Staney Creek Cabin 6.8 thru 6.9.2010

I think it was about 2 hours of driving on Prince of Wales before we arrived at the Staney Creek Cabin trailhead.  The map said the trail is a 1/2-mile, but we think it's shorter than that.  We carried a few things to the cabin for our one-night stay.

Indian paintbrush

Beautiful sunset.  In the morning we saw some seals popping out of the water.  We were surprised to see them in the fresh water.

Chocolate lily

Sarkar Lake 6.9.2010

We drove over to Sarkar Lake. On the way we saw a couple of fawns laying in the road. I guess it's their "defense mechanism" to freeze and huddle. It reminds me of children who think no one can see them when they cover their eyes. It's like a confused game of "peek-a-boo". When we arrived at the lake we unloaded the canoe and all of our gear. Woodsen and Natasha paddled in the canoe. Quent and I were in the rowboat with most of the gear. It's a 2-mile journey across the lake to the cabin.

Woodsen did a little fishing, but I don't believe he caught anything.

A cold bath 6.9.2010

A little while after arriving at Sarkar Lake, Quent and I paddled around the lake to find the perfect bathing spot. It was a beautiful afternoon. We found a shallow, sunlit spot and bathed. The water wasn't super cold, but it wasn't super warm either.

Goosebumps!

Relaxation 6.9.2010 & 6.10.2010

Sarkar Lake was my favorite spot. I think I could live there.


I'm highly opposed to "camp food", so we came up with some more fancy meal plans for the trip. This night we had chicken fajitas.

We enjoyed conversation around the campfire. Quent and Woodsen had ax throwing competitions. Natasha and I tried it a couple of times, too. We enjoyed playing card games inside the cabin. We played 3-13, Hearts, "Idiot", and Nerts.

The second day we were at the cabin, Woodsen was going through his duffle bag in the cabin to find his stash of candy bars. While he searched, he figured out that little critters really enjoy Snickers, too. Bummer! But the big bummer for us was that the little critter came back in the evening to join in the fun. Quent and Natasha slept through Woodsen and I scampering about the cabin trying to kill or remove the shrew from the cabin. It was actually quite comical because Woodsen was making a lot of noise, but Quent and Natasha just slept soundly. I slept with earplugs and I could still hear it making noise. It was unnerving to see the shrew climbing the walls. I'd rather sleep in a tent in a wind storm.

A jaunt through the woods 6.10.2010

Quent and I decided to take the rowboat for a spin. Quent rowed over to a trail that paddlers use to portage their canoe or kayaks to get to another body of water. Another boardwalk trail...

She tried and failed 6.10.2010

After our short walk through the woods, I asked Quent if I could try rowing. He said, "Go for it!" And try I did. And failed. Miserably. It was actually quite pathetic. I was SO uncoordinated.

El Capitan Caves 6.11.2010

We were pretty fortunate to arrive at the cave the time we did because were were just in time for a tour.  There were a lot of people going on the tour, so we had our own personal tour with a guide.  We walked up the many hundreds of steps to the cave entrance.  The guide showed us signs on the tree of flying squirrels...honest.

The cave entrance.

We walked a few hundred feet in when we came to this bat gate.  It's to keep unwanted humans out, but allows bats to fly through since it's their home in the winter.  Pretty spooky!  It was an impressive gate.

We weren't allowed to touch the walls of the cave, which is understandable for preservation reasons, but one couldn't help but touch such a formation to find out if it was as slimy as it looked.  (It wasn't)

Our happy little group.  This was the only picture of Quent in the cave.

I seem to recall Woodsen hitting his head on the rocks a lot.  Good thing he had a helmet on.  It was tricky ducking under some of the rock.

One of my least favorite things about Southeast Alaska (there aren't too many) are all of the boardwalk steps.  Thankfully, Ketchikan has a lot of trails that I refer to as "normal".

We drove through Whale Pass (nobody blink or they might miss it) to another cave.

It was pretty cool!

Sweetwater Lake cabin 6.11.2010

This was our last night on Prince of Wales. We stayed at the Sweetwater Lake cabin. The four of us piled into a rowboat with our gear and Quent rowed us less than a mile to the cabin. It was an overcast evening, but the lake was calm and beautiful. We were enjoying the calm while there was a storm brewing in Ketchikan.


One of the cool (cough) things about this cabin was the door less outhouses...

Such a beautiful spot!

I was enjoying the campfire "stools".

We had another mouse visitor, which I wasn't too happy about. Would Woodsen and I spend another night chasing mice? I did wake up in the middle of the night because it was probably about 90 degrees in the cabin. It was a gross, stifling heat. Woodsen accidentally turned the stove to "high" before going to bed. Oops!

We took the IFA "Stikine" ferry back to Ketchikan on the 12th of June. We had to get up at 4:45 to have enough time to pack up and drive back to the ferry terminal. Once we boarded the ferry, I smelled the after-effects of what one does when feeling seasick. I guess it was a pretty crazy ferry ride the day before during the storm. After spending four nights on Prince of Wales and not seeing much of civilization, it was interesting going back to Ketchikan. I missed the quietness of nature.

These were the last of the pictures we took while Natasha and Woodsen visited us. It's always so sad saying goodbye.

Storm 10.13.10

Tonight thru tomorrow will be our third storm this week.  This is our current forecast according to Wunderground:

... High Wind Warning remains in effect until 10 am akdt

Thursday...


A High Wind Warning remains in effect until 10 am akdt Thursday.


* Wind: sustained winds 45 to 55 mph with gusts up to 90 mph.


Precautionary/preparedness actions...


A warning means that high winds are already occurring or


imminent. These winds could pose a threat to life and property.


People are urged to secure loose objects that could be blown


around or damaged by the wind.


Be sure to protect boats and aircraft.


These winds could cause branches to fall onto power lines.


This statement will be updated by 11 PM akdt tonight or sooner if


conditions warrant.