Just another day at the creek

Not often do Jim and I have some time off together and have beautiful weather. Today was one of those days, so we decided to take advantage of it and go fishing. Fishing at our usual locations has not been successful so Jim's friend had recently shown him a spot known only to the locals and perfect for fly-fishing. This spot requires a short hike downhill to reach the creek. Unfortunately half-way down the trail we realized the small spot was already occupied by other fishermen. We decided to find our own route and head a little upstream. We came back to the road and found what we thought was another trail. The first hundred feet were fine except for the occasional devil's club to brush away. We crossed a small stream by stepping on small moss covered rocks. After a few near falls and some soaked feet we reached the bottom.

 

Sadly on my second cast I lost my fly. It sat stuck just beneath the surface in the middle of the creek taunting me. We looked downstream and noticed that the usual spot was now open. Now semi-experienced hikers we decided to cut through the brush on the bank to reach the spot. Big mistake! I was the first to fall. Carrying my rod and camera, I slipped while trying to cross a fallen tree. I fell 5 ft down and landed on my knees. Somehow I managed to bruise my tailbone and rip my pants on the way down but I was otherwise unharmed. Now, however, I was stuck in a hole with no footholds to help me out. Jim came to help and take my rod but as he reached across the tree he fell as well this time plunging into the creek below. After realizing he was only slightly harmed I could not help but take a picture. 

We slowly and carefully made our way to "the spot." Relieved and excited I reached for my rod only to find that a piece of it had gone missing along the way. Jim cast a few but we were both tired and wet and ready to go home. Our hike up the hill was uneventful and we reached our car safely. Our beautiful day turned out to be quite eventful and certainly a day that we will always remember...and for a bit more excitement, as I am writing this a black bear just walked past our front window. 

Going on a bear hunt

One of the best parts of living in Alaska is being able to share this place with our friends and family. Adam and Elizabeth, our friends from Minneapolis, arrived on Tuesday evening. We have attempted to show them our favorite parts of Ketchikan and allow them to experience some things on their own.



One of the more exciting parts of the visit has been our hunt for bears. Since the beginning of the salmon run, Jim and I have driven to Herring cove nightly hoping to see bears but have been unsuccessful. Wednesday night we decided to bring our guests and try our luck once more. While we were driving towards the cove at about 40 miles an hour, a black bear shot out of the trees in front of our car. It was amazing to see how fast and agile they can be. Satisfied with our bear sighting, we returned to our house and went to bed.

We awoke the next morning at our usual 4 am for the early shift at work. Jim brought the dogs out and came back with a scared look on his face. Apparently the bears decided to visit us. Our entire garage including the stairs up to our house were covered with trash. We don't have garbage pick up at our house so the bears were treated to a buffet of 3 months worth of garbage. 

Our friends at work were not surprised by our story but guaranteed that our new friends will return. I guess we have learned that in Alaska you don't need to hunt for bears, they will come to you.

A Deeper Look

The goal of this summer was to experience Alaska as more than a tourist. Three months in and we are starting to feel a little more like locals. Both of us have started to find and develop our own interests. Jim is quickly becoming an expert on orcas and various marine life. We have been studying our tide book closely in order to find the best intertidal zone viewings. During a recent fishing trip, Jim had his first encounter with a black bear. The bear was not interested in him but Jim was understandably very shaken.


My most recent interest has been finding edible plants on hikes and on the shore line. Earlier this summer I harvested labrador tea and fiddlehead ferns and I am now pickling bull kelp. Bull kelp is a sea weed that consists of a spherical bulb attached to a long stem. The stem is held fast to rocks on the sea floor. Bull kelp is often washed ashore during storms but it is best when harvested directly from the water. We gathered two pieces during our halibut outing last weekend. Our outing consisted of 6 rockfish, 1 halibut, and too many sharks to count. The pickling process lasted 3 days and although they are very sweet the pickles have been highly praised by our local friends. My next adventure is harvesting berries and searching for beach asparagus.

