If I were really on the ball I would add photographs but as I just returned yesterday from 10 days off I don't plan on being "really on the ball" until about September 20th, give or take a day...
Onward and upward!
Thursday August 12th:
The day started early as we had an 8:10 flight on Alaska Airlines that would begin our journey north-westward. The first stop was Seattle then Juneau and finally Gustavus (pronounced "Gus-Tave-us").
Noteworthy points:
1) the trip from Seattle to Juneau crosses one of the most amazing mountain ranges I've ever seen! Lots of snow and huge glaciers. Its cool to know that such country exists.
2) the flight into Juneau is pretty cool. You fly up an inlet where the float planes land and at the last minute you swing to the right and hit a landing strip. The airport is quite small (maybe 4 gates and I'm betting 3 of them don't get much use).
3) the flight to Gustavus is about 15 minutes and just a great piece of air time (takeoff, 10 minutes of AWESOME scenery, landing)
4) the state of Alaska subsidizes flights into Gustavus to support tourism.
A van from the Annie Mae lodge picked us up. There was another couple (Robin and Jeff) from DC there for 10 days of vacation. They were experienced kayakers and were full of good tips and helpful information.
When we got to the lodge there were several other guest there from the Tyler, Texas area. One couple (Wes and Angie) were there for a long weekend. Wes was one of the pilots that flew the group up and Angie was doing her residency as a doctor. They were very nice folks.
The food at the Annie Mae was REALLY good. I had the dungeness crab while Pam had steak. After dinner we repacked a few times for the kayak trip.
2) the flight into Juneau is pretty cool. You fly up an inlet where the float planes land and at the last minute you swing to the right and hit a landing strip. The airport is quite small (maybe 4 gates and I'm betting 3 of them don't get much use).
3) the flight to Gustavus is about 15 minutes and just a great piece of air time (takeoff, 10 minutes of AWESOME scenery, landing)
4) the state of Alaska subsidizes flights into Gustavus to support tourism.
A van from the Annie Mae lodge picked us up. There was another couple (Robin and Jeff) from DC there for 10 days of vacation. They were experienced kayakers and were full of good tips and helpful information.
When we got to the lodge there were several other guest there from the Tyler, Texas area. One couple (Wes and Angie) were there for a long weekend. Wes was one of the pilots that flew the group up and Angie was doing her residency as a doctor. They were very nice folks.
The food at the Annie Mae was REALLY good. I had the dungeness crab while Pam had steak. After dinner we repacked a few times for the kayak trip.
Friday August 13th:
It occurs to me now (10 days later) that this was Friday the 13th...
After breakfast the next day we said our good bye's and a van picked us up for the trip. The van was driven by our guide (read "guide/chef/instructor/naturalist and all around good human") Shelli and the rest of the group were already aboard. The group consisted of Steve from New York and his mother Jane from Massachusetts and a lady Susan from Oregon. Everyone seemed to have an adventurous spirit and you could just tell that this would be a good trip.
We made our way to the Alaska Discovery warehouse to get outfitted with dry bags and repack our gear for the trip. Shelli said that since the boat would drop us at our camp that we wouldn't be restricted two drybags per person. This was great news as I could bring anything I wanted to out of my camera kit! We loaded the van and made our way to the dock.
Here's a quick note about the tides in Alaska. They go WAY up and WAY down... (+/- 20 feet!)
When we got to the dock the tide was out. The ramp from the pier to the floating dock was on about a 45 degree slope or steeper. We had haul gear for 3 days and 3 kayaks down the ramp to the sea taxi that would transport us to Point Adolphus. I feel like I got my workout in on this day.
Our captain on the day was Sterling Bodell. Sterling works in Gustavus part of the year and lives in Utah the rest of the year. He loaded our gear and secured our kayaks and took us south across Icy Straight to the beach we call Point Adolphus on the north shore of Chichagof Island. The tide was low when we beached which made unloading gear a tedious proposition. After about 15 minutes we had everything off the boat and had begun transferring gear from the kelp covered rocks at the shoreline to the beach above the tide line.
