Cordova to Petersburg, and everything in between.
Trip Start
Apr 27, 2008
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Trip End
May 12, 2008
Cordova, Alaska
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sad to leave Cordova, but happy to venture on to a new area of Alaska, I was happy to commence my summer with a series of adventures tied together through driving, ferries, and generous hosts. The plan-Ferry from Cordova to Valdez, drive to Haines, Ferry to Juneau, then Sitka, then finally Petersburg, thus visiting four new Alaskan cities. All of this was to be connected with Kayaking, biking, maybe hiking, and of course, picture taking. My good friend Milo gave me a lead on some Canadians along the Alaska Highway, and before long, a Cordovan friend of mine, Lauren Padawer, heard of the trip and decided to join me for the adventure. I emailed some locals in each location through Couchsurfing, a cool website, and then we were off. After a few final celebrations and farewells in Cordova, which had truly come to feel like home, we were off. Sleeping on the ferry after a five am departure. My memory began to cause salivation as we approached Valdez- in my opinion a somewhat humdrum place with an awesome Thai restaurant. I was pretty bummed out when the Thai place was closed, so we hit the highway right off. A relaxed day of driving brought us somewhere into Canada, near a river and a bridge whose names I can't remember. I fired a few shots of my bikes on top of the truck, as to me, two bikes together with a Kayak make a beautiful site. Next day, it was on the road again. Stopping for a brief hike up a ravine/mountain near Burwash landing, we then stopped in to check on Milo's friends, potential hosts for the night, no luck, they were gone, and we had other options in Haines, so it was back on the Highway. Another border and a few raindrops, and we were back on the coast, the first time for both of us in Haines. Haines is a the north end of a long fjord called Lynn Canal, with beautiful mountains, lots of water, a lake or two, and even a bit of sun. We met up with Ryan and Vanessa Salmon, couchsurfing connections who would go on to be some stellar hosts, excellent ambassadors of Haines and proper Alaskan hospitality. We cooked up a batch of Huevos Rancheros that for sure rivaled ones I had in Mexico, and then checked out Ryan's knot work, some amazing stuff- so amazing that I commissioned him to decorate the handles of my Kayak with his art. The next day it was a sunny but cool bike ride out to the end of Mud Bay Road. (incidentally, I'm starting to notice there are a lot of Mud Bays in Alaska.) With all that sun, Haines was quickly growing on both of us pale Cordovans. That night, some excellent Calzones were served up by the Fireweed restaurant, a delicious Haines standby. Vanessa and Ryan had invited their friends, two of whom(Ian and Joey) turned out to be professional Boatbuilders. Lucky me, after dinner I got to go see a strip built canoe by Ian (the same method used on my Kayak) and both of his sailboats in progress. Already on Day four, we picked up Ian's Kayak, generously loaned to Lauren for a paddle, and after a drive to a frozen lake, decided kayaking on water would be easier, and put our boats in at Mud Bay. Our paddles propelled us on some calm water to an excellent island campsite about six miles from town. Dinner was delicious too, whatever it was.... After the paddle back the next day, and some more time hanging out with Ryan and Vanessa, we caught another early morning ferry for the big city of Juneau.
Juneau
At 30 thousand people, Juneau is Alaskas third largest city, and it seems like it. There are some advantages to such HUGE cities though- we snagged some delicious Thai food right off the ferry, and then managed to eat pizza with Feta and sun dried tomatoes... twice. MMM. I took care of some contact lense needs while Lauren contacted the forest service, where the Kayak ranger department helped us out with loads of great information, which is what led us to do a Kayak trip in Berners Bay. Kevin, One of the Rangers, hooked us up by loaning us his personal Kayak. We hit the bay that first night, camping in the truck, and were on the water early the next morning. The weather was a bit questionable, but we had humpback whales keeping us company with their puffs of mist and even an occasional breach in the distance. Marbled Murrelets were everywhere, a true joy to watch as they take off, several times bouncing their bellies off the water until their little wings finally get them airborne. To top it off, curious sea lions were constantly popping up behind us, trying to figure out what we were. When they do this, they exhale suddenly as they surface, which makes for an exhilarating surprise. Back in
Juneau, another night camping in the truck, only to be awoken by police for camping in a closed area. Fortunately, I was able to talk the officer into letting us stay, since our ferry was only a few hours away. Back on the Ferry, and off to Sitka we sailed....
Sitka
Sitka turned out to be another big city, around ten thousand inhabitants. This puts it in the top ten, Somewhere around number five I think. We found the library strait off, and made a beeline for the free wireless internet, getting that intravenous drip that so many of us need these days. After that, we connected with Dave Nuetzel, our couchsurfing connection for Sitka, and an awesome dude. Next day, we each did some biking. I managed to see about half of Sitkas road system, including the thimbleberry lake trail, which I biked. That led me to blue lake road, and I got to check out blue lake as well. It was a foggy cool day, and mist hung over the lake like a soft blanket. I reconnected with Lauren at the Theobroma (food of the gods) chocolate factory. I snagged myself a few pounds of chocolate seconds for future gorging. Back in Sitka, we met up with Dave at the library and headed off to his sailboat. In no time, the sails were up and we were begging the gods for a puff of wind. With intermittent wind, we managed to slowly circle some of the adjacent islands, getting our first taste of the eastern channel, a windy passage. It was cold but beautiful, a good description of southeast Alaska in general, I suppose.
Next day, we loaded up the kayaks (mine, and Dave's very nice PWS Kayak) and struck out for the south, right back through the windy eastern passage, around to cape Burunof, and south towards Goddard hot springs. It was pretty choppy, but we fought it, and in spite of our 3PM departure, managed to arrive at Goddard with a few hours of sunlight remaining. The waters around Sitka are excellent for Kayaking, with loads of rock gardens and little islands all over which makes for lots of places to explore. Goddard was a cool place, an enchanted forest, to be sure. The hot springs were well set up, with hot and cold water running into them for easy adjustment. It was Laurens 30th Birthday, and a great place to celebrate. The weather predicted Gale force winds by Friday, so we headed back for Sitka on Thursday, camping a few miles away in three entrance bay, another cool place. It was a good time to head back, with the water like glass, and for the first time Mount Edgecombe rid itself of mountains and showed its Fuji-like cone. Friday, we made it back to Sitka, where I smoothly left all of Dave's gear (Kayak paddle, spray skirt, PFD, gloves, etc.) laying on the ground next to the truck, and then drove away without it. A few hours later, I discovered the gear was missing, and drove maniacally back to the spot.... only to find the gear was already gone. After a few less than polite exclamations, (it was about 500 dollars of gear) I recovered and started pursuing the usual methods, lost and found, etc. with no luck. All hope was lost, and I had pretty much resigned myself to the loss, when the phone rang. It was Dave, and after a few laughs at my obviously stressed tone, I learned that he had found his gear and stowed it in the sailboat. That night, our last in Sitka, we all enjoyed a some delicious Italian food.
Petersburg
Another long ferry ride, and I was looking through rain covered windows at my new home. First impressions say its beautiful, with a similar vibe to Cordova, but many differences as well. For starters lots more logging, not many Brown Bears, and smaller mountains. In exchange, there are deer grazing everywhere, excellent kayaking Access, and a few less inches of annual rain... In six months, I'll tell you more...
Comments
hi
Oddly enough, I was thinking of you today. Glad to hear you're in your element.