Midnight Sun

Sunday, June 19th

Big weekend in Haines, the "Kluane Chilkat International" bike relay was held. This race is run by relay teams (with some solo riders) down the Haines highway from its junction with the Alcan to downtown Haines, 150 miles later! Unfortunately, Lori & I had to work so we could not compete, however, the race had over 1,200 riders this year and the Hitch Up set a record for occupancy. The riders came right past the Hitch Up as they traveled the last 2 miles to the Fort. Some were in silly costumes trying to win the "crazy uniform" event.

No, that is not the winner. That is some crazy Haines hippy cab that hauls mostly cruise ship passengers when the one ship per week docks on Wednesdays. He usually has some reggae (no really) blaring when he whiz's by on that electric pedi-cab. I think that's his wife and kid in there today greeting the racers as they ride in.

 This guy looks like he might be the winner cause he was going so fast he was just a blur. Seriously, the fastest time for the 150 miles was posted by 2 two-person teams at 5 hours and 56 minutes! The fastest solo rider was Lori...just kidding...but that dude above did the whole ride in 6:08:20.

This is how we ended our race day, with fresh caught Sockeye salmon. Of course I didn't catch it. It was given to us by our old neighbors (Jason, Christy and their kids) from across the street in Las Vegas. Some of you may recall us talking about them moving up here a couple years ago. Well, we found them, they are doing well (including their 5 kids) and were surprised but happy to see us. Jason had just caught a 37 lb. sockeye the day before while gill netting in the river, which all Alaska residents are free to do.They call it "subsistence fishing" and are allowed to harvest lots of fish per person. I hope to go with him to help set the nets one day when the salmon really start running. They also get to "long line" for halibut and set crab pots.

Wednesday, June 22nd

Land of the midnight sun - Alaska

Our weekend began with the first day of summer. The photo above was taken at midnight on the longest day of the year, the summer solstice. We get about 3 hours of darkness between 1 and 4 am this time of year. However, the days will get shorter from now until winter when we (if we find a way to stay) will only get 3 hours of daylight.

We did our first real hike this morning. A beautiful 4 mile roundtrip trail to Battery Point. The trail basically starts in town, goes through this lush forest full of ferns and comes out on a great pebble beach on the shore of the Lynn Canal lined with tons of driftwood in every size. The forest edge at the beach is covered this time of year with many types of beautiful wildflowers including wild irises and wild strawberries. When we got to the point, we were alone with sunshine and stunning views of the calm sea down the inlet towards Juneau.

On our way back to town we remembered it was Wednesday when we saw the cruise ship at the dock.

We ended the first day of summer fishing. First, since it was high tide, we cast "pixie" spoons in Alaska's shortest river (only one mile long) the Chilkoot river. We were hoping to hook a sockeye salmon which are just beginning to journey upstream to the lake where they will spawn and die. I did manage to hook one and I also managed to lose him after a fierce 15 second battle when he snapped my 10 lb. test line. That was also our last pixie so we went to the lake to fish for (not catch) Dolly Varden. The mosquitoes were so bad even with repellent we could only stand it for about an hour before we went buggy.

Delicious Trout

Friday, June 17th

Lori casting on a calm Chikoot Lkae

WOW, what a great day!! We started our Sunday by getting up early, driving to the lake and casting into glass. We were the only people on the lake as we baited our lines. Today was going to be the day after getting skunked last weekend. We were ready with "real" salmon eggs (not those balls-o-fire in a jar) cause that is what the guy next to us last week was killing them with.

Fish...its what's for dinner

We started slow but after an hour I had our first Dolly Varden (trout family) landed, a nice 18" supper. Lori caught the next one with Spaz standing right there watching in amazement, licking her chops.

Of course, the BIG one got away, no really. I hooked what felt and looked like the biggest dolly of the day but as I was fighting him in, a bald eagle (really) started swooping in with claws stretched out, ready to snatch my whooper as it thrashed the surface. He made several passes and came very close so I panicked, tightened the drag and started reeling so I could land it before the eagle could grab it. I got the monster close enough to shore that I could see him just as he ran and snapped my 8 lb. test line.If you look closely at the photo Lori shot of the battle, in the red circle below you can see the eagle tucked and zooming away after his failed attempt. If I knew I was going to lose the fish, I would have let the eagle take him. Now that would have been a fight and I could have landed a bald eagle and a dolly on one cast!

