…when laid aside may yield yurts, sea otters and car-camping on the spit at the end of the world.
It’s becoming more difficult to stay on top of updating this because the pace of life here just seems to be getting faster and faster. I usually only have one day off (or none) between runs, instead of the two I had a few weeks back. This week, I had 3 days off in a row because I requested Monday and Tuesday to join Hope, Caitlin, Nicole, Thomas, Blair and Matt on a cabin retreat somewhere near Talkeetna. Hope’s aunt has a cabin out there, a 3 mile hike through bear country.
As it turned out, this bear thing is pretty serious. We spent most of Sunday packing and preparing to get out there, only to get in the car and hear from Hope’s aunt that 7 teenagers had been attacked by a savage grizzly about 20 miles from where we were headed. The bear had a cub and was still out there. When we told Matt’s landlord this, he just calmly said, “You want a gun?” But ultimately we decided it was too great a risk, and spontaneously adapted the plan. We grabbed a tent or two from Lucy and Matt’s houses, along with a camp stove and started heading south on a 4 hour road trip to a place called Homer.
Hope and Blair didn’t make it out with us because they had stayed on the train through Sunday and didn’t want to do the drive Monday with uncertain sleeping accommodations, likely looking rain, and a need to return the next day. The rest of us discovered, once we had rolled onto the Spit at around half past midnight that the tent we had packed was actually just poles and a rain tarp. So Matt and Nicole slept in his tiny two-man and Caitlin, Thomas and I made do with sleeping in the Subaru, along with our plentiful belongings. We all continually marveled at that car’s ability to contain all our gear and needs throughout our brief trip. To be honest, only Caitlin and I slept in the car that first night; Thomas decided to stay up all night, tending to the fire and exploring the spit and the area, like a man possessed by some quiet inner mania. At least, that’s how I recognized his impulse, occasionally having similar ones myself.
It was a glorious little vacation. We took turns deejaying with each other’s ipods on the commute. The drive was beautiful. The Kenai Peninsula is extremely scenic, and one of the nicest places, perhaps in the world, for driving. It was rather rainy and overcast most of the way there, but there was a patch of clear sky just over Homer and it stuck with us for the next 2 days.
I fell abruptly in love with Homer. It feels like the end of the world, the furthest reach of human civilization, and in some ways, it is. It is populated by fisherman and hippies who live and sell their wares in yurts, or in converted beached boats or abandoned school buses. There are also many art galleries with magnificent land and seascapes (they have all the best material, after all), and everyone is incredibly friendly and approachable. There is a marine life visitor center that lent me binoculars for free, and without taking any kind of deposit. Admission to the preserve and their exhibits were also free. The scenery down there is…phenomenal, incomparable, fantastic to behold. We got to watch the extended sunset from the spit, a thin strip of land extending out between two vast blankets of water. We also had numerous excellent, up-close wildlife encounters on the way in and during our stay—a momma moose with two calves who unconcernedly munched grass for 10 minutes 10 feet from us, some bald eagles swooping just over our heads, and sea otters and sea lions floating about in the water just off shore.
It was also really nice and much-needed to conceive of the whole thing as a vacation. It was short, to be sure, but while there I was more wiling to indulge in delicious food and drink than I have been most of the time I’ve been here. It was great to get out of Anchorage and see a bit more of the state, and put the train from my thoughts for a few days. I’m getting far enough into the season that the novelty has worn off, and now it is decidedly a job. It is still a silly and whimsical, adventurous kind of job, but it is a work all the same. The getting up early and going off for two days and standing and dealing with people for 15 hours is wearing thin. But I’m halfway done, and it looks like the boss honored my request to put me on my friends’ schedule, which will be nice. The timing could have been better, as we’re about to launch into 6 consecutive days in which 2 of the 3 runs are 4:45 am arrival Northbound ship days. The worst kind of days. Still, there are less than 2 months to go at this point, and I’m determined to make the most of it.
Another highlight of the last two weeks is that last Tuesday I got a “day off in Denali.” It didn’t end up working out quite the way the powers that be led me to believe. I thought I’d get dropped in Healy Monday at 5, have that night and all of the next day to enjoy the area around the national park, and then go back to work Wednesday morning. I made plans to camp in the park with a newish friend named Josh and probably others Monday night. However, my carload of employees worked all the way to Fairbanks on Monday, and then were paid to ride the train for 4 hours back to Healy on Tuesday. This meant I really had only a half-day off in Denali, but I was determined to get some kind of trip in, and sure enough, at 2:15 I was heading off to take a flight tour to the summit of the tallest mountain in North America, flying over 70 miles of incredible glaciers and rivers and foothills and snow-capped peaks in a teeny little plane with 7 other people, including the pilot, whom I was seated directly behind.
It was absolutely unreal. I have no way to describe the sights except to say I’m really glad I got to do it. Princess employees get to take this $350 ride for free if there’s space, as long as we tip the pilot generously. Pictures also don’t do any of it justice, but it was awfully tempting to try. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera to the lodge from Healy. I did make friends with a gentleman from Georgia and his wife (even though he tried to claim I was his wife or daughter a couple of times) and they lentme their camera for the duration, promising to email me the pictures when they get home from their trip. I haven’t heard from them yet, but hopefully I will.
So off I go, into few weeks of rolling with the punches and various Alaskan adventures and surprises.
No comments:
Post a Comment