No New Snow Today, But Still Plenty of Snow!

Parking Lot at Klawock Heeyna Mall.  The car tracks lead to the covered pickup area.

It's so beautiful here!  No new snow today, but a high of 33 preserved what had fallen earlier this week.  It was fun to go out this morning and find the bear tracks and follow them up the road.  They are very obvious, with the toes showing.  The dogs were growling in the middle of last night, so must have heard or smelled it.  I wonder if s/he knows it's trash pickup day, and so follows the road checking trash cans for food.  Ours are bungied shut, and most people keep them in a little shed to keep the bears from making a mess.

I usually drive down the road to Craig after I drop off Kathy in the morning, to see how the waterfalls are doing, wondering if they will freeze overnight.  So far, they are all flowing as usual.  The sawmill on the edge of town, the only one left on the island, even looks ready for Christmas, it's mountains of wood shavings covered in snow.    

It's really pretty, like a Christmas card, with snow on all the tree branches and houses.  Tonight it's clear again, and the stars are extra bright.  The day started out clear, too, and the birds were all happy, even though the temperature was only 28 degrees.  

East side of our house

Hemlock Road in front of our house


And here is why we miss San Diego so much, not the weather!

More Snow!

Today, Wednesday, started out cold, 34 degrees.  Luckily we came prepared, and so have all the right clothes, and boots, and car.  We also have a nice tight log house:  despite leaving a window open all night in our upstairs bedroom loft, and the heater turned off, it was still 56 degrees this morning when we got up.  This house is almost too tight, keeping the house warm and stuffy, so we experimented last night, and will now leave a window open every night for nice fresh air.

I took Kathy to work, then came home and did some work.  Today is my volunteer day at POWER Thrift Store in Craig, from 10 AM to 2 PM.  Victoria always brings us a nice warm lunch.  I've finally got the 1,000+ books sorted and organized.  I found one last week that is worth $100.  I'm going to sell it on ebay and fatten up the donation box.  We've also read several good mysteries I found there and brought home.

Leaving the store I found rain, which turned into sleet on the drive home, and snow in Klawock.  I stopped at the mall to check the mail and get a few things, and by the time I came out, the parking lot was covered in snow!  It snowed off and on the rest of the day.  Look for pictures in tomorrow's blog.  The chances of making Brady's dream of a White Christmas here come true is looking better and better.  :-)  The dogs don't seem to mind the snow, although Quinlan was a little more anxious to get in the house this afternoon, but that might have been due to the 33 degree temperature. 

After picking up Kathy last night we went to Craig and did some Christmas shopping, which is more fun thanks to Henry!

We are still trying to figure out how to get an elliptical exercise machine to our house.  We find them on the web, but they won't deliver or ship to the island, which is understandable since they weigh 300 lbs.  We desperately need a way to exercise regularly, without driving somewhere.  I'm going to contact the barge company tomorrow and see if they will pick it up and deliver it, from the Sears store in Ketchikan.

One Duck Trail, Snow, and Veteran's Day Show

November 13, 2011, Sunday

Windy and cold all day, reaching a high of 40 degrees just one time.  Wind gusts hit 37 mph today.  It hailed several times, and snowed just a little.  It’s nice to be in a warm house.  Kathy cut my hair today, and it looks good!  It’s her first time using the haircutting kit we bought. 

November 12, 2011, Saturday

At 6:30 PM, the temperature was 40 degrees.  The high today was 45.  Through the afternoon, the sustained wind hit 24 mph, with gusts to 45, which seems more like at least 60, judging by the sound of the wind on the house and the swaying of the trees.  Luckily, it was calm in the morning.

The view from the top of One Duck Trail

 I went on an organized hike for the first time on the island this morning.  I definitely needed the exercise, and was looking forward to meeting new people.

This was my first time on the Out in the Rain hikes.  There was a pretty good storm last night, scared people away from the hike:  it turned out to be Bob, the leader, me, and two other people, a couple I had met once before.  There was discussion about whether to cancel the hike or go ahead.  Happily for me, they decided to go ahead.  Jared and I had this hike on our list of trails to tackle, but hadn’t made it.  I rode with Bob and the other couple drove their car.  At least it wasn’t raining, and I had layered up so I was fairly confident I was ready for any temperature. 