Bald eagle missile theif circled in red

We ended the fishing trip with 3 nice Dolly Varden and a few mosquito bites. We left earlier than we planned because we got worried about Spaz. She must have found something bad (rotted fish guts from the nearby cleaning table??) to eat when we weren't looking and she began doggie barfing. She also got very wobbly when walking and would almost fall over :-( We have never seen her act like that before and keep in mind there is no vet in Haines. She recovered later and is fine now but it was scary.

     On the way home from the lake we saw BMJ (Big Mama Jama) and the 3 little bears. We have seen these bears every time we have gone to the lake in the past 3 weeks. We have learned BMJ is 26 years old and has been hanging out here most of her life and has raised many cubs in this area. This set is 2 or 3 years old and were feeling especially rowdy today. We watched for 45 minutes as they wrestled, ran and ate grass until we remembered we had a sick dog in the back seat.
     Later, we left Spaz sleeping in the MLS and rode our bikes out to check on Lori's garden. It is a 7 mile round trip ride along the roadway that hugs the coast of the Lynn Canal and a beautiful place to ride. We saw a whale spouting in the bay and scheming bald eagles soared overhead. We were happy to see tiny broccoli sprouts as we watered. The long days of sunlight makes things grow fast in the short summers. Gary had warned us there has been a bear snooping around the garden for the past 2 days but we didn't see her.

This is the delicious trout I made us for dinner...rolled in panko bread crumbs and fried in butter and garlic. Lori wasn't sure and had no faith in the non fishy taste of fresh trout or my ability to cook them. She was pleasantly surprised by both and said that indeed, it was a delicious trout. Thanks dad for teaching me how to catch fish, clean em and most important, how to cook trout, I miss you.

Since I cleaned the fish...I guess that makes me an

ALASKAN

cause I gutted em. 

Bear poop

Thursday, June 16th

My dream job - "Mowing Engineer"

WooooHoooo !!! Another weekend. After working all week (if that's what you want to call it) we got 2 days off with nothing important to do. It was a good week...worked my way up to mowing with the John Deer and didn't hit any sprinklers. Next week, who knows...weed whacker?? We did have to move the MLS across the park before we could have any fun. We switch sites every 2 weeks so the grass can recover and get mowed. It takes about 2 hours to pack up, move and set up.

After that, we headed out the road (actually the Haines Hwy.) to talk with Bud Stewart about possibly doing some survey work for him. Bud is a true Alaskan and a real "ax man". He owns 63 acres with a beautiful home 17 miles from town and he wants to split a lot out from it. Bud is retired from a life of logging in Alaska and at 75 years old, still has a crushing handshake. He owned and flew his own bush plane from his grass air strip (on the left of his house in the photo) until last year and has plenty of stories about logging in remote places of Alaska. He said if we do the survey we will need a bear guard armed with a shotgun and that last night from his deck, he watched a grizzly whose "head was too big to fit in a 5 gallon bucket" (about 600 lbs. by his estimate) amble along the runway.

We kept heading "out the road" until we got to Porcupine crossing where we turned off the highway and crossed the Chilkat river. You might recognize the name "Porcupine crossing" if you watch the reality TV show about gold mining in Alaska because they film it out here. Today, we took the less traveled fork in the road and headed toward "the farm", otherwise known as the religious community called "Covenant Life, Alaska" (check it out with this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant_Life,_Alaska ). It is a beautiful place, quite a farm and is where the 155 flowers we planted at the Hitch Up came from.

Question : Does a bear crap in the woods??
Answer : No, they seem to crap in the road.
You see, bears like to eat lots of dandelions (high in sugar for energy) and dandelions grow best along the road (where they get more sun than in the forest) so the bears spend lots of time on the roads eating and then crapping dandelions. I know, fascinating right?
Question : Does black crap come from black bears?
Answer : Yes, butt it also comes from brown bears. 
I know, go figure, fascinating right? (and you thought reading this blog was a waste of time)

We ended the day at "33 mile" (a roadhouse at...33 mile marker) where they were supposed to have one of the best cheeseburgers in the state of Alaska. Lets hope that's not true cause it wasn't that great for such a great state ( 5 guys is waaaay better...mmmmmm 5 guys). We did have some reindeer chowder that was pretty good (sorry Santa) while being buzzed by small crazy birds. 

