Colorado to Virginia

I am back in Virginia. Gerda and I went on a beautiful hike to Shrine Pass, and had a wonderful time catching up on the past four years. I took a day trip to Boulder and walked along the Pearl Street Mall. I felt like I was in Charlottesville. The Charlottesville Downtown Mall was modeled after the Pearl Street Mall. I think my pictures capture it, including the homeless street musicians that played "Wagon Wheel" for me. The pictures I took on the Shrine Pass hike are not quite clear and that's because there are so many wildfires burning in Colorado right now. On Monday and Tuesday when I was in downtown Denver the temperature reached 107 degrees. That's an all time high for them. Usually this time of year the temperature is in the high 80s. Whoever said, "It's not so bad when it's a dry heat." was out of his mind! Hot is hot, and 107 is unbearable! I do love Colorado though, and her majestic mountains. It's nice to be back in green Virginia now. For a time. Wondering now what is next~

California to Colorado

 

Friday, June 22, 2012

Catching up on my flight to Denver. I guess I left off in Redding, CA where I was couch surfing with Steve…..

On Tuesday Steve again was our personal tour guide. He took us for a hike along a railroad track to a beautiful waterfall. It was pretty cool when we had to stand back and let a train pass by. I don’t think I’ve ever been so close to a moving train before. After that hike we drove to Mt. Shasta where we went to the headwaters of the Sacramento River and filled our water bottles. We then drove up the mountain as far as we could to a place called Panther Meadows. I had a strong desire to go to Mt. Shasta after hearing that it was a magical mountain and there is special energy there. It’s true. It’s true of mountains in general though. I am overwhelmed with emotion when I see these majestic mountains; they are breathtaking.

It started on this trip when I left Seattle in Jimmy’s truck and Mt. Rainier first came into view, then in Portland when I saw Mt. Hood, then of course the magical Mt. Shasta. I get the same feeling too when I hike on Jones Mountain and many others in the Blue Ridge. The mountains have a spirit about them that I connect with. When I am away from them I feel out of my element, not quite whole. So, while I am enjoying my time exploring these cities, I am really looking forward to seeing and hiking in the Rockies when I get to Colorado.

After having lunch on Mt. Shasta, Steve drove us to Castle Lake where the girls relaxed at the lake while Steve and I hiked about an hour to another lake above Castle Lake. The smaller lake is called Heart Lake. It was absolutely gorgeous. We had a great view of Mt. Shasta and all over the area from there. We sat and enjoyed the peacefulness for a while then hiked back down to Castle Lake where we, along with two of the others, went for a dip. It was cold! I didn’t stay in long, but got out and enjoyed a couple beers. We drove back to Steve’s house and had some leftovers for dinner, and I pretty quickly went to bed while everyone else got in the hot tub. After my early awakening and busy day, I was ready for sleep.

Around 1:00 on Wednesday, my driver, Barbara showed up to drive me to San Francisco. Oakland actually. She was heading home from Eugene. We first went to a gas station where I put $40 in her tank for the ride. It was about three hours to Oakland where she dropped me off at the Bart station and I rode the train into San Francisco. It was a short walk then to the framing shop my friend Chris owns with his partner Reinhold.

I hadn’t seen Chris for 30 years. Since high school; wow! It was so awesome to see him and to reconnect after all these years. We easily fell back into a beautiful friendship. I’m not doing facebook anymore, but one of the good things to come out of my short time on it, was to reconnect with this special friend. After a short walk on the beach with Chris, Reinhold, and their two dogs, Freddie and Nelson, Chris fixed a wonderful lasagna dinner for us. We didn’t want our visit to end and we stayed up too late, then up and into town the next morning for Chris and Reinhold to go to work and for me to explore the city. I enjoyed walking all over the place. I don’t know how many miles I covered, but I went from Market St. down Powell to China Town, to the business district, back to China Town for lunch, to Fisherman’s Wharf, to Fort Mason, and back to the shop. My legs were feeling the crunch from all the walking on concrete. I’m used to dirt trails on mountains! At the Chinese restaurant for lunch there was a couple in line ahead of me. They invited me to sit with them. It was really nice to have the company. Stu and Kay were in San Francisco visiting their son and his family. They live in upstate New York most of the time.

