Sitka to Glacier Bay: Kayak Trip Pt 1

Ellen
Leader & Whale Whisperer
Element: Earth

 Julien

Artist & Big Eater

Element: Water

Jasmine
Events Coordinator & Yoga Master (and a bear)
Element: Wind

 Joshua

Maniac

Element: Fire

We took bicep pictures so we could have a before and after. The first day the four of us were not together. Ellen and Jasmine were the ones that were ready to go; Julien and I still had some things to pack up. I hadn't finished my kayak (as you know) so I ended up borrowing my friend Paul's, who is Julien's brother. Julien was in town visiting from Paris, France. While he was in town he made tons of amazing art.

On May 7th, Ellen and Jasmine left for Kruzof Island. Kruzof is the big island 7 miles West of Baranof Island and is home to Mt. Edgecumbe, the volcano that is pictured at the top of this blog. 7 miles is actually from where the two islands are closest, Ellen and Jasmine left from Totem Park which is about 12 miles from the coast of Kruzof.  

As they paddled, Julien and I finished up our things.  I had to move out of my apartment.  I was living in an apartment that is used for church volunteers.  I played the organ for church and was doing so voluntarily so I qualified. However, there are summer volunteers that come up to Sitka and stay about 2 weeks and make the church welcome to tourists Monday through Friday.  Those volunteers needed a place to stay so I had to vacate!  I moved all my belongings into the career center where I had an office or two.

Ellen and Jasmine made it Kruzof. We heard that much from them. We tried to keep cell phone use limited since there were no more opportunities to charge them. Julien and I left for the Chaichei Islands. We left from a spot closer to Kruzof than the girls and the Chaichei Islands are about 3/8 of the way there so we had a nice little early evening paddle.

I fulfilled a goal on the Chaichei Islands.  I drank Chai Tea while doing Tai Chi on the Chaicheis.  I had talked about it and I was able to fulfill it on the trip.  However, I sorta pretended to do Tai Chi.

Here is Julien with Kruzof and Mt. Edgecumbe in all its glory as the background.  The blanket of clouds is my favorite part.

A Beautiful November Morning

It was a great morning to kayak into work today. Work on the kayak took a break for the weekend. Instead, I made key lime pies and went to the movies. There was also a Monthly Grind, I didn't perform but I did help on stage. Pictured below is where the kayak progress is at right now. I accidentally cut the strongback a foot too short. So I'm gonna run to the lumber store, pick up another 16-footer, and run and carry it back here. So, yes, quite literally "run to the store" and "pick up."

A hike through the snow

Today, Ben and I went for a nice hike up Gavan hill.  I purchased some snow shoes last week and told Ben I wanted to go hiking with him through some snow.  Today, we left about 10 o'clock and made it to our destination around 1 pm.  There's no real defined peak of Gavan hill, it's a much different formation than the surrounding mountains.  However, it was quite a hike to get to the top and there was a lot of snow.  I loved the snow shoes.  They were lots of fun and made it quite easy to stride through the fluffy snow.

Ben and I started talking about how good a burger sounded on the way down.  I picked up some ground beef on the way home.  I grilled some onions, mushrooms and the burger with a little Worcestershire sauce, broiled the buns, added some Tillamook Monterey Jack cheese and voilà!  It was delicious!

The city of Sitka down belowMt. Edgecumb on the leftSelf-portrait

Photos from this weekend

It's four o'clock right now and it's pretty dark outside.  This weekend was a pretty busy one.  YABAH had a spot in the Alaska Native Heritage day parade.  When we met up for the parade everyone agreed it would be best to drive the van instead of walk in the snowy/rainy weather.  We tied our banner to the side of the van and I drove it from one end of Lincoln St. to the other.  Lincoln St. is the street that runs right through downtown.  It starts at Totem park, near the Sheldon Jackson College, and ends close to the bridge.
After the parade there were continued festivities in the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall.  There were Tlingit dancers with their extravagant robes, and other dancers from the far corners of Alaska.

Bear Mountain hike

You may remember this mountain from some of my early blog posts; its name is Bear Mountain. This weekend I joined a couple of friends for a hike to the very top. We had great weather. When we got above the Alpine tree line it got pretty windy and we had to trek through some snow. The snow was the hardest part for me. We hiked some pretty steep spots with rocks but on the snow I really had trouble staying balanced and thought I was going to slip and rocket down the snow covered side of the mountain.

We reached the very peak and stayed up there for a bit, telling stories and just enjoying the view. On the way down we took a different route and walked quite a ways along the ridge of the mountain. One spot we had to descend one at a time because we were knocking down rocks as we went. We talked about what kind of food we were going to eat that night most of the way down. Actually, I was probably the one that kept bringing that subject back up. When we got back to town we had a nice steak dinner. Thanks, Arlo! :)

Blue Lake

Mt. Edgecumbe in the background and Mt. Verstovia on the right

Some lichen

Water droplets on the lichen

This is a part where it was hard to stay upright walking on the snow

There's a glacier in the background

Patrick, Ben, and I looking at stuff

A crevasse

Getting close to the peak

Self-portrait

Pretty little blue pond

The peak after we started our descent

Walking along the ridge

We were talking about food and this looked like a dish my mother used to make. It was something like cheesy potatoes and I can't quite remember what was sprinkled on top but all I could think of was bacon bits.

A Super-Mario mushroom!

Camping on Kruzof Island

Sitka has many islands with the main one being Baranof Island. The City and Borough of Sitka includes many of the surrounding islands and nearly all of Baranof Island. I camped on Kruzof Island last weekend. Kruzof Island is about 20 miles long and 8 miles wide. We boated to the island and then rode 4-wheelers to the other side. I took a lot of close up pictures. I love taking the pictures of the sea life along the beach.

I know it's been a long time since I've updated my blog! Thank you for being patient. I have some pictures to show the progress of the house but the uploading is taking a while right now.