The drive south to the trailhead took about 25 minutes, and we found six inches of snow covering all but the plowed roads (the trailhead was about 600' higher in elevation, and considerably farther inland than Klawock).  We parked and headed up the trail.  I knew it was a steep trail, and this proved to be very true, gaining 1100 feet of elevation in just 1.25 miles, earning it’s ‘most difficult’ rating (the Cowles Mountain Trail gains 733' in it's first 1.25 miles).  At first the trail was clear, but then we ran into new snow, about four inches deep.  Luckily I had worn my rain boots, and they have a very good grip, so my feet stayed dry and gripped well enough.   The trail was very well constructed, and beautiful in it’s virgin white snow blanket.  Bob brought his search and rescue dog Sweep, who was really enjoying the snow.    

For at least half the trail I kept up, and then I began to run out of steam.  It's a very steep trail, and watching my every step was taxing, too.  The trail gains either 1100’ or 1200’, depending on which source one reads.  We finally reached the shelter at the top, not a step too soon for me.  It is a beautiful trail, and I'm looking forward to hiking it again in the Spring.  

The last few steps leading to the shelter and end of the trail.

Sweep, ready to head back down the snowy trail.

November 11, 2011, Veteran's Day

We went to the Bob Hope USO Show tonight, at the Craig High School auditorium.  This was campy but fun.  One guy dressed up as Bob Hope, then Elvis, then John Lennon, and finally Johnny Cash.  Our friend dressed up as Phyllis Diller, and she was really good.  There was a band of high school kids who did a really good job.  It was fun to get out and see some entertainment.

November 10, 2011

I finally got the second crate broken down and hauled away.  Although still cold, one morning was sunny, before the rain returned, so I got busy and took advantage of it, clearing out the bicycles and bed frame and left over packaging, and went to work with my hammer to tear down the crate.  This was actually fun, since it wasn’t detail work, just simply demolition time, and I could swing away with the hammer.  Lord knows I could use the exercise, too.  I did save the two by fours, which were good lengths and in good shape, unlike the plywood sides. 

Next, a second trip to the Klawock landfill.  Jared had helped me load the first crate onto the top of the car for my first trip to the dump.  This time, I found a way to load the four by eight foot sheets of plywood onto the car top rails without touching the paint, and loaded it up. 

The grounds were four or five times muddier than before, with no safe ground visible.  The mud was about six inches thick, and soupy.  There was a tractor operator who seemed to be waiting for me to dump the load, so I figured if I got stuck, he’d be happy to pull me out, and in I went, a real test for the Ruby Red ‘Ru!    I got the load off, no problems, and then carefully got back in the car, my boots covered in mud.  Nice and easy, I pressed on the gas pedal, and away we went, no hitches.  How nice is four wheel drive?!  I was a little disappointed, really, that it was so easy to drive out.

I’m sitting in the Craig Library, catching up with a long overdue blog entry.  I suddenly remember Kelli and Jared and I bringing Henry here to the Storytime.  He had a fun with the blocks, and always enjoys being around other kids.  Seeing him walking was so fun!  Kelli said he blew me kisses at the end of our conversation on the phone the other day!  We miss him so much!

Kathy’s job continues to be worthwhile and educational.  Her boss and other co-worker are away this week at a conference in Anchorage.  Her boss barely returned from a long vacation in the Lower 48 before leaving for the conference, so she has had a lot of time on her own at the Clinic.  She is still running behind in hours of therapy needed for certification, assuming we expected it to take two years.  However, she found out she is eligible for a third year of tuition reimbursement, if she stays all of 2013, so we may be here longer. 

We are still seeing Canada Goose in the Klawock River and on the ocean inlet, and hear them honking overhead as they fly by.  I still think of the San Pasqual Valley every time I hear them, picturing hundreds grazing the fields.  Bald eagles continue hanging out in the usual trees and flying about, and the ravens, too.  The black bears are headed for hibernation soon, the locals tell us.  We haven’t seen any since Kelli and Jared left, and then we only saw one the whole time they were here. 

I continue volunteering once a week at POWER, the Prince of Wales Emergency Resource Thrift Store and Food Pantry.  It’s a humbling experience, as many, many people use this on a regular basis.  It’s packed with clothes, mostly, for all ages, with some household items, and thousands of books. I’ve been working on the books since I started, a month and a half ago.  I am really making progress now.  One or two more trips and we will have them sorted into broad categories, and a process in place to keep them sorted. 

Kelli and Jared and Henry Leave the Island

Here is where we are going!

The view from the little plane.

