The last Saturday of the season!

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  My last Saturday tour of the season, and I was happy to have had a great group of people with me to enjoy the beautiful fall day.  In less than four weeks, the trail went from lush greens to rusty autumn colors.

The end of the trail (August 22), still green.

Sept. 17

 
 






   
On our approach to the lake we saw four bald eagle's, two of which were immature.  One of the immature's seemed to be having an issue with leaving the water, and after
careful consideration, he opened his wings and attempted a takeoff.  The lack of inexperience left him struggling to regain his posure.



  Only minutes later he lifted off and flew across the water toward a dead tree at the opposite end of the lake.  On his final approach he was too far to the right and missed the tree, crashing in the willows, leaving everyone that was watching awe-struck. 
  Eventually the young eagle figured it out and was able to leave the willows and perch on top of the tree. 
  After sitting for a few moments he left the tree and flew back across the lake, landing in yet another tree.  I caught his first successful flight on film!
 

Hi in Pittsburg

 
For all of you who followed my blog this summer!  Here are some of the most asked questions on the trail.
1. Were you born here?  No
2. How long have you been here? A long time.
3. Why did you move here? I came up here 17 years ago hunting with my Dad, and fell in love with it.
4. What do you do in the winter? Hunker down and hold on. OR I'm not sure yet, but lot's of snowshoeing with Jake (dog).  I will be blogging this winter about snowshoeing.
5. Are we going to see any bears?  Maybe! Bears are never a guarantee, if they come out we'll see them.
6. What kind of bears are on the trail?  Black bears and Brown bears.
7. Have you ever seen them on the trail? Yes.
8. What do you do if you see them on the trail?  This is a good one!  Most of the time black bears are a streak as they leave the trail.  Brown bears are a bit different in the attitude department, and expect to be respected and that is just what I do.   If I come around a corner on the trail and see one, I make sure it sees me immediately and then I sit quietly and give it time to walk on down the trail and disappear.  These guys for the most part are happy bears, as they are fish fattened all summer. 
9. Do you carry protection on the trail?  YES!!  ALWAYS!!
10. Have you ever had to use it.  No.
11. Are there any moose up here? I saw tracks of one young solitary moose in the early spring.

HAVE A GREAT WINTER!

Good-bye to July!

The end of the trail.... Chilkoot Lake in the distance.

   The end of July already?  The fireweed has grown high and flowered and is now standing with barely a flower on it's stem.  Jerry says, "only six weeks until winter after the flowers fall off," so, by Jerry's calculations it looks like we may have about eight weeks to go. 

Happy 4th

    One morning last week a storm was blowing in with winds hustling out of the south, turning the sea water from smooth to, too rough for a small boat.   Jerry and I were sitting on the front porch with our morning coffee, of course discussing the rain that was coming our way.  The weather is a big topic of conversation in Alaska mostly because, we work, fish and play in it.  We don't have time when working or fishing to wait for good weather, that may never come.  With seasonal work being our main livelihood, we work through until winter.
   Our discussion on the weather had played out and we were sitting quietly on the porch watching it all roll past, when we heard a whistle coming our way,  that was obviously unmistakable, "a whistle in the wind."  Jerry and I turned to look at each other, as we both new what we just heard, " the first howling wind of winter," an eerie sound, too.

  I haven't seen even a hint of a brown bear on the trail now in weeks, with all the salmon running into Chilkoot Lake they have all made a mad dash to put on as much fat as they can before it's time to go to sleep for the winter. 

The black bear seem to be quite happy with their grumpy old cousins, making tracks to the lake, with all the blueberries, moss berries and a few inedible ones as far as we're concerned, they have a big dinner plate in front of them and they don't have to fight for it.  I am sure though the bigger black bears sneak onto the river somewhere, whenever given the chance and snag a few fish. 

Black bear tracks seem to be all over the trail lately, and one in particular is a cinnamon colored black bear sow with a cub.  I have followed her tracks more than a couple of times on the section of the trail above the lodge.
  
