Whale Pass

Hello from Whale Pass, Alaskaaahhh. I've been here almost two weeks now so it's about time to get a blog out before I start filling these pages with all the fish I'm going to catch. Went fishing for the first time yesterday and caught two coho/silver salmon. Apparently it was a really slow day but it was fun. Above I've put in the video of me shooting the MI Carbine in McCarthy when I was visiting Dave. The gun is his neighbor's. I felt very hardcore.

Whale Pass, Alaskaahhhhh. Southeast Alaska at that. Southeast is what they call the panhandle of Alaska. Not exactly the place I imagined myself when Rose and I drove up. Particularly because my car is still north, in Seward. You can't drive here. Or rather you can but it means driving all the way back down through BC to Prince Rupert and then putting the car (mucho dinero) on a couple of ferries.

Whale Pass has a population of 50 which jumps to a whopping 100 in the summer. Home to a few lodges, a hotdog stand, church, library (yes, library, where I am sitting outside, using the interweb right now), fire hall and post office. The post office is actually a building with shelves and post boxes where mail is left to be mailed and picked up from the boxes. I have no idea what you do if you want to send something priority. Presumably you either know the postage or you mail it from town, when you go to town that is.

Town is Craig which is two and a half hours away. Or maybe it’s Thorne Bay but I think most people go to Craig. I’ll get to see the big city when we run in for stuff on Wednesday.

But Whale Pass is beautiful and quiet and the fishing is great, though I haven’t experienced it for myself yet. This week. I did get my license so as to be a legal fisherman and avoid the two hundred fifty dollar fine.

Ketchikan

In order to get here, I opted for the larger of the carbon footprints and flew from Anchorage to Ketchikan where I caught the Interisland Ferry to Hollis, here on Prince of Wales (POW) Island.

From the ferry

I got this job while I was supposed to be looking for places to live on Craigslist. I was in Palmer and this ad showed up looking for somebody to do tree cutting and carpentering, two things I've been doing for the past couple years and rather enjoy. The wage was good but I had no idea where Whale Pass was when I enquired about it. Below is my boss Daryel, the writer of the ad. He came and picked me up in Hollis when I arrived and we made the 2.5 hour drive back north. Really, we passed no towns on the way but a whole lot of logged hillsides. And it was all logged by hand, the hills being too steep to put roads in. What other towns there are, are off that road we took, mostly on the coast.

A couple days after my arrival, after I got oriented and started hacking away at the mass of limbs and trunks left from a windstorm last fall, we went out and picked crab from Daryel's crab pots. The crabs in this bay are mostly Dungeness crabs. Smaller than Kings but they sure are tasty. We ate with the utensils shown below. The mallets are for breaking the shells. I regretted wearing my new hoodie during dinner. The legs for our first meal then the body meat for crab cakes a couple days later.

Whale Pass is located on a cove that is protected from the open ocean by Thorne Island. In the picture below, taken from the top of a hill off of one of the old logging roads (Road 2025 or something) you can see the southern entrance around Thorne Island and the cove that Whale Pass is on would be to the left of that but it's below the tree line here. The snowcapped peaks in the distance are on the mainland.



It's pretty incredible out here. Definately like no other place I've been. It's wet and lush. The main tree species are spruce and cedar (red and yellow) and there is some pine up in the marshier muskeg areas. Below is a skunk cabbage. They're everywhere and while people don't eat them, the deer seem to. Oh, there are no brown (grizzly) bear on POW, but I'm told there are many large black bear. I have yet to see any yet.

Some old logging machinery that's been left to rust not far from the house. Whale Pass was started as a logging camp in the seventies. They put the buildings on floats and logged all over the island, focusing on the trees nearer the coast first. Below is one of the local deer. They're called sitka deer, Sitka like another island in the Southeast. They're smaller than our eastern deer and have goofy round ears.

One of the local lodges, called Flyquest, a couple properties down from Daryel's

Above is Daryel's house and below is the small cabin that I'm doing some touch-up work on (trim, painting, putting the stove in, etc.).

People fishing out front of the house

There are a ton of bald eagles around. As you can imagine, they fish and fish and fish and you can always see them and here their funny voices. In these photos, they're vying for the carcasses of some salmon.



Here's the shop up the hill from the house. I'm painting some osb that's going to be put up on the ceiling as paneling.
And a constant source of entertainment is Tokeen the dog. He's getting on in years but still very puppyish. And there you have it, an introduction to my time at Whale Pass.