I skipped the walk on the beach with the dogs that evening and instead stayed home and made a salad to have with the leftover lasagna. After another wonderful meal, bottle of wine and conversation, I went upstairs to repack for my flight the next day and to prepare for another segment of this adventure. I spent Friday wandering around again. This time down Hayes Street to Alamo Square where Thomas lived many years ago, then through The Haight and into Golden Gate Park. San Francisco is a cool city. Much diversity. And its share of homeless people. When I arrived in Golden Gate Park, I turned around to take a picture of a group of homeless folks. One guy yelled at me for taking the picture and said I should give a dollar for that. I too felt that it was pretty tacky of me to take the pic so I gave him a buck. I walked over to their group and said, “since you asked so nicely and said please, here’s a buck.” He didn’t ask nicely or say please, but it still seemed appropriate. He said that yesterday was his birthday and he had just turned 21. I told them I have a 21 year old son and I think they appreciated that. I said that I wish I had a dollar to give to each of them, but that I had just lost my job. I think they just appreciated the attention, to be treated as human. After a short walk in the park I walked back to the shop and Chris, Reinhold and I went to their favorite Vietnamese restaurant for a bowl of soup for lunch. It was delicious and very hearty!

It was hard to say goodbye to Chris when he drove me to the Bart entrance. We had a good long hug and a promise to stay in touch and to visit again soon. Bart (SF transit system) took me to the airport where I got on a flight to Denver, and that’s where I am as I write this. I’m so looking forward to this visit with my aunt Gerda, whom I have not seen in four years.

Then a P.S. to the above…. I have arrived in Denver and am at Gerda’s house now.

Seattle-Portland-Redding

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

I am in Redding, California. I was awakened this morning at 4:30 by a horrible screeching noise. Startled awake and heart pounding, there was no going back to sleep. I am couch surfing, heading down to San Francisco to visit a friend from high school before I begin heading east and homeward. I don’t know what the noise was, but my host thinks it was perhaps a cell phone alarm belonging to one of the other couch surfers. It sounded like someone wrestling with a cat to me! There are four other women staying here. They are from southern California, all in their twenties, and all of them sleeping soundly in the living room. I had my own space, an air mattress on the floor of a bedroom. Steve, our wonderful host took us to a lake yesterday evening for a swim, treated us to Mexican food at a local restaurant, and then took us to see an amazing glass bridge (http://www.turtlebay.org/sundialbridge). Some of us got in his hot tub when we returned, and so it was 12:30 before I got to bed. We’re all going hiking today. I’m not sure what I can do on four hours of sleep, but we’ll see.

My last post was from Seattle, so I have much to catch up on…

After two nights at the hostel I found a couch (futon really) to “surf” on. If you don’t know what I mean by couch surfing, check out: http://www.couchsurfing.org/. I stayed with a wonderful lesbian couple for two nights in Seattle. Lynne and Gina. Gina was at work and then meetings most of the time so I hung out with Lynne who took me to her local hangouts. Wednesday night we had a couple beers with her “boyfriends” (as Gina likes to call them). What a fun evening! There’s nothing like seeing a town by meeting and hanging out with the locals. Thursday I took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island where I wandered around. A strange and beautiful place, it doesn’t seem quite real. It’s all too perfect, too pristine. No dirty parts, no slums, no homeless, no trash. Why does that have to seem strange?

Thursday night I had a glass of wine with Lynne at another bar, then I left her and went back to the condo to get to sleep early. After a good workout at the gym in the building, and then walking about six miles on my adventure, I wasn’t up for a long night out. I needed to be well rested for my trek to Portland the next morning. Jimmy (whom I met in Ketchikan and asked for a ride when I found out he’d be driving home to Portland) picked me up a little after 10:00. What a wonderful person! His summer had not worked out as planned either, but he was in good spirits driving home to be with his wife and spend his summer on a golf course. Great company, great conversation, I really enjoyed the ride in his ’88 Chevy pick up truck!