Next Shelli lead us into the forest and gave us a lesson in the proper way to pitch the tents. These tents were all Mountain Hardware of the 4 season variety and probably bomb proof! We set our tents just inside the forest of Sitka Spruce and Hemlock. This was one of the most beautiful forest I've ever seen. It was very mossy with very little undergrowth. The forest floor was very clean and very soft. Although we had sleeping pads I'm not certain that we would have needed them. Where the forest met the beach and the sunlight could reach the ground allowing alders and other brushy plants would grow. Pam and I chose the "honey moon suite" along a slow running creek.
After the tents were pitched Shelli gave us the run down on camping and kayaking. We ate lunch (pita bread sandwiches and fresh fruit and veggies) and headed out for an afternoon paddle. The weather was cool and over cast but cleared up as the day went on.
The first afternoon I was wearing WAY to many clothes. Everything seemed like allot of work and something was hitting me in the lower back and causing me a huge amount of pain. I remember thinking that sea kayaking may not have been for me...
A few notes about sea kayaks:
1) they are very stable (if not, I'm pretty sure we'd have flipped ours a few times).
2) you turn the kayak with foot peddles that are connected via ropes the rudder. It seems like you are constantly pressing on one of the peddles all the time.
3) you wear a spray skirt that fastens tightly to the opening that you sit down into keeping water from leaking into the kayak. A pair of suspenders keep this skirt up around your chest. If the buckle from one of these suspenders gets loose and works its way to your lower back where your back makes contact with the upper part of the seat you may want to die, at least you will not have a great time kayaking...
Past that, the scenery was beautiful, the whales were active it was fun being out with the sea lions.
On our first paddle out we headed east and saw several humpback whales feeding, tail slapping and breaching. Curious sea lions would swim by us like a gang of taunting teen age thugs.
It was just like watching a national geographic show or something on animal planet.
After the afternoon paddle we put our kayaks to bed for the night (hauled them above the tide line and secured the skirts over the seat holes) and watched Shelli make dinner (pasta with red sauce and wine). As she worked a humpback fed back and forth in the water along the beach. The skies had cleared and the setting sun was spectacular!
The sun made a welcome addition to our 6 person team.
After dinner Shelli brought out a special dessert.
The night before the trip she had baked a birthday cake for Steven, disguised it as a box of camp gear and smuggled it on to the island. It was his 39th birthday that day. I'm not certain that it could get any better than chocolate cake and a box of red wine under a spectacular sunset with a group of special folks that the universe had brought together on that spot on that day.
After dinner we all took turns washing and drying dishes on the beach under the sunset.
As we lay in our sleeping bags that night under the canopy of hemlock we could hear the whales feeding by off shore.
This was probably the greatest Friday the 13th ever...
Saturday August 14th:
The day began with Shelli making breakfast for everyone. The food was great and there was always lots of it. The day began with lots of fog and cloud cover. While we waited for the fog to burn off we went tidal pooling. This is where you comb the beach at low tide to see what ocean creatures are hanging around. Shelli provided lots of interesting commentary about the various crustaceans hanging around. It was a very interesting outing.
By the time we made it back to camp the fog had burned off and it was going to be a beautiful day. Today we began by paddling west. The sea lions joined us immediately and we occasionally saw humpbacks. The current was flowing east down the shore line like a slow moving river. It was incredible to see how strong the current could flow. Before too long we turned east and paddled back past camp, past the point we paddled to the previous evening to a distant shore line. We stopped halfway on a rocky shoreline and Shelli laid out lunch for us. We ate lunch while watching humpbacks feeding by.
After lunch we continued eastward. When we reached our destination for the day we beached the kayaks and Shelli took us on shore to show us a muskeg. A muskeg is like a peat bog. Its very acidic and very little will grow there. There are water/mud holes that are quite deep. We could hear whales breaching as we made our way back to the beach stopping along the way to picking some wild strawberries.
We saw LOTS of whales on this day. Although the trip is marketed as "The Whales of Point Adolphus" somehow it is much more about the experience of being out in the environment. Everything was new to us and interesting. The whales were ever present and fascinating to watch but they were just a part of a really cool picture.
On the paddle back to camp the wind was out of the west and the paddling was pretty intense at times. It felt good to work hard and see progress. Pam and I were the first ones to reach camp (not that it was a race or anything but we didn't come in second or third... :)
We put our kayaks to bed and Shelli immediately went to work preparing dinner. Tonight we were having halibut tacos and she had brought us each a beer to wash it down with! After dinner we watched the sun set behind Mount Fairweather while we finished off the last of Steven's birthday cake and a box of red wine. Life is good!