Mcarthy

Alright, hopefully the film below will load because I'm adding shooting to my repatoir and I want all the world to see. Okay, the film is taking forever. It's probably too large or something but it's just me shooting a gun. I got to shoot multiple guns which was a hoot (if you can say that about guns). they belonged to my friend Dave and his neighbor Larry who I had the pleasure of meeting in the wilds of Alaskkkaaahhhh. Maybe I can attach it at another time.

The photos below are from the Kennecott Mine Town buildings in historic Kennecott, near McCarthy. It's a historic landmark and parts of it are being restored while others are begin stabilized. It's pretty amazing. It just goes up and up and up and there's tons of lumber in it. The mines in the area were copper mines and it was hauled out on a railway that is no longer there. http://www.nps.gov/archive/wrst/kennecott.htm


Jumbo Glacier (I think). There are a number of glaciers that converge in the area.
Sandlot baseball on a Friday night. Dustiest game of baseball i've ever played with almost more dogs than folks on the field with the most beautiful backdrop of anywhere I've played. Glaciers and mountains! A lot a lot of fun.

My friend Dave's house (another Ice friend). Dave works for the Park Service restoring the mine buildings. His place is in McCarthy on the road side of the walking bridge that crosses the river into town. If you want to drive into either town, you have to have a year pass or pay a pretty dear sum to the private owner of the land and the driving bridge. Still, I guess it's way more accessible than it used to be.

Dave's treehouse, the first place he built on his property.

Ru-ins with Ice People abound. Don Potter, me and Dave. Don's son lives in McCarthy and he worked down at the South Pole the past two seasons. His son Eli worked down there some years ago as well.

Bridge over to McCarthy and Kennecott.

Dave with a fro, at a river I've forgotten the name of after a great bike ride.

Bear prints

I just thought it was funny seeing the bunny (white) boots by this sign because that's one of the style of boots we wear at the South Pole. Apparently they where them up on the North Slope in the winter too.
Old railway bridge heading to McCarthy. Apparently vehicles used to drive across until one guy had the rear end of his truck fall through the timbers. He was okay but maybe that's when the riving bridge below was put in.

Another driving bridge closer to McCarthy.

Kurt (from the Ice also) and his float plane just outside of Glennallen. I stopped by to visit on my way from McCarthy to Anchorage to catch the plane to Ketchikan and then the ferry to Prince of Wales Island. And that is where I am now.

Palmer briefly and back to Seward

Now, i'm sitting in the shade on Prince of Wales Island looking over Wale Pass and trying to remember the past two weeks. The bugs (white sox or white feet or something.... like blackflies with white feet) are keeping me awake.

Below is one of the places I looked at to rent when I was in Palmer. No electric or running water but a sweet cabin with an incredible view up on Lazy Mountain. The best part was probably that I got to meet Kay and Gary who are friends of friends of a friend in NH, and their two ferrets. They were kind enough to feed me and let me stay in the cabin during my last night in Palmer before heading back to Seward.
So, Seward-bound again, I stopped in Anchorage to pick up Josh's co-paddler and adventure film consort, Jeremiah Kelley. Below is Jeremiah interviewing Josh about his boat-building.

The always loveable sea otter. Now I'm thinking that this may be the animal to be reincarnated as. Previously, I had settled on a cat.

In Tony's Bar. There is also a stuffed wolf, of course. It's alaska.

Miller's Landing

Paddling with Josh and Jeremiah and their friend Jerry who had organized to take out three girls who are doing internships I think at the Alaska Conservation Foundation.




Josh was given this two man kayak that they had decided to use in order to film some of the local bits for their movie. We spent a day fixing it up and getting it sea worthy.

Alaskahhhhhh! To Seward and Homer

And then we pushed on, arriving in Seward AK, home of another Pole friend, Josh Thomas. Josh and his friend JJ are preparing to paddle homemade kayaks from Skagway AK to Seattle WA through the northwest passage. So, Josh was a busy man but did make time to take Rose and I out on the water after recovering from a raucous night the evening we arrived.Out on the Miller's Landing water taxi. They use this boat to shuttle folks around Resurrection Bay and take out kayak groups that aren't starting right from Miller's Landing (http://www.millerslandingak.com/)


We also walked out another glacier (Exit), just outside of Seward and witnessed this beautiful moose poop art along the path.
Some boats waiting for a new life across the Bay from Millers Landing. They were parked at the big dry dock yards.
And this is where Josh has been working on putting the kayaks together since getting back from the South Pole. A friend generously lent him the work space and the boats arrived in pieces. They are almost finished now and JJ and Josh hope to get them into the water on Friday with a departure date of July 2nd to catch the ferry to Skagway. For more information on their trip and some entertaining clips you can check out their blog at http://blog.dudesonmedia.com/.









