Dangerous Rivers, Solstice Sunsets, and Prehistoric Pike!

Maria crossing the glacial stream- don't fall!

Middle Dangerous:
One of the most beautiful days in Yakutat (I think it hit 75 that day!), Maria, Susan, Teresa, & I (and the 3 dogs (Lexi, Keechay, and Echo) had a ladies-only hike out to the Middle Dangerous River Cabin.  It was sunny and just lovely! The warmth was welcome especially when we crossed one of the streams that forks off from the Dangerous to get to our sweet lunch spot.

A little about the Dangerous River: First of all, it's called the Dangerous River, so that right there should drop some hints.  It's a glacially fed river, come down from Harlequin Lake. That being said- it is murky and you can't see your foot 1 inch under the water, and it is COOOOLLLDDDD!!!

I've jumped into the Kennebec a few times before Memorial Day, so I like to think I've handled cold water, but I also spent a year snorkeling in Samoa and am absolutely a baby when it comes to cold water now. I wasn't bothered at all by the sharp rocks on my bare feet (how could I be, if my feet were going numb!?); I RAN across that thing like it was hot lava.  I did not understand how the other ladies were bothered by the rocks enough to cross the stream slowly-  it was PAINfully cold!  I remember telling myself (I may have actually been screaming it) to think of how hot and sweaty I was in Samoa while scampering across it, yelping and shrieking.

our lunch spot was worth the stream crossing!

The Solstice
After the perfect day of hiking, we returned home and a perfect night followed that perfect day.

I'm still not ready to try to put our solstice experience from the Chateau del suenos (our house of dreams) into words...but I will try.

The solstice. was. stunning. Maria and I camped out on our porch, and I'm 100% certain that it was the most divine sunset I've ever seen. The artistic masterpiece of a higher being at work! Mount St. Elias was on FIRE as Maria and I raced up our stairs outside the house to get a better view, expressing our joy through the giddy squeals that escaped our bodies. As a sprinted up the stairs after Maria, I added, "all we need now are some whales for the camera!". And Yakutat, in its punctual delivery of perfection from the natural world, delivered porpoises.  All we could do was laugh as we heard the spouts of water coming from the pod swimming across the bay in front of our house.

We stood speechless for a while, and we knew that this moment, the glimpse into a universe greater than ourselves would hardly be shared with the rest of the world (It was 11:30 at night and we could not comprehend where even were our neighbors?! How could they not come out even for a glimpse!??!), by word or cameras. One friend did stop by to lay his eyes on the pure beauty.As many pictures and videos as I took that night, the moment was unable to be captured. I remember thinking how so few people get to experience this moment, this kind of moment; one of wonder. Something sacred and transcendent; very expressive of the capabilities of the natural world, or whatever force you shall owe it to. There was definitely something bigger at work there. Some might say God, others may find themselves in awe of science. I don't really know where I stand, but I can appreciate whatever reasoning someone may find behind it. I guess that's what makes me a good U.U?


After feasting our eyes and gaining our breath back after hollering our happiest of joys, we went back down to the bottom porch, and did what anyone would do in such a moment. We turned on some Journey and danced to the heavens!  The mountains had never seemed so close or clear, the water had never reflected such an orange.  Each moment got better.

I've been trying to upload a video of it but not having much luck. The pictures can try, but only try, to do the sacrosanct instant some justice.

Pike Lakes
Out on Forest Highway-10 in Yakutat, there are a bunch of remote lakes that are only accessible by game trails that have been stomped down just a bit by the few who know how to navigate out to them (like Nate!). We also needed to get data from some hobo temperature monitors out there anyway for a climate study.  I can't believe I was debating NOT going out there with Nate, Bill, and Susan, but once Nate told me that Pike Lakes was probably a place I probably wouldn't get out to again, I had to go!