Camping

Camping with local Alaskans is a little different than what we are used to. I used to consider pit toilets and sites with no picnic tables roughing it. This adventure required three round-trips in a skiff in order to transport our group and the gear to Pennock Island. Pennock Island is visible from Ketchikan and is inhabited by many permanent residents. The island has no roads and is only accesible by boat. Pennock is also a native burial site.


Our first task was to set-up our tent. Due to southeast Alaska's immense tidal changes, spots were chosen carefully. Our friends started a fire using driftwood from the beach and dinner consisted of halibut and steamed vegetables. A group of us climbed through the dense rainforest for a peek at the evening sunset.



The weather in the morning was a bit rainy and after failed attempts at starting the fire the first skiff load of people went home. Our campsite was quickly turned to a tourist attraction when the undersea tour boat began passing by around 7:00 am. Questionable behavior by the tour boat attracted hoards of eagles to the beach fighting over scraps of fish. After the tide went out, Captain Eric and his wife Cara led us on our own personalized tour of the interidal zone. The tour consisted of various sea stars, crabs, sea cucumbers, eels, edible beach plants, and my favorite gooey ducks.


The camping trip was amazing and we hope to camp again many more times this summer.

Three sunburns and a rockfish

The annual King salmon derby started last Friday. Locals and visitors compete for prizes including a new boat and $10,000. We decided to rent a skiff and enter the derby. The adventure started early Sunday morning with both of us staring at the various fishing gear at Wal-mart with confused faces. Luckily our friend Margaret was able to help us. Margaret works as a naturalist and has lived in Ketchikan for over 15 years.

Our skiff was 14' and was powered by a 15hp motor. Loaded with three passengers and various gear the boat putt putted out of Knudsen cove. Sunday was in the middle of our heat wave and the temperature reached mid-70's. The scenery was beautiful. We had some amazing wildlife sightings including Dall's porpoise, harbor seals, sea lions, and eagles. Fishing, however, was not as successful. I landed our only fish of the day which was a rock fish about the size of the small crappies we catch at Lake Cowdry. Jim had a nice size King but it spit the hook before we could get it in the boat.



Overall, the trip was amazing even though we didn't catch a winner. Currently the leader is a 42.7 lb king caught by a 9-year-old boy. The derby lasts for two more weeks. Wish us luck!

Am I really getting paid for this?

Living in Alaska is by no means cheap. In order to fund our new life we are both working for Allen Marine tours. Allen Marine is a family owned business well known throughout southeast Alaska for their quality tours. Our positions with Allen Marine are as passenger servers or as my wonderful naturalist tell passengers "galley slaves."


In short the job consists of exploring the Misty Fjord National Monument while keeping the passengers fed and happy. Working in customer service always requires patience and a decent sense of humor. The ability to answer the same questions over and over again with the same amount of displayed enthusiasm is definitely an art.

My favorite and fairly common question is: "What elevation are we at?" A response to this questions must be carefully planned in order to avoid a large amount of embarassment. I have discovered two responses to this question which seem to work well depending on the repoire with the passenger.

#1 "You know that is a very common question! While we are currently at sea level, the highest point on our island is actually 3000 feet." (stated while pointing to Deer Mountain) This statement provides a response without any additional ridicule. In this case, however, the passenger is more likely to repeat such a question in a different port and receive a less friendly response. I like to call this my redirection answer.

#2 (Peeking over the side of the boat) "Well...I would say about 8 ft. Unless you choose to move to the top deck." This response is by far my favorite but it must be choosen carefully for the risk of embarassment is much higher. This response is often chosen when repoire with a passenger has already been established.

Journey to Alaska

The frequent suggestions from certain relatives have finally worked. We have started a blog. Hopefully this blog will allow those we love to experience the beauty of Alaska right along with us. I will try my best, however, my words and even photographs can not fully capture this experience. What started as a summer adventure has quickly developed into a life changing journey.