 Just a few days ago, as a group of guests and I were preparing to head up the trail from the lodge, the sow showed herself then quickly disappeared back into the trees.  We all got on our mules and started up the trail.        

   As we started up the trail I knew their was a chance she might still be close and that I was going to have to watch for her.  After only making it a few yards up the trail, the sow ran across in front of us.  She ran a few yards into the trees then stopped and turned back, not knowing what she was doing I yelled at her, and just as I did her cub ran across the trail to her.  The sow seemed to be a bit upset that we were there and she turned toward us two more times, each time she turned I yelled.  After a few seconds of confusion and checking her cub to make sure it was untouched, she disappeared back into the trees.   The guests that were close enough had a first hand look at a sow taking care to keep her cub safe; "Witnessing nature in motion."

Jake happily entertaining the guests

Great Days on the Trail

Immature Bald Eagle

   Early in the spring I walked the Chilkoot River when it was flowing only ankle deep, looking for fishing lures that had been lost during the prior fishing season.  I found a few rusted pieces and some fishing line, which I balled up and put in my pocket to discard.  A beautiful day though for early spring and I made the most of it.  Although there was not much as far as wildlife, other than eagles and a seagull or two hoping for a small morsel of anything the river could bring to them.  Now, three month's later the river is flowing deep and full of life.
   
  
The fish weir is about a third of the way up the road, and at any given time when the salmon are running, you will see a park official sitting in the middle of the weir, counting the salmon as they make their way up the river and into the lake to spawn.
The local bears know the weir is the easiest place to catch the salmon and so, they frequent the area. Signs on both sides of the weir warn driver's that it is illegal to stop between them. The signs help to give safe passage to the bears trying to get back and forth across the road or simply, their own space. There are area's along the road to park and take in the scenery.
  

After driving along the one mile river, the road opens up into a state maintained campground and boat launch.  Visitors can camp and enjoy fishing the lakes many different species of fish.  The lake is glacier fed and is surrounded by the Takshanuk and Coast Mountain ranges, on the south end of the lake is the headwaters of the Chilkoot River.

On a calm day, the lake produces a mirror like image of the mountains that make it easy on the eyes, to simply sit back and get caught up in the moment.

This sow brown bear is one of the parks resident bears you may see fishing on the river. 

All three cubs are fighting over Jake's rope they found laying in the yard.  When they left, they took the rope with them and dropped it down over the hill, which Jake found a few days later.

A playful moment

The last two weeks have been the "coming out" for the bears.  I have seen a few black bears, a big boar brown bear, a sow brown bear with two cubs, ( on the Chilkat River) and the collared sow brown bear with her three cubs.  Oh, yea; with all the excitement about bears, I forgot to mention, I saw a cow moose along the Haines Highway too.

This black bear tried sneaking pass my room early one morning a few days ago, but could not escape Jake's nose.  Jake was way ahead of schedule sounding the alarm, it was another five minutes until the bear crested the hill toward the back of the building, and acting almost as if it didn't know were were watching, all the while Jake lay still, watching and growling.  Then.....it suddenly stopped!  It glanced down at me long enough for me to take this photo and then continued on. 

Most of these bears however, will soon be on the rivers fishing for the Sockeye Salmon that are beginning their migration back to the place they were born, to spawn and begin a new cycle of salmon.

Sign along the Park road

As we were preparing for another trip up the trail, I received a special request from Cheyenne and Riley's (Tiger) Father; they would like me to personally escort them on the trail.  They both enjoyed playing in the bit of snow that was left at the lake.  Cheyenne was having fun sneaking up on me and hitting me with snowballs.  The three of us had a great day and many interesting conversations, and it's no wander; our birthdays are all in the same week of November, making us Scorpio's. Hi, to my friends Cheyenne, Tiger, Mom and Dad in Australia.