This system of lakes is home to a genetically unique type of pike; ones that are surprisingly more genetically similar to eastern Pike than the pike out west. These lakes are so unique because the area they are located in was not glaciated during the last ice age, creating this distinct micro-ecosystem in Yakutat.  So, I guess that means these huge prehistoric pike are pretty special! I've read that the pike out there can grow to 40 inches, and eat basically anything you cast at them; points that I believe after having fished out there!

Nate set up my rod with something that looked like a mouse, since I guess the pike eat mice that try to swim across the lake. After moving to a new spot to cast from, I was setting up my rod with the lure out over the water and all of a sudden felt the pole jerk straight out of my grip. "Jeeeezzzzussss!" I gasped with surprise.  I can't properly say that I caught that pike- I'm pretty sure he caught me.  It was totally gorgeous out there, wading around the lake....minus the bugs.

Excuse my immensely poor fish-handling skills- I'm learning! Sorry fish!

Other events!
We've gone out shrimping and crabbing trips, as well as some halibut fishing. The shrimp and crab pots always come up filled with lots of huge sunstars that are attracted to the bait and they need to be peeled off- so cool! Also.. I never thought I could work in the butchery section of a grocery store, but now I am guilty of helping to process black bear. Nate shot his first (a moment he said was not one he wants to remember) so that he can have red meat the rest of the year (it's silly to eat nasty meat from far away that had a terrible life when you can get as grass-fed, local, organic meat from right in your backyard here!).  As difficult as it is to think of a bear being killed, it's important to see exactly where your food comes from, and here, bear is a much better answer in terms of sustainability than beef from some CAFO from the lower 48.

Nugget!

I've missed a few big events in my blog including the Tern Festival in which I got to learn how to band birds and had a barn owl named Nugget and falcon named Phil from the Juneau Raptor Center stay at the bunkhouse with me!

Phil!

Putting the band w/ ID number on his leg

Wilson's warbler!

We also did some tern observations out on Black Sand Spit searching for birds with geolocators attached to them.

At the end of June we had the annual Family Fishing Day, which I was in charge of organizing this year. Basically there are lots of fish related games (like pin the tail on the sockeye, facepainting, fish tshirt printing, etc) and family's come and fish down the on the docks with their kids.  We had a splendid day for it, and I got a nice sunburn (something I didn't think would happen in Yakutat!)  Smokey the Bear even made an appearance!

Smokey the Bear, dancing

Teresa, Amanda, me, Elyse, and Sarah after the color run 5k during Tern Festival (kids threw chalk dust at us in the woods)

How we celebrated the 4th of July after the village parade.. Alaskan white= yuumm!

:) Baby tern snuggled in his nest out on Black Sand Spit

Wild Thang!

It's been a looonnnggg time since I wrote, a good combination between poor internet and little motivation to be on a computer rather than outside! Here's what I've been meaning to write about for a while now, sorry for the delay!

Several weeks ago we had our USFS safety week, which was 4 days of activities like swift water rescue (in which my "dry" suit left me soaking wet!), rifle training, aviation survival training, learning to use a fire extinguisher (you think you know how to use one but have you ever actually practiced!?), and bear safety. I have since then decided who of my coworkers I would want to stay close to during the apocalypse.

Nate's photo in his backyard..... yup that happened. Credit: Nate Catterson

I was also able to experience the CUTEST wildlife encounter. My supervisor was having coffee at his counter one morning while watching a moose have her calf in his backyard. Not something everyone can say they've witnessed!  The moose and her calf were in his yard for several days, I guess thinking it'd be a safe place to hunker down and rest up and hide from bears (even though a game trail runs right through his yard). I walked over to his house and looked through the binoculars at the adorable baby moose. GAHHHH!!! He got some amazing pictures. I wonder if Grandpa Cleaver ever had got to see a moose take its first steps?