Becoming Alaskans

Friday, June 10th

Another day off and our bosses sent us on another tour that we sell at the Hitch Up (I can't believe they make us "work" on our day off). This time we took the "fast ferry" to Juneau, the capitol of Alaska. The city can only be reached via one of 3 ways; by boat, by plane or by birth canal. The 2 hour ferry ride was spectacular, cruising down the Lynn Canal which is a fjord (a glacial carved inlet surrounded by steep, huge mountains) full of wildlife and waterfalls. We saw the humps of many humpback whales which can be 50 long.

Hump day...Alaskan style

 We also stopped for a closer look at a sea lion rookery (where they come to have pups).

  We cruised past the remote & lonely looking "Elden Rock" lighthouse that was built in 1906 after a tragic shipwreck. In 1898 a ship carrying gold seekers ran aground on the rock, the captain assured all on board they would be safe until morning when the high tide would float them free and did not call for rescue. The ship broke apart in a storm that night and all 300 aboard perished. The light was manned by 2 crew year round until 1974 when it became automated.

One of the most remote lighthouses in the country

 Once we landed at Juneau we boarded a bus for the one hour drive into town. Along the way we saw this cinnamon colored black bear chowing dandelions tops on the roadside. Something odd about seeing big bears eating pretty little flowers...seems to make them even more cuddly looking.

Through the bus window

We were dropped off in old downtown Juneau where we ate some crab overlooking the cruise ship dock with Scott & Sue, some great people we met (despite them being New England Patriot fans) that were staying at the Hitch Up. We decided to take the historic bar beer tour that included Alaska's oldest bar instead of visiting museums. After 3 hours and 4 beers, the bus picked us up to take us back to the ferry making a one hour stop at the Mendenhall Glacier, one of the most accessible glaciers in the state. While there, we took the hike out to beautiful Nugget Falls that plunges right next to the glacier.

Lori takes a shot at Scott & Sue caught eating Glacier...BUSTED!!

Lori & Mendenhall

Nugget head standing next to Nugget Falls

On the ferry ride up the Lynn Canal back to Haines we saw more humpbacks and some Dahl Porpose. We walked back to the MLS stopping by the grocery store to buy some hot dogs to grill for dinner at 10pm and watched the sun set. What a great day !!

Eldon Rock lighthouse at 9 o'clock pm

Saturday, June 11th

Time to go fishing !!! First stop...the sporting store. Fishing line...$8, Lures...$14, one year fishing license...$145...watching Lori cast and love fishing...PRICELESS !!

Lori casting into the Chilkoot river

 Watching Dave catch his first Alaskan "fish stick"...HILARIOUS !!

Don't laugh...those boots are cool in Alaska.

Our new friends Scott & Sue were taking their really cool inflatable kayak to Chilkoot Lake so it seemed the perfect time for the maiden voyage of my 2 man inflatable kayak that came with one paddle. The kayak was my service award for 15 years of dedicated work from PBS&J. Upon inflation, it was apparent why there was only one paddle...because dogs don't know how to paddle anyway.

At least it floats

Later we planted broccoli and carrots in the garden at our friends Gary & Juanita's house. They live 3 miles out of town and run a bed and breakfast in their home overlooking the Lynn Canal.

Strawberries in the foreground...mountains in the background

Our 1st day off !!

Saturday, June 4^th 

Waterfalls from Rainbow Glacier (in the clouds) plunge behind Lori

WoooHooo!! Our first day off…free to roam and explore! Haines is actually on a peninsula about 10 miles north from the tip. We headed towards the end first, to Chilkat State Park. We passed the fish cannery and a bay that had a dozen or so boats trolling for King Salmon which are just now starting to come in. From the state park campground you have an amazing view across the inlet of the Davidson glacier and the Rainbow glacier, which is a “hanging glacier” meaning it hangs in the mountains and does not end at water. Instead, it ends with a couple of huge waterfalls which make their way into the bay. 

Cannery near Chilkat

After lunch we headed 10 miles the other side of town to Chilkoot Lake and river (yes it’s confusing…Chilkat – Chilkoot). Soon, the salmon will be running up the river to spawn in the lake and today, there were a dozen bald eagles, both juvenile and adult, fishing. When the salmon run it is known as a great place to watch the bears fish.