Sunday August 15th:
As good as this day could possibly be there would still be an air of bittersweetness about it. We'd had a great time already getting to know our camp mates while exploring a beautiful coastline on kayaks but our departure time was rapidly approaching.
The day started off just beautifully! Not a cloud in the sky. Pam and I had got a jump on the process of dismantling our tent and packing our gear for the return ride across the straight.
We all enjoyed a breakfast of granola and yogurt while Jane told us about her run-in with a brown bear the evening before. It ended like it should have with the bear making a hasty retreat towards the south end of Chichagof Island.
After breakfast we readied ourselves for a paddle westward again. Today the sea lions were out in force! We paddled west until it became apparent that the whales were mostly east of camp. Time was winding down so we quickly turned around and made our way back past camp and then a cove or two further east. The whales were ever present and quite cooperative today. We saw lots of feeding, diving and some breaching. Finally we turned the kayaks west for the last time.
Upon reaching the beach we began dismantling the kayaks and bringing all of the camping gear down to be loaded on the taxi for the ride back to town. This time the boat was quite a bit larger and better suited for the rocky shore line by having a front loading ramp. We formed a fireline and quickly loaded the boat by passing dry bags person to person to person until the last bag was on board. The captain headed north and we were on our way. In 20 minutes we were back at the dock and just our luck it was low tide AGAIN! After about 30 minutes of intense mountain climbing with sea kayaks on our backs the van was loaded and we were headed back to the warehouse.
We stopped at the town park for lunch and to attempt finishing off Steven's bag of wine. We did our best but I believe the bag won out. Better to have tried and failed than to have failed to try...
We unloaded our gear at the warehouse and repacked our bags for the rest of our trip. Shelli offered us use of the shower in their office area and we gladly accepted (and the people of Alaska Airlines should be glad we accepted as well!).
After dropping everyone else back at their lodges Shelli returned for us and dropped us at the airport in time for "the" flight from Gustavus to Juneau (and then on to Kodiak by way of Anchorage). We said our goodbyes and boarded the plane.
A few thoughts about the trip:
It occurs to me now (10 days later) that this was Friday the 13th...
After breakfast the next day we said our good bye's and a van picked us up for the trip. The van was driven by our guide (read "guide/chef/instructor/naturalist and all around good human") Shelli and the rest of the group were already aboard. The group consisted of Steve from New York and his mother Jane from Massachusetts and a lady Susan from Oregon. Everyone seemed to have an adventurous spirit and you could just tell that this would be a good trip.
We made our way to the Alaska Discovery warehouse to get outfitted with dry bags and repack our gear for the trip. Shelli said that since the boat would drop us at our camp that we wouldn't be restricted two drybags per person. This was great news as I could bring anything I wanted to out of my camera kit! We loaded the van and made our way to the dock.
Here's a quick note about the tides in Alaska. They go WAY up and WAY down... (+/- 20 feet!)
When we got to the dock the tide was out. The ramp from the pier to the floating dock was on about a 45 degree slope or steeper. We had haul gear for 3 days and 3 kayaks down the ramp to the sea taxi that would transport us to Point Adolphus. I feel like I got my workout in on this day.
Our captain on the day was Sterling Bodell. Sterling works in Gustavus part of the year and lives in Utah the rest of the year. He loaded our gear and secured our kayaks and took us south across Icy Straight to the beach we call Point Adolphus on the north shore of Chichagof Island. The tide was low when we beached which made unloading gear a tedious proposition. After about 15 minutes we had everything off the boat and had begun transferring gear from the kelp covered rocks at the shoreline to the beach above the tide line.
Next Shelli lead us into the forest and gave us a lesson in the proper way to pitch the tents. These tents were all Mountain Hardware of the 4 season variety and probably bomb proof! We set our tents just inside the forest of Sitka Spruce and Hemlock. This was one of the most beautiful forest I've ever seen. It was very mossy with very little undergrowth. The forest floor was very clean and very soft. Although we had sleeping pads I'm not certain that we would have needed them. Where the forest met the beach and the sunlight could reach the ground allowing alders and other brushy plants would grow. Pam and I chose the "honey moon suite" along a slow running creek.
