Well, it's another rainy day here in Yakutat, which has been the case for about 90% of the time during the past 3 months. You'd think the rain would eventually have to stop at some point, but evidently not. I guess there's not much hope for better weather now since September is when the heavy rains usually begin. Anyways, I've learned to cope with rain, and still get out as much as I can so its all good but I have to say I'm looking forward to a HOT SUNNY BEACH somehwere!.
Its very hard to believe that I'll only be here for 2 more weeks! I'm amazed more and more, as I grow older, at how fast time passes us by! You definitely have to live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment! So far, I think I'm doing a pretty good job of that!
The pics I have here are from my trip up to the Tsiu River on Monday. Its about 120 miles West of here along the coast and right now the Coho Salmon are running up the rivers so i's a pretty popular fishing spot for both sport and commercial fisherman. I have a friend here (yep, it's true, I do have a friend!), Haans, who owns Yakutat Coastal Airlines and he does a lot of flying in the area. Anything from hauling totes of fish that are caught in remote areas, to transporting climbers out to the base of the mountains. He was flying back and forth all day with fish so he offered to drop me off on the first run and bring me back on the last. Luckily, it was one of the few sunny days we've had since June!
Looking down on Yakutat. I live right at the head of Monti Bay, all the way to the right.
Malaspina Glacier w/ the St. Elias Range in the background
The mountains here are without a doubt the most beautiful of any I've seen. The St. Elias Range is the highest coastal mountain range on earth with 9 of the 16 tallest mountains in North America. Pictures don't do it justice!
Almost all of the rivers entering the ocean are full of glacial sediment. You can see perfect lines where they enter into the sea. Glaciers, with all of their weight and force, grind the rock into a fine powder, then it gets transported out to the sea by the rivers.
Here they are loading salmon into the the Otter
These fish were just caught by sport fishermen downriver.
There he goes
Greater Yellowlegs
Nice spot huh? People pay big bucks to be flown out here! Not meee! hahaha
There were a few good ole boys who come out here to work every season for about 5 weeks when the fish run. They just load the planes all day long and stay in this tiny little cabin. I'll bet they make damn good money too. Anyways, they let me borrow their 4 wheeler, which was awesome, and allowed me to get around and see the area more.
Looking back East
They even bring this DC-3 in to haul fish! Its crazy how they land these planes in the middle of nowhere. They'll haul a load to Yakutat and bring ice with them when they come back. All day long.
hi jeff. we met you on our august (2010) cruise to Alaska. i told you i would send you our address from lackawanna state part in pennsylvania, where i volunteer. to find it just type in lackawanna state park, pennsylvania, and it should come up. if you are ever in the area, we will show you around the park and what we do. I also volunteer at Salt Springs state park which is a sister park, but maintained by volunteers mostly. best wishes. remakus@echoes.net
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