Juneau harbors

Bill and Chelsea's former sailboat

Bill and Chelsea's new cabin

The other day our friends Bill and Chelsea took us down to Auk Harbor to show us the sailboat that was their home for two years. It sounds like Chelsea bought the sailboat as a live-aboard on a bit of a whim while on a trip to Juneau a few years ago. They lived on it in Auk Harbor for two years and even though they had heard horror stories of things that can go wrong on boats, it treated them well (most likely because they are very handy and were able to fix everything that went wrong themselves, and the boat was well-insulated). Now they have sold the sailboat and live in an adorable cabin on a piece of property they bought out the road from Juneau.

Their cabin is pretty tiny (even smaller than the one Natasha and I shared in Fairbanks two summers ago) and it does not have running water. This would not be out of the ordinary for Fairbanks but Bill said not many people live like this in Juneau! It's a great piece of property with a little salmon stream and lots of blueberries (and as a result, the frequent black bear).

When we walked around the harbor at Auk Bay, I was shocked at the number of yachts (first I was surprised at the number of harbors in Juneau). Given that Kodiak has the largest fishing fleet in the nation, I didn't think Juneau would have so many more harbors than Kodiak. What I hadn't really considered was that Juneau lies in very protected waters, making it easy for people to have pleasure boats, and it is much closer to the rest of North America than Kodiak is. It made me glad that Kodiak is in the middle of the North Pacific.

John Muir Trail in Juneau

Ryan, Chelsea, and Bill on the John Muir Trail

Me and Chelsea

Bill in a meadow

Water droplets on skunk cabbage

Yesterday we hiked up the John Muir Trail (not the one in California =) with Bill and Chelsea. It was a perfect day for a hike, as in it wasn’t raining (it rained a little on our way down, but given that this is southeast Alaska, I think we got pretty lucky). I really like this hike - much of it is through meadows but some is through forest and most of it is on planks. There is a very nice forest service cabin at the top.

Last night we camped and we were very lucky that it did not rain until after we got in our tent. Even though it rained during the night, it wasn't raining when we got up either. It has been pouring here pretty much all day, but luckily it didn't really start until just as we were taking our tent down this morning (we finished throwing it in the truck in a hurry!).

Juneau Hikes

Boy Scout Beach

Ryan at Boy Scout Beach

Perseverance Mine - this valley was once full of mining activity and a whole town

The "Glory Hole" at Perseverance Mine

Bill and Ryan on the trail to Herbert Glacier

Herbert Glacier

I've been in Juneau for the last few days hanging out with Ryan. He finished working a few days ago but is staying until Tuesday to put the truck, trailer, and boat on the ferry back to Seattle. This turned out to be a great chance for us to explore Juneau and be on vacation before spending the rest of the summer mostly apart (I'll be in Kodiak and elsewhere in AK).

Our goal has been to hike as many trails as possible while we're here. On Thursday we did a little walk to Boy Scout Beach. One of our friends had told us it was the nicest beach in Juneau. It was. It has white sand and it was actually kind of warm while we were there. And we had fun watching jumping fish and seals. We also got a lot of amusement out of hearing a little boy who was fishing with his family storm away from them yelling "I hate fishing. I want to go home. Fishing sucks." All the adults ignored him. Poor kid (it's still funny though)!

On Friday we hiked up to Perseverance Mine. There was a lot of really cool mining history - a little museum and lots of signs along the trail. I'm not sure I got my $5 worth out of that museum, but Ryan certainly got $10 worth of amusement out of seeing a giant air compressor from the early 20th century. He liked it so much that after we left, he decided to go back to take a picture. We also enjoyed the new trail to "The Glory Hole" - a hole 1/3 mile in diameter and 700-1000 ft deep. It's pretty crazy the things these miners did for gold.

Yesterday was the first day it REALLY rained. We did an easy hike in the woods to the Herbert Glacier with our friends Bill and Chelsea. That's a good hike for a nasty day. Today, I see sun!

Butterflies and Wildflowers

My favorite photo from our Eagle Creek hike

Even though we had a lot of fog on our backpacking trip, there were many things to enjoy along the trail. These are a couple of my favorites.

Smokey Camp to Ruckel Creek Trailhead

Heather on the Benson Plateau

Descending into a creek bottom on the Benson Plateau

Starting the big descent on the Ruckel Creek Trail

Stopping to enjoy the view into the Gorge

On Monday we crossed the Benson Plateau and descended back down into the Columbia River Gorge via the Ruckel Creek Trail. It was cold in the morning, but clear and as we lost elevation, the temperature rose. Thank goodness there was a breeze or it would have been too hot for us!

The descent on this trail is crazy. It looses 3500' of elevation in about 4 miles. It was the most unrelenting downhill I believe I have ever hiked. And it was all the more challenging with a 35 lb pack. I can only imagine what it would be like to hike up!

While we survived the trail just fine (for me I am sure all the triathlon training I did this spring paid off!), I am sure none of us will ever hike that part again. I would instead just go in and out on the Eagle Creek Trail. My legs are still recovering from those last four miles. This might possibly be the sorest my legs have ever been!