Jimmy dropped me off at a coffee shop a few blocks from Uncle Donnie’s house. Uncle Donnie is my mother’s younger brother. I reconnected with him and his family four years ago when I was traveling across the country. At that point I had not seen him in 27 years, and I had never met his seven children. It was fun to meet my cousins and to be a part of his family back 2008, and really special to spend time with them again. I had a fun visit with Donnie and Rita. Donnie had a meeting in Seattle on Saturday, so Rita took me to downtown Portland and showed me around. We went to Powell’s Bookstore, which is absolutely amazing! Then we had lunch at a local sports bar. Rita wanted to get her hair done, so she dropped me off on Hawthorn to wander around in the little shops. It was a beautiful day with bright blue skies, warm and not humid, unlike the east coast. Upon leaving one shop, a parade of naked bicyclists rode by. No kidding! Naked people on bicycles! That seems terribly uncomfortable to me, but they all looked so happy.

Sunday, Donnie and I got up early and went for a walk in his neighborhood and beyond. We walked up Mt. Tabor where we could look out over the city of Portland. Later, Rita drove us around through wine country. Oregon is a beautiful state, and it was another gorgeous day with blue skies and no humidity. We had dinner at a local pub, then dessert at the fancy restaurant where my cousin Annie got married a couple years ago. Dessert was superb! We shared a chocolate torte and a huge dish of blackberry sorbet.

This is getting to be a long post, but I need to catch up to where I am!

I found a ride to Redding, CA on Craigslist. It’s about a seven hour drive from Portland, and near enough to Mt. Shasta that we are going to hike there today. Yay, hiking! The guy who gave me a ride is a navy man heading from his home in northern Washington back to San Diego where he is stationed. I put $30 worth of gas in his car and he took me right to the home of my couch surfing host, which is where I am now. I keep saying this, and I’m going to say it again… there are so many great people in the world : )

Tomorrow I’m catching another ride that I found on Craigslist. I’ll be riding with a woman driving from Eugene, OR to San Francisco. I’m planning to spend two nights in San Francisco, and then I have something lined up to get me to Salt Lake City, where I’m planning to stay a night with Thomas’ niece.

More in a few days….

Ketchikan to Seattle

Wednesday June 13, 2012

It’s 6:00 am; I am lying in a bed in a hostel in Seattle. Awakened at 5:15 by a snoring woman in the next bed, there’s no getting back to sleep now. I’ve got my earplugs in listening to Gillian Welch. I’ll be couch surfing tonight and tomorrow night in Seattle and then bumming a ride to Portland on Friday. I’m really looking forward to reconnecting with my uncle, Donnie and his crew there.

I flew out of Ketchikan Monday night. My ticket would have ultimately taken me home, but I’m not ready to go home yet, so I jumped ship in Seattle. Before leaving Ketchikan I met a man whose summer job was not working out for him either and he is leaving Alaska today. He’s driving home to his family in Portland and will be coming through Seattle Friday morning. It’s funny how you meet people when you’re traveling.

Monday morning my couch surfing host, Nic took me and all my stuff into town at 6:00 because he and Kaylynne were leaving to go to Kansas City for three weeks. Nic dropped me at the Alaska Fish House, which is owned by another couch surfer, Raffy. Raffy let me stow my stuff, and then I went in search of some coffee. Raffy owns a coffee shop as well, but it’s an outdoor café with only outdoor seating. Kind of strange in a town like Ketchikan- cold and rainy most of the time. After coffee I wandered around town wondering what I should do with my day. At some point I realized that the Deer Mountain trail was only .6 of a mile out of town, so I headed out there to see what it was like. I had heard in town that it wasn’t possible to hike right now because of the snow. Not true! Why do I listen anyway? I started up the trail without a plan, thinking that I would have to shortly turn around. I met several people coming down the trail; no one had made it to the top, but all had enjoyed their hikes, so I continued on. My backpack contained my purse, my computer, all the cables that go with the computer to plug it in and to plug things into it, my journal and a couple books, a few snacks, my raingear and a bunch of odds and ends useless for hiking. I had no water, no compass, no first aid kit; it was all packed in my duffel bag, as I was packed and ready to fly out in the evening. It made no sense for me to continue hiking, but I did anyway. And, it was wonderful! There were no views because it was cloudy, but a beautiful hike nonetheless. The snow at the top was 10 to 15 feet deep. Sometimes I stepped in deep and my boots (at least I had my hiking boots on) got snow down in them. I feel like I made it to the top of the mountain, but I didn’t see a sign saying so; it would have been buried in snow if it were there. I think I ended up hiking seven miles all together. I made my way back to town to have a sandwich and a beer at Raffy’s place.