After the tents were pitched Shelli gave us the run down on camping and kayaking. We ate lunch (pita bread sandwiches and fresh fruit and veggies) and headed out for an afternoon paddle. The weather was cool and over cast but cleared up as the day went on.
The first afternoon I was wearing WAY to many clothes. Everything seemed like allot of work and something was hitting me in the lower back and causing me a huge amount of pain. I remember thinking that sea kayaking may not have been for me...
A few notes about sea kayaks:
1) they are very stable (if not, I'm pretty sure we'd have flipped ours a few times).
2) you turn the kayak with foot peddles that are connected via ropes the rudder. It seems like you are constantly pressing on one of the peddles all the time.
3) you wear a spray skirt that fastens tightly to the opening that you sit down into keeping water from leaking into the kayak. A pair of suspenders keep this skirt up around your chest. If the buckle from one of these suspenders gets loose and works its way to your lower back where your back makes contact with the upper part of the seat you may want to die, at least you will not have a great time kayaking...
Past that, the scenery was beautiful, the whales were active it was fun being out with the sea lions.
On our first paddle out we headed east and saw several humpback whales feeding, tail slapping and breaching. Curious sea lions would swim by us like a gang of taunting teen age thugs.
It was just like watching a national geographic show or something on animal planet.
After the afternoon paddle we put our kayaks to bed for the night (hauled them above the tide line and secured the skirts over the seat holes) and watched Shelli make dinner (pasta with red sauce and wine). As she worked a humpback fed back and forth in the water along the beach. The skies had cleared and the setting sun was spectacular!
The sun made a welcome addition to our 6 person team.
After dinner Shelli brought out a special dessert.
The night before the trip she had baked a birthday cake for Steven, disguised it as a box of camp gear and smuggled it on to the island. It was his 39th birthday that day. I'm not certain that it could get any better than chocolate cake and a box of red wine under a spectacular sunset with a group of special folks that the universe had brought together on that spot on that day.
After dinner we all took turns washing and drying dishes on the beach under the sunset.
As we lay in our sleeping bags that night under the canopy of hemlock we could hear the whales feeding by off shore.
This was probably the greatest Friday the 13th ever...
Saturday August 14th:
The day began with Shelli making breakfast for everyone. The food was great and there was always lots of it. The day began with lots of fog and cloud cover. While we waited for the fog to burn off we went tidal pooling. This is where you comb the beach at low tide to see what ocean creatures are hanging around. Shelli provided lots of interesting commentary about the various crustaceans hanging around. It was a very interesting outing.
By the time we made it back to camp the fog had burned off and it was going to be a beautiful day. Today we began by paddling west. The sea lions joined us immediately and we occasionally saw humpbacks. The current was flowing east down the shore line like a slow moving river. It was incredible to see how strong the current could flow. Before too long we turned east and paddled back past camp, past the point we paddled to the previous evening to a distant shore line. We stopped halfway on a rocky shoreline and Shelli laid out lunch for us. We ate lunch while watching humpbacks feeding by.
After lunch we continued eastward. When we reached our destination for the day we beached the kayaks and Shelli took us on shore to show us a muskeg. A muskeg is like a peat bog. Its very acidic and very little will grow there. There are water/mud holes that are quite deep. We could hear whales breaching as we made our way back to the beach stopping along the way to picking some wild strawberries.
We saw LOTS of whales on this day. Although the trip is marketed as "The Whales of Point Adolphus" somehow it is much more about the experience of being out in the environment. Everything was new to us and interesting. The whales were ever present and fascinating to watch but they were just a part of a really cool picture.
On the paddle back to camp the wind was out of the west and the paddling was pretty intense at times. It felt good to work hard and see progress. Pam and I were the first ones to reach camp (not that it was a race or anything but we didn't come in second or third... :)
We put our kayaks to bed and Shelli immediately went to work preparing dinner. Tonight we were having halibut tacos and she had brought us each a beer to wash it down with! After dinner we watched the sun set behind Mount Fairweather while we finished off the last of Steven's birthday cake and a box of red wine. Life is good!
Sunday August 15th:
As good as this day could possibly be there would still be an air of bittersweetness about it. We'd had a great time already getting to know our camp mates while exploring a beautiful coastline on kayaks but our departure time was rapidly approaching.
