response 100 of 122:

May 29 19:06 UTC 2007

lynne, you are welcome to take mine for a spin if you want, that way you
can try them out before getting your own.

response 102 of 122:

May 29 21:26 UTC 2007

Who put in all the stairs and boardwalks?

response 104 of 122:

May 29 23:40 UTC 2007

I'll bet that a fair amount of the work was done by volunteers.  The USFS
isn't known for being adequately funded, and trail work often isn't exactly
considered a priority.  Maybe it's different in Alaksa, where USFS funding
might be regarded as an important form of pork.

response 106 of 122:

May 29 23:57 UTC 2007

Yeah, my impression is that volunteers mostly do things like re-grading,
fixing drainage issues, or trimming encroaching foliage rather than the
"big" work.

response 108 of 122:

Jun 4 00:57 UTC 2007

 I'm tired tonight (and it's only afternoon!) after a high-energy
 short-duration visit from my sister Cathy, who was on her way back
 to the lower 48 after visiting Juneau for three days to celebrate
 with several friends who were receiving promotions and one who was
 getting married.

 Here's what a whirlwind visit from my sister looks like:

  6:30 AM -- wake up, shower, dress, load my day pack.
  7:20 AM -- pick Cathy up from Revilla-side airport ferry terminal.
  7:25 AM -- stop at Safeway for breakfast (bagels) and lunch
             (sandwiches to go.)
  7:45 AM -- arrive at marina, greet friend who happens to be in
             parking lot, proceed to boat.
  7:50 AM -- start engine warming up, load gear, check boat over.
  8:00 AM -- cast off lines, leave marina, headed towards fuel dock
  8:30 AM -- finish fueling, set out for destination.
  9:30 AM -- arrive at float pier at head of Naha River.  load food
             and spare clothing into backpack, then set out on trail.
 11:00 AM -- arrive at bear observation lookout over waterfall
             (no bears -- it's too early in season for salmon to be that
             far up the rivers, but the river was gorgeous)  eat lunch.
 11:20 AM -- begin return hike
 12:45 PM -- return to boat
  1:30 PM -- return to marina
  1:50 PM -- arrive at house, shower, change
  2:05 PM -- leave house headed for downtown.
  2:10 PM -- shop for smoked salmon for Cathy to give as gifts to
             people she knows in New England
  2:45 PM -- depart for airport ferry terminal
  3:08 PM -- say goodbye at the top of the ramp before boarding 3:15
             airport ferry.

 In a little bit less than 8 hours we crammed in breakfast, lunch,
 5 miles of hiking, 60 miles of boating, visits with three people
 who stopped in the street to say "Hi" to Cathy and two who wanted
 to talk to me, a visit to my house and tour of the renovations,
 a shower and change of clothes, and about an hour of gift shopping,
 and then got her back to the airport in time to catch her flight.

 I'm beat!

 But it was a nice way to spend the day..  It didn't hurt that the
 water was calm (great boating..) and instead of showers and 40%
 chance of solid rain (which was the prediction) we got 74 degrees (F)
 and sunny instead.  The hike along the Naha River is always pretty
 remarkable, but today was particularly lovely -- something about
 the light, I think, though it could have been partly due to good mood
 as well..  Unquestionably it was one of the best days I've had so far
 this year (though as 2007 has been a pretty grim year so far, that's
 not saying an awful lot..)

response 110 of 122:

Jun 10 03:28 UTC 2007

 At the moment I'm sitting at my window watching the trees bend and
 sway as a new weather system blows in, bringing wind and rain.  A
 few seconds ago a pair of large birds -- a raven chasing an eagle --
 flew by my window and disappeared from sight, last seen headed
 over the house.  I'm sure there's a story there, though I'm not
 sure what.  The two species are often at odds with one another.
 They compete for food and in other ways and in my experience the
 ravens usually have the last laugh (and they do often seem to be
 laughing..)  At first glance the eagles would seem to be the more
 formidable of the two, thanks to size and strength and sharp beak
 and talons.  But the ravens prevail (usually) through craftiness
 and agility, and I love watching them get the best of the conceited,
 (comparatively) clumsy eagles.

 Although it's June I've just turned the heat on (for the first time
 in several weeks) because I'm still chilled, despite a recent hot
 shower and warm dinner, from being soaked by the cold rain that was
 blowing in when I was trying to get the boat cleaned and put away
 after today's earlier fishing expedition.  I took two friends from
 work and one of the friends' friends (visiting from out of town)
 fishing for the penultimate day of the annual king salmon derby
 (wherein anglers compete to see who can catch the largest king
 salmon.)  Our largest fish, alas, was a respectable (but nowhere
 near derby-winning) 25+ lb king.  Warren (one of the work friends)
 filleted the big king for Dale, a different co-worker (not present)
 who's moving away from Ketchikan and who has expressed a desire
 for some salmon to take with him.  So 20 or so pounds of king salmon
 fillets will be our parting gift to Dale.  The rest of the fish
 (one smaller king salmon, one silver salmon, and a good-sized ling
 cod) we distributed among us according to preference and appetite.

 As I've noted above, I'm a bit tired and cold and plan to sign off
 soon and maybe read for an hour or two before turning in to bed early.
 I wouldn't care to bet on it right now, but the forecasters say 
 tomorrow should be partly clear and mostly dry, so I've got a hike
 planned for late morning/early afternoon if the predicted weather
 materializes.  I'll be tired on Monday, but summer weekends around
 here aren't something I care to miss..

response 112 of 122:

Jun 11 16:09 UTC 2007

I have some friends who just got back from an Alaska cruise. They had 
lots of nice photos. It is a beautiful place to be sure!

response 114 of 122:

Jun 11 16:44 UTC 2007

we're considering that as a trip next year.  

response 116 of 122:

Jun 11 17:42 UTC 2007

 Well, if any Grexers wind up passing through Ketchikan (and if you're
 visiting Alaska on a cruise there's a very high probability you will..)
 contact me ahead of time for advice and possibly a meet-up.

 re #111:  The terrain here is very different than the areas you're
 probably seeing on "The Deadliest Catch" and the waters around here
 are considerably safer (not *safe*, but *safer*) but there are probably
 some similarities.  Of course Dutch Harbor is about 1400 miles from
 Ketchikan (or about the same distance as Ann Arbor is from, oh, say
 Bozeman, Montana.)  Distances in Alaska are on a scale that takes some
 getting used to..

response 118 of 122:

Jun 11 17:58 UTC 2007

 No, but if you walked into a bar around here you might find people
 talking about "The Deadliest Catch".  Is that a little too "meta"?

 You'll find plenty of fishing talk in Ketchikan bars.  If you wander
 into whatever bar the commercial trollers and seiners frequent you'll
 probably get a fair amount of conversation about their catch, too.
 But for the most part they won't be talking about crab.

response 120 of 122:

Jun 11 23:53 UTC 2007

resp:119 OH well, never mind then ;)

Seriously though, that wouldnt be an issue. I figure I'll either just
get a cabin to myself or else I'll find someone to share with me. 

response 122 of 122:

Jun 19 01:06 UTC 2007

[Since Alaska is sometimes a vacation/travel destination, this item has 
been linked to the travel conference as item 74; it's also item 22 in 
the spring agora conf. 2007.]