From Seward, we had to drive around and get Rose to the ferry that would take her from Homer to Kodiak where she started her fishing job last week. Another Pole acquaintance and friend of a friend (thank god they're everywhere) put us up in Homer and entertained us with this goofy pup.
Finally, I made it to Palmer, where I was supposed to start work but ended up taking a job in the Southeast on Prince of Wales Island. I fly down there next week. In the meantime, I met some wonderful folks in Palmer who let me stay at their cabin. I also got some incredible views of the valley, and one incredible view of this dog, in a Brat, in aviator glasses. Only in Alaskaaahhh...

Through Canadia

Galena Bay Ferry (free... on the BC transit route)

At the turnoff to the Cassier Highway. Definately the more desolate of the northward routes. No gas for miles, yadda yadda.

Our motel in the middle of nowhere. Nice to have a bed though pretty pricey We saw a number of black bears on the Cassier and one lone coyote that tried to chase our car. We also saw two lone cyclists right at the point where we were hitting chunks of gravel roads. Tough guys but I wouldn't want to be in their shoes.

I think this was the most expensive gas of the trip. Something like $5.50/ gallon.

Yes, we made it. One gas tank, brake repair, axle, 6000 miles and a lot of gas later.

On the Alaska highway.

After getting into Alaska, we stopped off at the Matanuska Glacier along the Glenn Highway. Pretty incredible. Apparently, the front bit of the glacier was bought, along with land by a homesteader so you pay for access to the glacier but it was well worth it to be able to scramble around on the cool blue ice.

In the standard White Mountain Cafe shirt, being dwarfed by the glacier.

Montana to Canada (eh)

Just as always happens at the end of a trip, I've let these blogs pile up. And now we're in Alaska! Rose is down on her boat off of Kodiak and I'm headed down to Ketchikan in the near future, once I figure out how best to fly and ferry there. Currently in the Palmer Library. Thank god (or maybe Carnegie) for librariesBelow are our pictures from Montana (Mantuna?) into Canada.

On the way to Livingston, MT

Joe and Becky (Ice friends) and their cat in Livingston

Elk (I think) in Yellowstone

At the springs in Yellowstone's Norris Geyser Basin




Buffalo (Bison)

Animal spotting with the pros. We saw a couple grizzlies, 3 wolves (from quite far) and a black bear.
Cutesy wootsy baby bunny under Doug and Jojo's wood pile.
At Doug and Jojo's house literally outside of the gates to Yellowstone. They both work in the park and are friends from the Ice as well.

We made it. The car got all it's big repairs in Canada.
Visiting my friends Carrie and Scott and their kids (Barret, Veyda and Tyler) in Salmo, BC.

Indiana to Mount Rushmore

Now we're in Livingston, Montana, visiting some friends from the South Pole. They're everywhere! Below are some pictures from our travels up to the time we drove by Mount Rushmore. We should have stopped at the Crazy Horse Monument which I think is far more impressive but were too cheap to pay the $20 (which is well worth it probably and supports the creation of the monument which has no federal funding) and tired and cranky.

So this is how we were greeted driving into Indiana. No welcome sign, just expensive gas right off the interstate. A short drive past the toll rewarded us with gas that was 20 cents cheaper.

Rose called this the end of an era for road trips and it probably is given that gas prices just go up and up. We're expecting to get hammered in Canada where gas is always more expensive.

In Ottawa, IL we visited Rose's friends Adrienne and Leroy. It was a nice relaxing visit after a 12-hour day of driving from Rochester, NY. Leroy took us mushroom hunting and we got to drink beers and eat barbecue on Adrienne's family's property on a beautiful sunny Sunday. The golf cart and our feet toodled us around the property.

Rose and Leroy

Rose and Adrienne

After Illinois we drove north into traffic and into Milwaukee (and slightly cheaper gas prices) to visit Rose's friend, Stoj. The birthday shot of whiskey was for Mandi, a friend we left to winter at the South Pole. Needless to say, we got a little bit of a late start the next day.

How Rose occupied herself sometimes while I drove.

The next night, Tuesday, we got in late to this little cabin at the Budget Host Campground in Interior SD, just outside the Badlands National Park. (http://www.badlandsbudgethostmotel.com/). It was wicked cheap; our hosts were really nice and it was well worth it to not have to set a tent up late at night. There, that's my plug. We were greeted in the morning, not only with views of these great formations in the distance but also by Henrietta, the campground's tame buffalo. Classic.