A Whale of a Month

Stumpy keeping an eye on us

   This is the view I have seen many times in the last three weeks from my front porch.  A  Humpback has been circling the inlet in search of food.   A few guests have seen it from the bottom of the trail, and others have watched it rising out of the water from the lodge, at eleven hundred feet.
  I chased it with my camera several times and this is the best shot it presented me with.
 Although, when my camera isn't nearby, I have seen it rise straight up out of the water head first with it's mouth open, feeding.
  I am guessing it is only about twenty feet long at the most,  just a baby in the "whale world."  Jerry named him " Stumpy" because of his small size. 
   Also, a small Orca, or it's famous name "Killer Whale",  beached itself at the end of the inlet for unknown reasons.
  I am seeing more and more whales in the water as summer approaches. And..... The King Salmon are here too!

Sunrise over Lutak Inlet

    The bear tracks that we have been seeing at the lake since early spring are gone with the snow.  It seems to me, the bear wintered on the side of the mountain and called the lake area it's home for a few weeks, while waiting for summer.  They are out and about now and looking for their spring breakfast of skunk cabbage and grubs.  The skunk cabbage grows along the trail and has a distinct smell, " SKUNK," it also resembles a cabbage. " What a combination!  It does however, keep the bears somewhat happy until the salmon fill the rivers.
   We have spotted a few bears at the lodge, twice while guests were inside quietly eating their halibut meal.  Just last week as we came down the trail to the lodge, we saw a black bear off to the side of the parking lot hiding behind a stack of logs.  A few days later I was riding with a couple from Hershey PA, when we turned a corner to find a black bear standing broadside on the trail, a second later it was simply a black streak and gone.

A couple of Merganser's enjoying the sun

   Everyone is happy when the fish come.  Eagle's get their fish easily, by swooping down, a quick glide over the water with the landing gear down and lift off picking one out of the water. After landing safely on the river bank, they must then fight off seagulls and other birds that constantly hound them for whatever they can get.
   Bears simply walk into the water, watch for the right moment and swoop one up with their long sharp claws, they place it in their mouth and walk to the river's edge where it's safe to put it down and begin eating.  In most cases bears will only pull the skin off of the fish and eat it.  The skin of a salmon is rich in fats and proteins and bears need to put as much weight on as they can before winter sends them scurrying back to their dens.

A Sandpiper inching closer to me for a picture

  

  Except for a few chilly days in mid May and one or two drizzly days, the weather has been cooperating quite well.   Mother nature has been nice enough to throw in a few days where the temperature's reached just above seventy in the sun, " A warm day for us", and welcomed with open arms. 
  
  
  
  

Warm and sunny day for the kids on the trail.

Jerry in charge at the lodge



Twins at the lake

The weather turned chilly yesterday after only a couple of warm days, and with it came the gray clouds and winds that moved in overnight.  The winds seemed to be more exaggerated at the lake, so we spent a few minutes in what seemed like a wind tunnel and headed toward the end of the trail, where they wouldn't be shooting down off the side of the mountain in a whirlwind.  Everyone had a good time and enjoyed the meal, as usual. 


  
  

     

Our practice run with friends and family




Ronnie hitting the high notes.



  

Our first tour of the summer season kicked off with a practice run that included friends and family members.  Our driver Ronnie started off by joking and telling stories, then before one of the last guests arrived, he asked if we would sing "happy birthday" to her as she boarded the bus.

As soon as everyone was on board, we were en route to the trail head. 



At the trail head.

   

When everyone was seated on one of our Kawasaki Mules and comfortable, I began the pre-trip speech; "how to start up and ride a mule safely," I often remind guests whenever we stop, “pull on your parking brake", “I don't lasso mules!"

  
We then began our ascent to 1100 feet, navigating through 19 switchback turns and endless rain forest, before reaching the lodge. The views from the lodge are spectacular and always send guests scrambling for their cameras and sometimes binoculars.