The Alaska Fish House doesn’t serve beer. Bummer! I really wanted to patronize Raffy’s business because he was so kind to allow me to leave my stuff there. No problem, the guy behind the counter offered to bring my sandwich across the way to Fat Stan’s where I could have my beer. So, that’s what I did. And, that’s where I met Jimmy who is going to drive me to Portland. He and his friend, Chas invited me to sit with them at their little table. I ate my sandwich, drank my beer, and enjoyed the conversation. Chas bought us all a glass of wine, and I learned that Jimmy was heading home. The two of them had been coming to Ketchikan for the past five years to work for the summer, and for some reason Jimmy’s summer wasn’t going as planned and he wanted out. Chas tried desperately to get me to stay. He made phone calls and showed me web sites to work for the company he works for. But, I was done. Done with Alaska, ready to head back to the “other 48.” And, so here I am, waiting to see how life will unfold next.

Before leaving Alaska I filed a report about the dog bite with OSHA, Ketchikan animal control and the Alaska state police. All were on my side in the matter, so hopefully something good will come out of all that.

Something Magical

June 9, 2012 ~ Saturday

I like to write the day because it helps me remember what day it is. They have all become a blur. Things began here in earnest on Thursday. Our first lodge guests arrived in the evening, but before that we had a bit of excitement. Besides lodge guests other people come out to go fishing for a day or to hike. Some folks arrived midday and one of the guys in the group had a stroke or heart attack or something of the sort. It took 40 minutes for a plane to come back for him. He died. Someone said he was in his 70s, but I don’t know exactly how old. Had it happened in town, perhaps he would have lived. Who knows?

Then I met a guy who was also here just to fish for the day; he was at the bar having a glass of wine and asked where I was from. When I told him Virginia, and that I live in Charlottesville, he said “Really! My son just bought a house in Charlottesville.” As it turns out his son dates someone I worked with for a while at Fleurie. It’s a small world. Yesterday I got an email from my friend Michael passing along an email from a long lost friend who was looking for me. It’s so funny how the World Wide Web works and enables things to happen that never could have happened a few years ago. My childhood friend googled me, and found me on the website of the Savvy Sleeper where I had done some work for my friend Michael. The web makes the world even smaller.

Also on Thursday a dog bit me. I had walked out with Nicky to grill some steaks and one of the dogs came up from behind and chomped down on my calf. The bite drew blood. Apparently I am not the first, and apparently they don’t think anything of having a biting dog around. Go figure! I’m not allowed to hike alone for fear of bears, yet it’s ok that the owner’s dog bites me. I don’t feel safe walking around outside the lodge now. I’m terrified of him. Cassandra, my roommate and I went for a hike to the lake this morning, and I freaked out screaming when the dog came out from the house where he lives. Dee came out and got him and we ventured on for a wonderful hike. When I got back I ordered some hot pepper spray. When it comes I’m going to spray him just for good measure and then carry it with me everywhere.

On our hike I got in the river. Oh my, is it cold! I only got in up to my thighs, but that was enough. I love how my skin feels after being in mountain water, all tingly and happy. Nicky’s birthday is on June 12^th and it’s a tradition for her to jump in the bay. She wants us all to join her, but I’m not sure I’ll be up for that. Besides being so cold, the water’s not as nice in the bay. I like mountains streams that run so clear you can see everything in them. We’ll see though, I might.

….. This is kind of a post script to the above entry~

Nicky agreed that the pepper spray was a good idea. The dog is a real problem. I’m not the only one he has bitten. Kevin though didn’t think it was a good idea. He forbade me to use it. “And furthermore” he added, “don’t scream like a banshee every time the dog gets near you. It just aggravates the problem.” How does one control screaming in a situation of be frightened? I told Kevin that I’m not comfortable around the lodge with that dog around and that the pepper spray would make me feel better. He said to stay inside then. He said that it’s a weapon and I cannot have it on his property. So, what it finally came to is me saying that I needed it in order to be there, and him telling me to get out of his lodge. In other words, he fired me. I packed my things, carried them down to the dock, and Captain Dan brought me back to Ketchikan in his boat.

