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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Design by Holly |
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| 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.