Looking across Lutak Inlet you see the Coast Mountain Range, which begins at the north end of the Southeast Alaska Panhandle at the Kelsall and Tatsenshini Rivers and runs south along the Pacific Coast ending near the Fraser River in British Columbia. The mountains are high and heavily glaciated blocking storms that come in off of the Pacific Ocean that release large amounts of rainfall, thus creating southeast Alaska's rain forest. The mountain range is also part of the Pacific Rim of Fire, making some area's volcanic.

 

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Holly at the lake on the backside of
Mt. Ripinsky.

 
After the guests take a break, and enjoy the fresh baked cookies and drinks, we get back on board the mules and head up the trail passing by waterfalls, crossing over a bridge with a mountain stream rushing below to an alpine lake at the backside of Mount Ripinsky. The mountain is approximately 3600' high and is used for all kinds of activities. There are three hiking trails to the summit, two of which start at opposite ends of the mountain and one that is steep and treacherous from the bottom to the top. In the winter the mountain provides winter sports, such as snowshoeing, and cross country skiing. The higher elevations turn sub-alpine and support a good food source for the mountain goats that make it their home. The mountain is also home to grouse, which you quite often hear, "hooting” from a distance. Also, on the mountain are black bears and brown bears and sometimes they‘ll show themselves for a picture or two.” REMEMBER", bears frequent the area, and all of southeast Alaska, and at all times need to be respected.

 



Suzy and I at the end of the trail.

 
The end of the trail provides views of the Takshanuk and Coast Mountain Ranges that surround Lutak Inlet and in the far back Chilkoot Lake, which means, "Big Fish". The lake is home to Dolly Varden and the many salmon that travel thousands of miles returning home to spawn in its water.

The first run of salmon will soon start trickling into Lutak Inlet and then up the famous Chilkoot River heading for the lake to spawn the next generation of salmon.

Waiting for their arrival are bears, fishermen and the many different types of "birds of prey," including bald eagles, and seagulls that scavenge anything that is left on the banks of the river.

 

Design by Holly







The crew

  After many pictures and talk about the area, we head back down to the lodge, for beer battered halibut, chicken, roasted potatoes, cole slaw, and a scrumptious pistachio fruit salad, but you have to come here to get the recipe.

                                                                                    



                                                                                    







First week on the trail

"What's the rabbit button mean?"

The trail is in need of some serious maintenance after a long cold winter, so BJ ( Queen bee of the operation )  jumps on the excavator and goes to work loading two work mules with dirt and rock.  After the mules are loaded we head up the trail together, dump the dirt onto the trail where it needs to be filled in and then rake it all out smoothly.  Together we have hauled approximately twenty five loads in three days, it is not an easy task and my body seems to be letting me know quite rudely, with all it's aches and pains.  Well, I guess that's what I get for not keeping in good shape.  Anyway.....                                                                      



BJ showing me how it's done.

 I raked the dirt mostly on the first day and then found that shoveling seemed to be easier, so I shovelled the dirt and BJ raked it.  Did I forget to mention the bear tracks that followed the trail up? We have been working right along side of them, not that I want to see any on the trail while working, but they are a reminder that our beautiful brownies are awake once again.

 The Eulachon (Candle fish) are in the Chilkoot River by the thousands now, and I bet there are a few bears having more than their fare share.   The fish have little chance as they make their way toward the river, by way of the Lynn Canal.  Not only do the bears love them, but I have seen everything from eagles, seagulls, ravens, seals and sea lions in to eat the tiny fish.   I have even heard a report that a Killer Whale has been seen.  Whenever a big run of fish comes to town, there is always a few followers in tow to receive their share.  For a recipe to cook Candle fish, just google it up.

   These two guys did not want their pictures taken, so it took some time and running up and down the waters edge and lots of pictures that didn't do them justice. 
                                                                                                                                                                   

We found the Candle fish!