Nate's spawning steelhead photo- we waded the Situk to get some good photos for "Don't Tread on Redd" signs

The Mallott's Guest House

Also a while ago: Tom and Patricia (both teachers here), and their son had my friend Maria & I over to enjoy the view from their house and Patricia's famous Filipino cooking. Maria and Patricia have been very close friends during Maria's 10 months here (she's an Americorps envtl education volunteer in the school). Our other friend brought over fresh shrimp from his shrimp pots which was literally the most amazing thing I've ever tasted. Putting "local" into a new context when you can see where your dinner comes from (and who caught it) while eating it!  I believe Tom has lived in Key West before, and Patricia is from the Philippines.  A little about their house- they live in the Mallott's guest house, which is literally OVER the water. The porch hangs out over the high tide line of Yakutat Bay, and holds probably the nicest view in town of snow-capped Mt. Saint Elias, stunning sunsets, and porpoises swimming through the bay daily. It's a small house (reminds me of the tiny house movement but is definitely bigger than that) with a ladder that goes up to the loft, and 1 bedroom and a tiny bathroom. It is a dream house!  I remember searching "Yakutat" on Google Images and the above picture came up- and thinking, "wow, I have to find that house!" And within a few weeks of visiting Yakutat... I was eating dinner in it! Patricia made a Thanksgiving Dinner's worth of DELICIOUS food, including spring rolls- my favorite- followed by key lime cheesecake. Can life get better?

Why yes, yes it can. That amazing house pictured above? I now live in it.  Tom & Patricia and their son live in Haines for the summer, and their usual renter during the summer is not staying in their Yakutat house, so they offered to have us rent it. We have named it the Chateau del suenos (a bilingual name for "Castle of Dreams"). My first morning here was the lowest low tide of the year I believe, so we jumped out of bed once we woke up, and ran down the steps to do some Saturday morning science in the intertidal zone (before changing out of our PJs or having coffee)!  We found HUGE sunstars (the largest I've ever seen), lots of barnacles, limpets, and some other invertebrates.  I decided someday I'll write a children's book titled, "Coffee with Crustaceans".

Saturday morning science!  kids: don't touch the marine life

size comparison!

absolutely cruisin- look at those skid marks

Typical sunny day view from the Chateau

One evening, we noticed an absurd amount of eagles and ravens flying overhead. There are several eagle nests all around our house, and seeing them everywhere is not atypical for Alaska. But there was a continuous stream all headed in the same direction up the beach from us, and quite a raucous, so we decided to check it out. We walked down the beach and saw- I kid you not- at least 30 bald eagles in 1 giant group on the rocky beach. We could see what looked like blood inside their circle, and we began taking pictures, video, and looking through the binoculars to figure out what the bloodbath massacre was!  We still never figured out what it was- seemed like too much blood for a fish, but may have been something the neighbors threw down onto their beach. I've never seen anything like it. There were eagles not only down on the rocks, but also across the stream on the island nearby, and smaller eagles (which I guess were intimidated by the dominant adult males) sitting in the nearby tree tops, waiting for their turn to have a seat at the feast.  Maria and I got jealous- nobody invited us to the eagle party! We imagined how even more amazing our pictures could have been with some of the fancy cameras our other buddies in Alaska have.

Eagle party

photo taken through binoculars.... this is why I need a new camera!

Eagle outside our house

crazy eyes

I still haven't gotten used to the beauty of Yakutat. It does rain a lot here, after all it is a rainforest, but every clear, sunny day that I can see the mountains from Yakutat is jaw-dropping.  People here know how to do such interesting things that I would never have a reason to learn about elsewhere- such as canning salmon, smoking fish, etc. I'm hoping the smoker gets used soon and I learn how to smoke some salmon!

This place is like living in a zoo and aquarium all at once.  The other day we were out on the boat and saw a brown bear sow and her not 1, not 2, but THREE cubs with her on an island in the bay.  Today we went halibut fishing and to check Nate's crab pot and while out we were surrounded by porpoises, whales, caught a big orange octopus, and pulled up several crabs with a sculpin in the pot.

fishing for halibut, but caught an octopus!

we debated making calamari, but ultimately let him go.