 

The house is very quite this morning, as it was last night:  there were no nighttime cries from Henry that interrupted our sleep and made us frown and smile at the same time, knowing he and Mommy and Daddy were so close.   There was no pack of 800 sheets of  copy paper for a booster on a chair pulled up to the dining room table, and a bowl of yogurt and a banana for the boy with the good morning appetite, patiently being fed by Mommy or Daddy or Grandma, no yells of “Good Morning” in his own special language, arms thrown up; there was no pointing child looking out the window, seeing a blue jay,  a tree, or something else.  We have lived longer in our log house with Henry and Kelli and Jared than we have with just the two of us!  This makes it even more quiet and sad they are gone.

Henry and Kelli and Jared were in our cabin for a wonderful 13 nights and 12 days, and we all had a great time.  Kelli was a big factor in convincing me, and us, that we should take advantage of this opportunity for a grand change, even though we both loved being new grandparents, so close to our grandchild and new parents, and would miss them all terribly.  Now she has seen for herself how grand a change it was, first hand.  Dense forests, snow-capped mountains, and ocean, lake and river views everywhere; some of the freshest air on earth, thanks to those trees and the regular rain (lack of cars, too!); friendly people, slower pace of life, the small and beautiful St John’s Catholic Church, and many other features of Craig and Klawock and Prince of Wales Island we have enjoyed since our move. 

 Jared and Henry were good hiking buddies for me.  We went on many trails, some new to me, some I’d hiked before.  We went much farther up Sunnahae Mountain Trail than I had gone before, despite the rain and mud and stretches of narrow trail tangled with exposed roots.  We hiked much of the 20-mile Trail (named for the trailhead location down the Klawock-Hollis Highway, not it’s length), forced to stop by a swollen creek very close to the end, denied a visit to the beaver ponds.  We still enjoyed the hike, especially the beautiful birch trees that lined the trail. 

We walked the Klawock River Trail several times, drawn by the easy access and rewarding views of bald eagles, occasional calls of startled kingfishers, and the fun of seeing many sea otters, popping up only their heads to look us over from mid-river.   One time we saw ten heads at once!

And now, it’s too quiet In the cabin.  To be sure, Henry is a handful, so busy and curious and talkative, in his own language, with his own sure emphasis.  He’s a loud one!  Even with Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa, watching him is a challenge, between the VCR controls, the remote control, the heater control panel, the stairs, the dogfood dish, the kitchen trash, he’s a devious one and knows where he doesn’t belong and head right for them, one after the other!  And we couldn’t miss him more.  

Today is Kelli’s 31^st birthday.  Happy Birthday Kel!  Love you and miss you!   

New Cabin, Visitors and Hiking!

Today we all drove to Hatchery Creek Trail, about 50 miles east and north.  This is a fun boardwalk trail through the rain forest, to a popular fishing spot.  We had a little trouble finding it, but then had fun walking on the yellow cedar planks, which make up the entire hike.  As we often find, we were the only ones on the trail.  As usual, the weather was cloudy and threatening rain, but this didn't dampen our hike.  

The trail ends at a waterfall and pond.  We scared off a single bald eagle as we arrived, and got to watch it fly regally away.  The various mushrooms, lichens, and mosses that decorate the trees was beautiful.  We also saw a new tree for us, one we had been looking for, to go with the alders, Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Alaska Cypress ( aka Alaska Cedar, Yellow Cedar, etc.), and birch tree.  This new one is a pine, the one and only natural pine to the island:  Lodgepole, same as the pine which covers Yellowstone National Park. 


After our walk, we decided we would continue north to the village of Coffman Cove, since we were so close.  Coffman Cover is a nice village, in the north of Prince of Wales Island.  It also sits on a bay, as do all towns and villages on POW.  Each settlement has it's own beauty, though.  


After a quick tour, it was now 6:00 PM, and getting dark.  Then the rain started, and it continued for the entire hour of the trip home.  We saw several deer, and even saw a black bear scrambling up the bank in the headlights.  

Unpacking the two crates of possessions shipped from San Diego and stored for two months!

Sorry about the long period between postings.  We very successfully moved into our log cabin a little over two weeks ago now.  The Internet, as usual, was a challenge, and not settled for several days.  Then we had some issues with Lakota, who we just found out today has a torn ACL.  Great.  


Only five days after we moved in, Kelli and Jared and Henry arrived!  They flew in on Thursday, a day which was mostly sunny, giving them great views of the islands as they flew the half hour flight from Ketchikan to Klawock.  I could not believe it as they stepped off the plane!  