Oh, and it’s a glorious day here! Absolutely beautiful. We didn’t see any wildlife on the hour and a half boat ride, but it was delightful anyway. We also got “pulled over” by the coast guard. It was quite exciting really. Just routine, they didn’t get on the boat or anything. They just asked if we were fishing. We were not. Where were we going? Life jackets? Etc. Pretty simple. I took pictures. Dan was nervous though. I’ll post pictures later. I’m waiting now at Knudson Cove Marina for a couch surfing host to call me back and hopefully give me a place to stay tonight. Beyond that I don’t know what I’m going to do next.

Last night after dinner while we were cleaning up I grabbed the turkey wishbone I had left out to dry a few days ago and asked Brian, the dishwasher to make a wish. I didn’t have a wish in mind, so just wished for something magical to happen. I didn’t tell my wish, but said that I wished something that would benefit all of us. I guess my getting fired was my “something magical.”

And so the adventure continues….. m~

The Why

 June 4, 2012

I’ve been talking about this adventure in Alaska for many months now so when I posted my first blog entry I felt like it didn’t need any explanation. Then when I went through my list of email contacts there were many people I haven’t seen or talked to in quite awhile that I thought would be interested in knowing what I was up to. So, I sent out a mass email and have heard from many, wondering what in the world I am up to. So, here is the explanation….

Oh dear, where do I begin?

Ok, my sister Gillian first told me about Yes Bay Lodge a few years ago after she and her husband Brad, and the whole Wade clan came here for a vacation. She sent me a link to the website and I was intrigued. I didn’t do anything with it then, but last summer or fall or so I started feeling like I needed an adventure. I checked out the website in more detail and clicked on their link for employment. They are very adamant in saying: “do not come here to work if you don’t enjoy long hours and days alone.” I read about the hiking trails and the floatplane adventures, and since I was already enamored with Alaska and the whole idea of wilderness, I thought this was the right adventure for me. After my trek across the country in 2008 I have found that I have a yearning for adventure. I lived off of savings for those three months though and that’s really something one can only do once in a lifetime. So, I’ve thought, what could I do work wise that could support me while I go on another adventure? I returned from my trip in August of 2008 right when the economy was falling apart. I had quit my job months before, and then couldn’t find employment when I got back. A friend suggested catering and told me to get in touch with Lisa at HotCakes. I did and she hired me, and I found that I really enjoyed it. This led to a job waiting tables in a restaurant and more catering work.

So, low and behold I’ve found this wonderful new skill that I can take with me anywhere! And that’s how I’ve ended up in Alaska on this working vacation/ adventure.

It’s beautiful here and I am enjoying myself in spite of the lack of hiking. I have been forbidden to hike alone because of the threat of bears. I get so tired of hearing about bears. I’d sure like to see some though. Oh, I suppose I will eventually, and maybe they will really be a threat. Somehow I doubt it. I will get to hike again too, but there’s really only one hike~ the one I did to McDonald Lake~ that can be done from the lodge. All others require transportation by boat or floatplane. I’ll get to go out on a fishing boat at some point as well. And, the floatplane ride to get here was an adventure in itself. In the meantime I am working out on a treadmill and doing yoga every day. There’s even some dumbbells in the workout room for my enjoyment : )  The view from the treadmill is amazing. However, it makes me want to go and hike the mountain on the other side of the river.

So far the work has been quite easy. I’m helping Nicky, the chef in the kitchen. She is wonderful to work with. Her father who owns and runs the place is a despot.

Oh, and one really funny thing is that everyone that I am working with is young enough to be my child. My roommate is only 20. There are fishing guides a good bit older, and I serve them dinner, but don’t work directly with them. I guess this is the sort of thing people do when they are young, and I am a young 49 ; )

Guests will begin arriving on Thursday this week. Things won’t be quite so laid back then. I will keep helping with prep in the kitchen as well as serve dinner to the guests. I’m looking forward to their arrival. My other favorite things (after hiking) is meeting new people. There will be a lot of that this summer.

Let the adventure begin!