It's insane!!! Compared to what the rest of the world probably did on a Sunday, I'd say I got to see some of the best of what this sweeeeet place has to offer.   I still have a lot more writing to catch up on some of the most exciting events of the past month (such as learning how to gut a bear and the barn owl and falcon that were living in the bunkhouse with us for a few days during the Tern Festival), but at least this is a start! 

The Sake of the Fish

My first week here 8 people from the University of Alaska (Juneau) stayed with me in the bunkhouse. They were working in Yakutat High School for a few days doing some survival and outdoor skills with the kids, and during every other waking hour they were out fishing. 6 are male students, 1 is a man who is a professor at the school, and there was 1 girl about my age who toughed out a week with the boys! She knows her stuff about fly fishing- learned from a young age with her brother and father, currently works at a fly shop in Juneau, and holds a great respect for the fish- much like our family was taught to do. She doesn't worry about the number of fish you catch, or taking them home, or holding them up as a display of dominance. We discussed how fishing shouldn't be about competing with other people and trying to prove yourself to others (as many of the boys in her group do). There are true ethics behind fishing that I guess not everyone was taught or cares enough about. Having an understanding of the fish- whether it's scientific or almost a spiritual connection- is what makes fishing so satisfying (although on occasion a good dinner also makes it quite worth it! But not with steelhead, as it is an entirely catch and release fishery).

I think I am understanding more and more why Grandpa fished, and how to him, fishing was so much more than just fishing. It certainly is for me. Just being in the presence of these strong, vibrant, beautiful fish is humbling- contemplating their precarious, long journeys between river and sea, up waterfalls, dodging around fishermen's hooks and bear claws and simply even trying to gain a sense of the lives of these amazing creatures; -if only we could hear their stories!  It is not so much about the waiting versus the catching but about the patience, respect, and knowledge that is gained in the process of fishing and through learning how to fish.

Relearning how to cast a fly rod- been a while!

I get worried that everything that Grandpa knew about fishing- and the fish- will be lost with him. I know we have his fish journals, and I know we have his stories, and I know the importance of what our family has learned and what we have documented, as in my cousin Anna's manuscript.  But how I wish I had been old enough, mature enough, and interested enough to truly learn what I could have from him.  However, in a way, I do feel like this is what he would've wanted- my own quest to take on and learn myself, having the rivers as well as his teachings to guide me. I think that, after all, is probably the best way to learn.  A foundation of love of the fish is what he left for me, for us; and it is up to each of us to decide whether and how we will use it, what we will learn from it, and where it will take us.

To be able to catch wild steelhead- when populations everywhere else are plummeting, or even just see pods and pods of them stagnant or darting beneath the surface, is something few are fortunate enough to experience, and I cherish every moment of it.

In my new waders!

One thing I do know is that Grandpa would be proud that his granddaughter finally wears waders! Thank you, USFS! Plenty of work I do this summer will require them, and I've already used them a number of times.

With my black rockfish

My first time fishing out here (which was also my first time ocean fishing!), Nate brought me out on his skiff and we trolled two poles. I reeled in a black rockfish, and later that evening he caught a decent sized King Salmon.  What a magnificent fish; I can't help but think that phrase every time I see any fish here, and I find myself saying it often! I still have so many mixed feelings regarding catching these glorious, huge creatures, even if we are eating them and they do not go to waste, but my dissonance there is too complex for me to even sort out enough to write about.

Nate with a King Salmon

Nate also took me out on the Situk to do some fly fishing (we hiked a ways in from the road in our waders, which got warm!) and try to get some underwater photos of spawning steelhead for some "Don't Tread on Redd" conservation posters with his sweeeeet heavy underwater camera.  Yakutat, as I'm sure is true of coastal Alaska in general, provides one with much to learn about fisheries management that doesn't involve school; I am reluctant to think heading back in to the classroom for graduate school is where I will learn the most!