The day started off just beautifully! Not a cloud in the sky. Pam and I had got a jump on the process of dismantling our tent and packing our gear for the return ride across the straight.
We all enjoyed a breakfast of granola and yogurt while Jane told us about her run-in with a brown bear the evening before. It ended like it should have with the bear making a hasty retreat towards the south end of Chichagof Island.
After breakfast we readied ourselves for a paddle westward again. Today the sea lions were out in force! We paddled west until it became apparent that the whales were mostly east of camp. Time was winding down so we quickly turned around and made our way back past camp and then a cove or two further east. The whales were ever present and quite cooperative today. We saw lots of feeding, diving and some breaching. Finally we turned the kayaks west for the last time.
Upon reaching the beach we began dismantling the kayaks and bringing all of the camping gear down to be loaded on the taxi for the ride back to town. This time the boat was quite a bit larger and better suited for the rocky shore line by having a front loading ramp. We formed a fireline and quickly loaded the boat by passing dry bags person to person to person until the last bag was on board. The captain headed north and we were on our way. In 20 minutes we were back at the dock and just our luck it was low tide AGAIN! After about 30 minutes of intense mountain climbing with sea kayaks on our backs the van was loaded and we were headed back to the warehouse.
We stopped at the town park for lunch and to attempt finishing off Steven's bag of wine. We did our best but I believe the bag won out. Better to have tried and failed than to have failed to try...
We unloaded our gear at the warehouse and repacked our bags for the rest of our trip. Shelli offered us use of the shower in their office area and we gladly accepted (and the people of Alaska Airlines should be glad we accepted as well!).
After dropping everyone else back at their lodges Shelli returned for us and dropped us at the airport in time for "the" flight from Gustavus to Juneau (and then on to Kodiak by way of Anchorage). We said our goodbyes and boarded the plane.
The day would end with us flying about 1,000 miles over 3 flights for the second part of our trip in Kodiak. Details to come...
A few thoughts about the trip:
1) I think the word "amazing" is one of the most over utilized words in the English language. I hate it... That being said, when you are discussing Alaska I find it grossly inadequate.
2)This was a trip to see whales but it ended up being much more than that. For us the best part was the fellowship we shared with the others on the trip. We would have gone on this trip if no one else had booked but the shared experience with other folks with a love of wild places made the trip that much more special.
Also this trip gives you access to many different environments. You get to enjoy the forest, the sea and the tidal areas. This really added to the experience. All of this said, the whales were amazing to watch.
3)The food was great and there was lots of it! I'm not sure that I could have consumed more calories if I had been fed intravenously... (good thing kayaking burns 4000 calories an hour! (I may have just made that part up)).
4)Our guide Shelli worked tirelessly to ensure that everything was always as good as it could possibly be. She was also quite knowledgeable. She fielded hundreds of questions and she could respond to any question in great detail. Her stories of local lore and history really added to the trip.
5)If you're in a kayak and you feel an intense pain in your lower back save yourself some agony and find the cause of the problem the first day. It turns out that kayaking is allot of fun when you are not in agony...
2)This was a trip to see whales but it ended up being much more than that. For us the best part was the fellowship we shared with the others on the trip. We would have gone on this trip if no one else had booked but the shared experience with other folks with a love of wild places made the trip that much more special.
Also this trip gives you access to many different environments. You get to enjoy the forest, the sea and the tidal areas. This really added to the experience. All of this said, the whales were amazing to watch.
3)The food was great and there was lots of it! I'm not sure that I could have consumed more calories if I had been fed intravenously... (good thing kayaking burns 4000 calories an hour! (I may have just made that part up)).
4)Our guide Shelli worked tirelessly to ensure that everything was always as good as it could possibly be. She was also quite knowledgeable. She fielded hundreds of questions and she could respond to any question in great detail. Her stories of local lore and history really added to the trip.
5)If you're in a kayak and you feel an intense pain in your lower back save yourself some agony and find the cause of the problem the first day. It turns out that kayaking is allot of fun when you are not in agony...
love the details! put those gorgeous pics on here or I will have to post them as my own. actually I'm thinking I need a few of them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for capturing all the details.
ReplyDelete