly reel in (it reminds me of dancing - sometimes you let the fish lead, and sometimes I lead myself depending on the feel of things). The fish was on the darker side (the skin is darker when they start to turn) so we originally thought the meat would be better for smoking. However, when Pete (the chef at George Inlet) cut into it, it turned out to be a beautiful piece of meat! We vacuum sealed it and I now have 40 lbs of salmon in my freezer. After catching a king all by myself there was only one thing left on my "must do" list: see a bear. We got in Sinkey's truck and headed back to town and sure enough there was a large black bear in the road. I got a great view before it headed into the bushes. I could barely sleep that night because I was so excited with my very successful Alaskan day!

July 4th Weekend

For the first time in 5 years Ketchikan had beautiful weather for the 4th of July weekend! On Friday, we had a long day of work (6 ships in). Afterwards, Kim and I took a big blanket down to the docks and soaked up some rays. We then received a call from some friends asking us to go camping. "Sure, that sounds great!" We ran home, grabbed our sleeping bags and tent and jumped in the car for the ride out to South Point Higgins beach. We set up camp in the woods and sat out on the beach by our bonfire. A large group of people down the beach from us had bought a few thousand dollars worth of fireworks and were setting them off over the water. It was quite a show! I went to bed pretty early and woke up to the sound of the ocean. I really love camping out at that beach. We headed back into town and I met up with Paul to go on a Misty Fjiords float plane ride. We took a bus out to Taquan and were escorted out to our plane. It was a 2 hour ride through the fjiords and it was breath taking. I sat in the very back and had great views out both sides of the plane. We flew so close to the mountains it seemed like you could reach out and touch them. While we didn't see any bears, we did see lots of mountain goats. I giggled the whole time, because it was so beautiful I had to do more than just smile. I'm ready to go again and again. Afterwards we went to a party at a friend's house who lives on the water. We had a great view of the fireworks which were shot off from a barge on the water. The past 2 years the fireworks were cancelled because the weather was so bad, so we were very fortunate to have a sunny and warm day!

Today work was very low key. I finished before lunch time and wandered around creek street. I then went to the library and ran into my friend, Martin. We walked north of town to Carlanna Lake. It was so warm outside so we went swimming in the lake. The water was so refreshing, although when I got out of the water I had about 10 leeches on my feet and ankles... I just walked the few miles home and cooked some fresh salmon for dinner.

What a great weekend...


Some views of Misty Fjiords:

Shrimpin'

We've been busy with visitors! Kim's family (her mom, step father, 3 younger siblings who are 6 and 7 years old) came to visit. We took out a skiff, had some great meals, and had a sleepover in our living room. It was a lot of fun and was so much fun having kids around.

Yesterday, Paul and Sinkey took Kim and me shrimpin'. They picked us up in town and drove us out to George Inlet. We drove the boat out to the shrimp pots (they let me drive for a while!) We pulled up 3 shrimp pots, each on 400 ft lines. Its a great arm work out! Then we pulled up a few crab pots and kept 4 big ones. Once we had our feast ready to go, we parked at a camp on the beach. The camp is in the rainforest right off the beach and looks like Peter Pan's 'Neverland'... such a cool and magical place. We started a fire, cleaned the crab and shrimp, and boiled them in a large pot. What a feast!


The feisty crabs on the floor of the boat.


The shrimp we caught!

Salmon fishing!

The salmon are spawning so its prime king salmon fishing time. Yesterday I went to Tongass and bought a season fishing license and Paul, the guide from my crab feast tour, took me salmon fishing. We took a little boat out and snagged for fish. The weather was overcast but we were still able to see the mountains in the distance making for a beautiful afternoon! Eagles were flying all around (trying to catch salmon as well). It was amazing - you could see all of the salmon jumping out of the water! Paul caught a king and it was quite a fight reeling it in. I wasn't catching anything, but he then caught another and let me reel it in (my arm is still sore today). I think it took about 20 minutes to get it in the boat, but I felt so accomplished once I did! I now know why people enjoy fishing. On our way back to George Inlet Lodge we tried fishing for rockfish, but had no luck. The rain started rolling in so we were in a slight hurry to beat the weather. We weighed our fish which each were 18 lbs and then Sinkey fillet them for us (he had caught 12 salmon earlier in the day!) and Paul vacuum sealed our fillets. I cooked one of the fillets for lunch today and still have 10 fillets in my freezer. I love it!


Filling our fish


The King I reeled in


Our catch of the day!

My day off of work

Saturday night one of the guides (she is also my yoga instructor) had a costume party. Kim, Molly, and I headed over to the salvation army to find costumes. Kim dressed up as Elvis and I dressed up as a bride (appropriate, I know). It was a fun party and many of the zip guides were there. Clumsy me managed to hurt myself. The porch had no railing and I wasn't paying attention and managed to fall off the porch and hit my face on a tree trunk. It didn't feel too great, but I'm hoping it will heal in the next week or so...

Yesterday I had the day off, so I woke up early and took the tram car up to Cape Fox Lodge (it sits on top of a hill and overlooks Ketchikan). I got a bloody mary and looked out at the view. It was a clear and sunny day so it was beautiful from the lodge. I then headed down to the docks and hopped on the bus for the crab feast tour. We took a bus ride south of town to George Inlet Lodge. Once we arrived we got on a boat. Our guide took us for a 2 hour boat ride where we saw some beautiful scenery and caught some crabs. It was such a beautiful day for a boat ride! We then headed back to George Inlet and were seated in the dining room for our feast. They taught us how to eat dungeness crab (very sweet meat) and then fed us crab until we couldn't eat any more. It was absolutely delicious. After our bus ride back to town I headed over to Fat Stans where I met up with a group of folks who wanted to go fishing. Pete and Danny run some sport fishing boats in town and were willing to take Kim, Molly, Liz and me out for the afternoon. Pete is from Ketchikan and Danny is from the Florida Keys and they both grew up on boats. There were a lot of whales out so the fishing wasn't very good (However, we saw some humpbacks!). Molly caught a rock fish and that summed up our catch for the day. She was so excited! Danny fillet it for her and it took him less than 60 seconds (its amazing to watch someone fillet a fish when they're a master at it). It was so nice to spend the afternoon on the boat relaxing, talking, and enjoying the day.



Molly with the catch of the day


Me with some crabs on the boat tour