Chilkoot river waiting for the salmon

We ended the day by driving about 25 miles up the Haines highway along the Chilkat river, past the bald eagle reserve, where in November, around 3,000 bald eagles (the largest gathering in North America) come to mate. Now that would be something to see! Also up a little further is Porcupine Junction where they are filming the Alaska gold mining show that is now on TV. They claim to be taking $30,000 a day gold from the river bed. Monday, our next day off, the bosses are sending us back to Skagway for the day to ride the White Pass & Yukon Railway again because we sell those tour tickets at the Hitch Up and we need to be experts so we can sell them.

Haines from the bay

Our summer job/home :-)

Wednesday, June 1st

Our home for the summer

Our first day on the new jobs...what a trip!! Yesterday we started the day by taking the MLS to the RV wash station and giving it a MUCH needed cleaning...what a job it is washing your house! We parked it back in our summer yard and went to work setting up our home, washing clothes and recovering from the trip. We also received our new uniforms, tools and employee information from our new bosses. Uniforms!?!?

Welcome to the "Haine's Hitch Up" (jacket not shown)

  We worked the late shift today...from 11am to 9pm with a 2 hour lunch break in the middle. Lori was in HEAVEN because our first task was to plant 155 flowers that had been delivered last night in various beds and pots around the park office. It got even better for her when they hauled out dozens of cutesy garden decorations to "plant" as well. I didn't get to mow any grass today (I did do some edging) but I did see the John Deer tractor mower that I have big ambitions to run (not until I watch the training video). Gotta dream big and start small...work my way up you know. Anyway, I did get some cool leather gloves and a walkie talkie...oh, and a set of keys, including the ones for the paper dispensers in the bathrooms. I also found the bottom half of a deer leg in the campground and the owner said he saw a wolf in that area a few nights ago.

Nice planting job at the office front

 

Haines at last !!!

Monday, May 30^th

            This morning we took an incredible ride on the “White Pass & Yukon Rairoad” which was built to haul gold stampeders and their gear to the summit at Bennett Lake     in 1898. It is considered one of the “scenic railways of the world” & an “International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark”. You can check it out at http://www.wpyr.com/ and read all about it’s cool history. Funny thing about it…just as the railway was completed to Whitehorse, the gold rush was ending.

Leaving Skagway aboard the Alaska Marine Highway

Later, we packed up the MLS for the final leg of our journey – the ferry crossing down the Lynn Canal to Haines. I was a bit nervous not knowing what to expect about driving my 53’ long rig onto the ferry. It was low tide and the ramp was quite steep so they had to lay some planks down for us to drive onto so we would not bottom out. Then, you enter the ferry through a door in the side of the ship where you then park length wise. At the end of the passage, I had to back up to turn out the same door. The deck crew gives lots of guidance and we made it without problems (except Lori’s chewed fingernails). Cruising into Haines at sunset was beautiful and we arrived at our summer home about 10pm. Our new bosses seemed great and happy to see us and the “Hitch Up” is very tidy with lots of gorgeous grass that I will be mowing all summer long.

Cruising into Haines at about 10pm...Finally !!

Gold Rush Days

Sunday, May 29^th

Reid Falls up from the Gold Rush Cemetary

            Had a bit of a lazy day today (or was it the beer hangover) and slept in. We then spent the day checking out this historic area. The National Park Service maintains parts of Skagway as the “Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Site” so we took a free one hour, ranger led downtown history walk and learned more. Skagway was founded in 1898 and grew very quickly as more than 40,000 gold seekers stampeded into town as they headed for the Klondike gold fields over 600 miles inland. The stories are incredible! They came here by ships, then had to pack one year’s worth of supplies (over a ton) on their backs over the White pass 36 miles to Bennet Lake, making as many as 20 to 30 trips to get it all. There, they would  build boats while waiting for the frozen lake to thaw so they could paddle 70 miles across the lake and enter the Yukon river where 500 miles later they would have the chance to seek their fortunes finding gold.

We then went on another SDAT (Super Dave Adventure Tour) and drove a 10 mile narrow, winding dirt road to the ghost town of Dyea which was just down the coast. Dyea competed with Skagway for miners rushing to the Klondike and was the start of the famed Chilkoot trail. The town died quickly after the White Pass Railroad was built out of Skagway and now hardly a trace of a city that had over 10,000 people can be found.   

SDAT road to the ghost town of Dyea

The "Arctic Brotherhood Hall" is the most photographed building in Alaska