I am doing my best to take in as much as I can about the management and conservation of these fisheries while I am here, gaining knowledge from sources and people who have been studying and working towards conserving these fish for years.  It's weird how we develop certain interests and passions that energize us for some reason, while other people are driven by entirely different desires.  I'm not really sure that I can say I am drawn to this work because of Grandpa and my family's fishing history, because I feel I was too young to understand much of it or be influenced this greatly by it. But it must come from somewhere! For whatever reason that I do it, I do it in Grandpa's words: For the Sake of the Fish.

Disenchantment Bay

Last Thursday my supervisors, our boat captain Glen (a commercial fishermen who also works for the USFS) and I went on a journey to see Haenke or Egg Island in Disenchantment Bay. I bet there's a funny story behind the name “Disenchantment Bay”, like the early explorers traveled way up it in search of a passage and all they found was ice, haha! Disenchantment Bay is where the famous Hubbard Glacier is.

 

crazy looking cave in the rock

The reason for our trip in Glen’s skiff was that local Tlinget elders had been requesting the USFS survey Egg Island concerning the potential to burn some vegetation to free up the gull nesting habitat.  A Tlinget tradition involves going to Haenke Island to collect gull eggs for harvest, and apparently generations ago less vegetation was crowding the island and many more gulls nested there. Although this subsistence harvesting isn’t necessary for survival anymore, it is still an important part of Tlinget culture and tradition.  Susan concluded that we will have to speak with the elders more about their observations and what they know from years past, but now the Forest Service has a better idea of what the habitat on Haenke Island looks like.

Why hello there, ice berg!

The view that morning down at the dock in Yakutat was only the beginning of views unlike any I had ever seen. My camera couldn’t begin to capture the view of fishing boats tied at the dock with evergreen islands in the background and deep blue water, bordered by white-capped mountains in the distance.

This trip up to Haenke Island and the glaciers, while maneuvering our way in between ice bergs and surrounded by snow-covered mountains was by far the coolest thing I’ve done in Alaska (no pun intended)! People here keep telling me how lucky I am to have had the chance to go up there- especially within my first week here! Most volunteers never have the opportunity, even though Disenchantment Bay is a hotspot for the cruise ships that come through Yakutat. I really can’t describe the trip up there, and the pictures hardly do it justice.  We had a gorgeous day for the trip, which was good because it was cold for me even in the sun and had it been colder and rainy (as is typical in SE Alaska, but sure hasn’t been so far for me) I would have been really freezing.  We motored our way through the islands in Yakutat Bay and between Knight Island and shore.  The view of the mountain range and Mt. St. Elias was breathtaking.  We passed point Latouche and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees as we rounded the corner in the skiff to Disenchantment Bay. Numerous porpoises glided out of the sparkling glacier-blue water (which is very similar to Caribbean blue water, but quite a bit colder!)  High on a mountain peak we could see bear tracks in the snow, heading right over the top of the mountain down to the other side. 

 

Haenke (Egg) Island

On the island we saw many glaucous gulls, kittiwakes, and a few oystercatchers either resting on the cliffs, searching for food, or a few even nesting on shore. We also saw a peregrine falcon and got a good look at him through the binocs. We could only walk a small part of the island because the beach was blocked on either side by rocky cliffs or bolders. On the way back in the boat we did a little bit of trolling but didn’t have any luck, though we ran into several other groups of fishermen who said they had caught lots. We did however, see many eagles and a few brightly colored seastars as we trolled along slowly near the shore.

 

This trip was surely jaw dropping. There isn’t much more to describe that pictures won’t do a better job of illustrating.

View of Hubbard Glacier and Egg Island from a distance

Hubbard Glacier

Glen's boat from the shore of Haenke Island