We still had an hour of daylight, and they weren't totally exhausted, so drove the beautiful drive to Craig, and toured Craig a bit.  Now it was time to return to Klawock to pick up Kathy at work.  Henry was as happy to see her as he was me, almost as happy as we were to see him.  :-)  

The next day was mostly sunny too, a real island treat.  It was Friday, which meant Kathy needed the car to visit the Hydaburg Clinic.  She also needed to go to Thorne Bay, so picked us up around one, and we headed east.  This is a very pretty trip, with views of the mountains and glimpses of the Big Salt Lake.  Kelli and Jared were amazed at the verdant surrounding forests.  

On Saturday, Jared and I took Henry and Quinlan to venture up Sunnahae Peak.  I had tried this twice with both dogs, and hadn't made it so far up.  The bottom portion has been greatly renovated, but then stops, and degenerates into a very old, narrow, steeper, root-crossed trail.  Jared is in excellent shape, hiking Cowles Mountain three and four days a week, once or twice with Henry and backpack.  The roughest part of the trail had been slightly improved, so we were able to go much farther up than I'd gone, or expected to go.  We made it to a clearing, which was good for the view of the islands, but not so good because it really started to rain.  

 Sunnahae Peak is 2,520 feet tall, sits right above the city of Craig, and offers a unique view of Craig and the surrounding ocean inlet and islands.  We headed back down the trail, with plans to tackle it again another day, and go even farther.

We are all having a great time.  It's so nice that they are here for a long time, too, instead of the what could have been just four or five days.

A Sunny Saturday, A Great Start to October, and Just ONE WEEK TO GO!

Saturday, October 1, 2011       It’s October, it’s Saturday, it’s only one week until we move into our own place, with our own kitchen, our own things, new clothes to wear!  Wow, what a treat that is going to be, at long last.

The day dawned bright and sunny, too, not a cloud in the sky.  We are hoping this means we will have better weather when Kelli and Jared and Henry arrive, in just 12 short days.  I told Kelli that Henry looks big in the pictures she sends us, and she said he is, that he has grown quite a bit in the last two months. 

Quinlan and I do a fast walk down to The Breadbox Bakery, in search of cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven, more oatmeal cookies, and fresh bread.  I catch them before the cinnamon rolls have been iced, so get to talk with the owner while she adds the icing.  She and her husband were just the third homeowners on Pt. St. Nick Road.  There was no electricity, no water, no phone.  They got by on two generators, one small for lights, the second one larger, for the clothes washer and dryer.  Her husband has been in Alaska since before statehood!  They have raised at least two boys here, and seen many, many changes.  Her husband and one son are on the other side of the island, near Hollis, working the start of the shrimping season.  Her son Eli handles my purchase.  They have operated the bakery only since February of this year.  It’s organic, home-based, and has delicious baked goods, all of which we are happy to support!

This shows the creek outside our door, with high tide.  Notice the fish pens are all floating.

The inlet at low tide.  Notice the fish pens are only half floating.

 Quinlan and I do another fast walk home.  It’s about 0.8 mile, a gorgeous day, and I certainly need the exercise.  We met only one dog on the way out, at Kathy’s manager’s house, which is right next door to The Bread Box.  There are normally dogs at about every fourth house, who come out to see who is walking down ‘their’ road.  On the way back, we run into the three neighbor dogs from The Castles, all good friends of Quinlan’s now. 

The cinnamon rolls are a delicious breakfast, fresh and still warm from the oven! 

Next on the agenda is the Harvest Festival, at the Craig Middle School.  We are anxious to see some local crafts, and enjoy a new island event.  It’s not to be though, as it’s really a little school fair, with face-painting, cookie decorating, and a few other tables, and a hayride, pulled by a little tractor.  This reminds me that there is no farming on the island, due to poor soil, I understand.  There are new horses on the island, Icelandic ones that don't get hoof-rot.  Maybe they can be brought over to this festival next year to make the hayride a little more authentic.

We order some Christmas gift bags, and leave.  Kathy has the shopping bug, so we cross the street and visit some places we haven’t been to yet, a sad second hand store, and a new grocery store with better prices than the two AC stores.  We will definitely be back when we need more dogfood.

We decide to have lunch at Kim’s Corner in Klawock, so head, what is it, north?  I'm still having trouble with my directions.  The ocean is a deep, deep blue when the sky is clear like today.  We can see the tops of the mountains, all of them, which is an uncommon sight, as usually they are covered in clouds. 

We visit the store next, and pick up some DVDs:  our TV connection isn’t going to be fixed before Tuesday probably, so for the first time in maybe 15 years, we rent movies!  The last time must have been from The Wherehouse, and how long has it been since they folded up?