Henrietta (above)

Wednesday morning we went for a walk in the Badlands which was incredible. We walked the flats for a couple hours just barely getting caught in a thunderstorm before we got back to the car. It's just such a weird, impressive landscape. I don't think I'd want to live in such a treeless place but it was nice to experience it.

Below is our wild buffalo sighting, happily taking advantage of the road sign. We saw a bunch of them as we drove out of the park, through the grasslands. Huge, wicked wicked huge animal.



After leaving the Badlands, we drove towards the Black Hills, SD. On a brief stop in the very very small town of Scenic, we came across this old jail, located across the street from the post office.

And then, of course, Mount Rushmore. Glad I saw it but the Badlands and the buffalo were definitely the highlight of this part of the journey.

Now, with a small exhaust repair (only $35) we're off to visit some other friends from Pole in Gardiner and then on to Canadia. The weather is cold and rainy unfortunately. It'd be nice to get some good views of that big sky but we take what we can get obviously. Until the last day or so, we lucked out with fantastic weather.

Alaska Bound - Rhode Island

Hello from the road to Alaska. Rose and I are currently hanging out with a friend of hers in Milwaukee. We're slowly puttering our way across the country, intending to get Rose to Homer, Alaska so she can catch a ferry to Kodiak on June 3rd. Why Alaska? Why not. As Rose says, The Road Trip is a dying breed in this age of rising gas prices. That being said, the old Subaru may have to stay in Alaska if I can't afford to drive back (Rose is going to fly down to college at the end of August) but it's well worth the trip. Below are some of our pictures from New Hampshire to Ohio.

The Last Breakfast: Leaving from the Moonbeam Cafe in Gorham, NH. From left to right : Curtis, Rose, Kate and IThe Redwood Library, Newport RI. The oldest publick (yes ..ick) library in America

First stop was Rose's family in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Amazed at all the history. I mean, I know New England is full of it but it still blows you away. That and all the money that people had so much money back then. The Vanderbilt mansion blows your mind. Gold and marble everywhere.

The Breakers, The Vanderbilt's mansion on the coast, Newport, RI.

A face on a fountain or something at the Breakers. It's all in the details. I guess when you have the money and time, it's all about details.

The Breakers

A goofball on the kids' playhouse at the Breakers.

Rose in front of the kids' playhouse at the Breakers.

Welcome to New York State. Gas prices.

From Rhode Island we headed up to visit my family in Rochester, NY. Thus began our long relationship with I90 which won't end until we hit Idaho or Washington.

My dad grew up in Rochester, NY and I grew up going there to visit Grandma (yes, I'm an only grandchild too! how good does it get?) and family a bunch during the year. I think I might have missed out on the Garbage Plate at Nick Tahou's though until this past week. Basically a white hot and fries but with ground beef and onions and peppers loaded on top! Cardiac arrest.

It was a nostalgic trip for me, heading down to Charlotte to visit Lake Ontario, pick up some frozen custard and visit the carousel. The beauty of it though was that though the carousel (104 years old or something) was closed until Memorial Day Weekend wasn't open, the guy who runs and maintains it shut the windows and gave us a ride on it. I was giddy and (for those who know her) Rose was laughing madly.
And we return from our nostalgic trip to Charlotte to find a Toyota Corolla with Ontario plates in the driveway of my cousins' house? Rose asked if it might not be some other Canadian relative but it was not. It was my parents who'd come surprise us and to see us off from New York State. How sweet is that? So we got to see my parents and relatives, including my Great Uncle Gordie, my grandma's brother. IHOP took care of us, the great American institution that it is....
We visited Mount Hope Cemetery, opened during a cholera epidemic and current home to Frederick Douglas and Susan B. Anthony. And a happy groundhog.


The Rochester Redwings, farm team for the Minnisota Twins, formerly the farm team for the Baltimore Orioles were playing while we were in town. When I was little, my grandma would take us to the games at Silver Stadium (now they play at the new Frontier Stadium) and shake her fist, whooping like Arsenio Hall. I haven't been to a game since the new stadium was up and it was great to see a good baseball game. The train went by the outfield and we were treated to a decent fireworks show after the game was over. The Redwings lost .
Then we started driving through states. These photos are to show off my White Mountain Cafe shirt. Illinois didn't see fit to welcome us, except with $4.19 gas right off the interstate!