I wrote this post a while ago and must've forgotten to click "post!" Oops! Oh well! I hope you enjoy even if it is a little late!
After the Spring season at Sea Base was officially over I
went on a trip to the other side of the country. Almost as far away from
Florida as I could get, and for a very good reason! Jon and I hadn’t seen each
other in over two months since parting ways after our travels on the way home
from Antarctica, but I was able to get a ticket to Ketchikan, AK for a visit.
For 6 days we enjoyed relaxing, hiking, and staying in a cabin while it rained
and rained. Ketchikan is a very rainy place, so this wasn’t totally unexpected.
The last day and a half I was there it cleared up nicely and the sun warmed us
up and dried things out.
Jon has been in Ketchikan for a few summers now working for
the U.S. Forest Service on trails in the area. When we were planning my visit
Jon came up with the idea of taking a ferry to the neighboring island of Prince
of Wales and go camping. Jon had never been there and was keen to check it out.
We booked a cabin on the water that was run by the Forest Service group for the
island called Twelve Mile Arm Cabin. Jon met several members of that group a
few weeks before I arrived during some joint training. They alerted him to the
fact that many of the roads are closed due to snow! So we changed our schedule
to shorten our trip by one night based on their information.
The cabin was in great shape, built in 2007, and had four or
five skylights, which Jon expected to leak, based on the cabins in his
district, but they didn’t! There was enough room to sleep 6, a wood stove,
table and benches and a nice covered porch. The outhouse was just steps beyond
the wood shed. The view was beautiful and we enjoyed watching the tides change
(about 20 feet!) and looking for wildlife. We read and went for walks around
the cabin. Jon chopped wood for the fire and taught me about the different
types of trees. We saw lots of Sitka Black Tail Deer (they need to learn to run
away from cars!) and a couple eagles and a tree with an eagle’s nest in it, but
luckily no bear.
We came back from Prince of Wales on Saturday and had some
of Jon’s friends and co-workers over for dinner. Jon made his beet salad that I
love and his friends brought all kinds of stuff! We enjoyed several kinds of
salmon, pickled sea asparagus, devil’s club tea, elk meat, sausages, and lots
more. The rest of my time in Ketchikan was spent going on short hikes, hanging
out at the beach just down the road from the place Jon is renting, and going to
the local dive shop to look at snorkel gear for Jon’s upcoming PADI Open Water
Class.
Also Capt Dennis Wyatt(Author of Bald Man in the sea and the
Balder Man in the Sea) recommended I go to Knudson Cove. I had written down the
name so I wouldn’t forget it and then I misplaced the paper! So Jon was taking
me to a local diner/food cart just up the road from where he lived and it just
so happened to be in the very cove! I recognized the name on the signs when we
were driving there. We walked around and I took some pictures while our food
was being made. Beautiful spot! I hope if I get to go back to Ketchikan to go
kayaking in the cove. Thanks for the tip Dennis!
Jon was a great host and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in
Ketchikan and on Prince of Wales Island. He made breakfast for me every day and
cooked when we didn’t go out to eat. What a guy!
After my time in Ketchikan I flew to Vermont to visit my
parents for a few days before heading back to Florida for work. I got to visit
some friends and family as well as help on some projects around my parents
place. As always I wish I had more time to spend with them.