People on the island don't lock the cars, every apparently.  One guy at the diner told us his keys were in the ignition of his truck!  He explained "it's an island, where are they going to go?"  He said his laptop and his rifle were in the old truck, too!  Crazy!  They do lock their homes though.  The owner of Kim's told us this started about five years ago for her, when she was awakened by the sound of people talking inside her house, and strangers lounging in her living room.  A friend of hers found strangers cooking in their kitchens!  This was when drug use got significantly worse, meth and crack being drugs of choice.  Now, there is even some heroin on the island, and the usual prescription drugs being abused.

Not connected to drugs, but before I forget, for an excellent article on the Alaska Permanent Fund, the most successful and well-run government program I've ever heard of, click here.

Friday, Last Day of September

Friday, September 30, 2011

Last day of September, and tomorrow it’s only ONE WEEK until we move to our own place, AWESOME! 

Kathy took the car today.  It was sunny much of the day, for a change.  We went for a walk, and even had the door to our place open, to the second floor landing, and the dogs wandered in and out. 

We missed the Aurora Borealis this week due to clouds, but I did make an important discovery:  I’ve been looking for them to the south!  Ha, that’s not going to work!  I’ve been turned around since we arrived, partly because there is ocean shoreline everywhere, so that’s no help.  On top of that, I somehow got Craig and Klawock flip-flopped, and so have had to work hard to put Klawock to the north and Craig to the south.  All of a sudden, I’m geographically challenged!  Maybe that means I’ve been in one place too long. 

Our Home Away from Home, from the dock

Our Home Away from home, closeup, with our room on the second floor, right side.

In the words of Bill Maher, new rule:  more details on a subject will be in boxes, so those not interested can easily skip them.

Here is an outline of where we are, from largest geographic or political area to smallest.  It seems  more complex than San Diego, due to the Tongass National Forest and the interesting archipelago factor.  By the way, we are at sea level, while in San Diego we lived at about 400’ elevation. 

Western Hemisphere

   North America

      United States

         Alaska

            Unorganized Borough

               Southeast Alaska

                   Tongass National Forest

                     Alexander Archipelago

                        Prince of Wales Island

                           Klawock Tribal Lands

                              Klawock

The Unorganized Borough is the part of the U.S. state of Alaska not contained in any of its 18 organized boroughs. It encompasses more than half of Alaska's area, 323,440 square miles (837,710 km²), an area larger than any other US state. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 81,803, 13% of the population of the state. Unique among the United States, Alaska is not entirely subdivided into organized county equivalents. To facilitate census taking in the vast unorganized area, the United States Census Bureau, in cooperation with the state, divided the Unorganized Borough into 11 census areas beginning with the 1970 census.

The Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska is the largest national forest in the United States at 17 million acres (69,000 km²). Most of its area is part of the temperate rain forest itself part of the larger Pacific temperate rain forest, and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna. Tongass encompasses islands of the Alexander Archipelago, fjords, glaciers, and peaks of the Coast Mountains. An international border with Canada (British Columbia) runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains.  Good map can be found here: http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/briefingbookmap2010.pdf

The Alexander Archipelago is a 300 miles (500 km) long archipelago, or group of islands, of North America off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, which are the tops of the submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean. Deep channels and fjords separate the islands and cut them off from the mainland. The northern part of the Inside Passage is sheltered by the islands as it winds its way among them. The islands have irregular, steep coasts and dense evergreen and temperate rain forests. In order of land area, the largest islands are Prince of Wales Island, Chichagof Island, Admiralty Island, Baranof Island, Revillagigedo Island (with Ketchikan), Kupreanof Island, Kuiu Island, Etolin Island, Dall Island, Wrangell Island, Mitkof Island, Zarembo Island, Kosciusko Island, Kruzof Island, Annette Island, Gravina Island, and Yakobi Island. All the islands are rugged, densely forested, and have an abundance of wildlife. . The Tlingit and Kaigani Haida people are native to the area. The Tsimshian people found on Annette Island are not originally from the area, having immigrated to the region from British Columbia in the late 19th century. Ketchikan on Revillagigedo Island and Sitka on Baranof Island are the largest towns on the islands. The most populous neighborhoods of the largest town in the region, Juneau, are on the mainland, though portions of the city also lie on Douglas Island, which is a part of the archipelago. Tourism, fishing, and logging are the main industries of the islands. www.wikipedia.org