Yes Bay June 2nd

June 2, 2012 Still at Yes Bay Lodge

I got to hike. I’m ok now. Last night a few of the guys (fishing guides) wanted to walk up to fish in the river. I tagged along for the hike. It was raining. Raining in the rainforest. Beautiful. Amazing. I hate hiking in the rain, avoid it at all costs at home. Yet I loved it. I felt refreshed and revived. The guys, three of them, all young enough to be my sons, stopped to fish and I continued on with the dog, Koby. Koby belongs to the owners of Yes Bay Lodge. Some kind of Alaskan bear dog. They actually keep the bears away. I hiked again today with Heidi who is going to be the breakfast and lunch server and Makayla who is a daughter of the owners of the lodge. Makayla was our guide. She explained that the reason Koby kept coming up from behind us was because she was circling around us scanning for bears. I did not once see her go up the trail and back again; she just kept coming up from behind. We hiked all the way to MacDonald Lake. It seemed much further than the mile and a half that it is. It’s tough walking through the rainforest. I got almost as wet today as I did last night in the rain. Everything was wet and the trail is overgrown. I wore a pair of boots borrowed from the lodge. Xtra Toughs they are called, and known as Alaskan sneakers. I would have been SOL with my hiking boots on. The trail was deep mud in many parts and a stream for the rest of it. My Merrells would have been full of mud. At MacDonald Lake there is an island with a forest service cabin on it. Sweet! I’d love to stay there when Thomas comes up for a visit later this summer. It’s complete with a woodstove and a shed full of western red cedar. It was void of inhabitants, but I’m told you can rent it for about $35 a night. To get there from town (Ketchikan) you charter a floatplane for about $500 round trip. Ok, maybe we’ll find something else to do!

I'm am uploading photos to picasa right now, but the internet is really slow so it's taking awhile. 

Yes Bay Lodge~ Ketchikan, AK~ May 31, 2012

Yes Bay Lodge ~ Ketchikan, AK ~ May 31, 2012

Yesterday I arrived in Ketchikan. I took the ferry from the airport to the mainland. There I shared a taxi with a guy named Dave into town. Dave came to Alaska t go hunting with some buddies. He’s from Utah. I came to work at Yes Bay Lodge. The taxi dropped me at the home of my couch surfing host Seth K. Dave wouldn’t let me pay for the taxi, and he carried my duffel bag to the door where he waited until I got the key from under the mat and the door opened. Such a gentleman! The world is full of wonderful people. Seth wasn’t home. A firefighter, he was working until the next morning. Exhausted from traveling across the country in an airplane (several actually) I went to bed at 7:45, fell promptly to sleep, and slept until 4:00 am. Looking at my watch, I thought, “oh no; it’s too early!” so I dozed a bit until 5:00 when Gillian called and woke me up for good. She thought I hadn’t left Virginia yet. It was 9:00 there.

At 7:30 Seth came home and we met for the first time. What a trusting soul to allow a stranger access to his home while he was at work. Great Guy! The world is full of them. He had many things to do to get ready for a kayaking trip to Glacier Bay, but still took the time to drive me to the Yes Bay Lodge office in town. Tina at the office gave me a ride to Walmart where I bought four months worth of toiletries, and some yarn to make an afghan for Thomas. I caught a free shuttle back to town and went all the way downtown to where the cruise ships were docked. Busy place. I had some time to kill so I wandered around a bit. Seth called to make sure I had gotten all that I needed, and when he realized I was downtown he said to go by and see a guy named Raffi who is another couch surfer and owns a café in Ketchikan. I met Raffi and told him I’d be back in town later in the summer. Then I took the shuttle back to the office where I got on a floatplane with a deck hand, Eric, and the pilot, Mark. Mark flew us to the lodge in the rain.

Now that I’m here I’m having big time second thoughts about all of this. I came here thinking that I would be able to hike everyday, and the first thing I’m told is that under no circumstances am I to hike alone. So far there’s no one else that wants to hike. I really don’t want to hike with a partner anyway. I love to hike alone. I need to hike alone. At least a little walk anyway. There’s nowhere to walk here. Oh, there’s a lake a mile and a half away- MacDonald Lake, which would be perfect, but Kevin, my boss and owner of Yes Bay Lodge says it’s not safe because of the bears. Ok then, where can I walk? I can’t he says, and too bad, and if I don’t stop asking there’s going to be trouble. Really? I had in mind a three mile round trip walk to the lake everyday with a  longer hike on my day off and now I’m told this is not going to happen. I’m just not even sure I can stay here. For four months? Yikes!

Internet service is spotty. I'll try to upload some photos later.