7 1/2 Mile Camp to Wahtum Lake and Smokey Camp

Me and Heather at Smokey Camp

On Sunday morning we continued up the Eagle Creek Trail to Wahtum Lake (about 6 1/2 miles). It was foggy all day but didn't rain. Once we got up near Wahtum Lake it was cold and winy, but we were glad it wasn't raining as well! Wahtum Lake is where the Eagle Creek Trail meets the Pacific Crest Trail. My dad said most through hikers opt to take the Eagle Creek Trail for this section anyway because it is so scenic.

At Wahtum Lake we stopped and filled our water bottles as well as any extra containers we had. We were heading to Smokey Camp on Benson Ridge for the night and it didn't look like there was any water nearby on the map. Once we got there we saw a sign that pointed downhill and said "Water 0.1 miles." Oh well, now we know!

It was very cold and windy at Smokey Camp. There is a great shelter set up though with logs and it served as a great wind break. We set our tent up inside of it and then sat behind it to cook our dinner. Even though it was still foggy when we went to bed (at 8:30 because it was so cold!), Jennie and I got up to go to the bathroom at 12:30 and it was perfectly clear. There was a full moon and the light was streaming through the trees. It was still cold and windy though so we didn't enjoy the view for long!

Eagle Creek Trailhead to 7 1/2 Mile Camp

Me, Jennie, and Heather at the Eagle Creek Trailhead

Punchbowl Falls

A slot canyon-type feature

Lowett Falls

The Ealge Creek Trail not only has great waterfalls, but it a well-maintained trail and even though it gains elevation, it does so slowly and has a very easy grade. The only thing some people might not like about this trail is that in some places it has been cut into cliffs - the trail is basically a ledge. It wouldn't be good for people (or small children) who are afraid of heights. We had an easy first day hiking to 7 1/2 mile camp where we spent the night. Along the way we enjoyed our fair share of wild strawberries and beautiful wildflowers.

The camp sites at 7 1/2 mile were great. There were several and they were so private that we didn't even know there were other people there until the morning when they walked through our camp as they left. It rained most of the evening and poured after we got in the tent but we stayed dry in our REI Half-dome rental.

A spot where the trail has been blasted into columnar basalt

Eagle Creek Backpacking Trip

Punchbowl Falls

Heather at Tunnel Falls

Our Eagle Creek Backpacking trip was a success! We had fairly bad weather but still had a great time - mostly because we never had the triple threat (rain, wind, and cold temps) all at once. On the first night we had rain, but it was very warm. On the second day we had cold and wind, but it wasn't raining. On the last day it finally cleared up in the afternoon and after we started to descend back into the Gorge, it warmed up.

Weather doesn't really have an affect on the beautiful sights on this hike though (with the exception of a few look outs). The reason you should hike this trail is because of the waterfalls. There are lots of them - from tall thundering ones to cut little cascades on tributaries of Eagle Creek.

I will write in more detail later, but for now I will just say that I loved this hike and can't wait to take Ryan there in the fall.

Weekend Backpacking Trip

I've been planning to go on a backpacking trip this weekend with a couple of friends but our original plan has been thwarted by the lingering snow pack. Seattle may have a mild climate, but the mountains around here get massive amounts of snow and it takes months for them to melt out. We were going to hike up the Dosewallips River on the East side of Olympic National Park to Anderson Glacier but there is way too much snow. We also considered the Hoh River Trail on the West side of the park, but that would be a long drive, long hike, and the last couple of miles up to the Blue Glacier (on Mt. Olympus) are still snowy.

Last night three of us got together to try to figure out our plan but we were almost completely drawing a blank for places that were within ~4 hrs driving of Seattle and would be snow-free or at least almost snow-free. Pretty much everything above 3000' feet still has snow. Jennie suggested the lower Columbia River Gorge and maybe even the first part of the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington. That jogged my memory about the Eagle Creek Trail, which my dad has and has suggested to me before. I called my dad and he was pretty sure Eagle Creek would be free of snow by now. And he said he loved this trail so much that he has hiked it twice.

After a trip to REI where we thought we would find hiking guide books with more information (turns out they have NO books with information on the PCT!), as well as maps, we were set on taking the Eagle Creek Trail to Wahtum Lake and then making a loop by coming back along Benson Ridge and the Ruckel Creek Trail. It's about a 25 mile loop and it looks amazing - waterfalls and old growth Douglas fir forest. The only down side of this hike is that the first few miles are very popular, being only 30 min from Portland and being one of few trails to be snow free right now. It sounds worth it though.

Raspberries in June

One of the most amazing things about living in this climate (despite the June Gloom everyone is complaining about) is that my raspberries are ripe before the end of June. To give you a comparison to what I was used to in Kodiak, three weeks ago my mom told me that her raspberries were just leafing out - crazy what a difference ten degrees of latitude makes.

I am also thrilled at the overgrown mess that has become our raspberry patch. When we bought the house three years ago we didn't have any raspberries but our neighbor did right on the other side of the fence. We didn't mow right along the fence so that the raspberries would start coming up on our side. Then when the house next door sold, the new owner didn't like the raspberries on his side. I offered to dig them up and transplant them to our yard. After I moved them he couldn't believe that I hadn't left any holes in his yard. He couldn't even find where the bushes had been. I explained that I am an expert at digging holes and then filling them in.

Our neighbor's grapes and our raspberries