July 4 - Dutch Harbour/Unalaska

 Last night was a "roll-y" night - the weather has been deteriorating and the ocean became quite "lumpy" as the Captain called it. The swells had increased to 12-15 feet and the good ship Tustumena heaved and rolled through the night hard enough to wake us up and hang on to the bunk rails a few times. I'm fortunate - I don't get motion sick - but Lynn is another matter. I thought for sure he'd be done for but amazingly, he was OK!

We woke up this morning, excited to be heading into Dutch Harbour today. We had breakfast and went out on deck to watch the boat dock. The clouds had rolled in but were still relatively high and the rain was holding off. We arrived around 9:45am and we had until 5pm to be back on the boat.

Down town Dutch Harbour

It's July 4th today - Indepedence Day in the United States. For many people this is a BIG celebration day and for the past week, we've noticed a lot of bunting going up as well as a plethora of American flags, red, white and blue shiny spinny things in yards and people blinging up their vehicles and bicycles. We heard that Dutch Harbour would be having a July 4 parade today around noon. 

Dutch Harbour has a very interesting history. It's the only place the US experienced battle during WWII on home soil (other than in Pearl Harbour). The Japanese landed in the Aleutians and took the small islands of Attu and Kiska. Hostilities ensued and Dutch Harbour quickly became an American military base after the Japanese bombed it twice in June of 1942. Today, there is still much evidence of this point in it's history. Everywhere, concrete fox holes covered in moss still sit sentry on street corners, in yards and on beaches. Bunker Hill has a gunnery tower that can still be seen from the road below and you can hike a trail up to reach it. All over the island, WWII artifacts scatter the land, left behind after the war was over and the military pulled out.

Cement foxholes that dot the community, lying innocently in yards and beside roads, quiet reminders of the violence that WWII brought not that long ago.  

From the ferry dock, we walked a mile or so down the road to the WWII Visitor's Center but alas, because of the holiday today, it was closed. We carried on down the road another mile or so and came to a part of the town where the Grand Aleutian Hotel, Safeway and the Alaska Marine Supply Company are located. It was here we started to notice the eagles - here and there, they were sitting on light stands, roofs of buildings, tops of fences... and then we started to notice signs warning people to beware of them! We looked around us a bit more carefully and realized there were dozens and dozens of them... at one point, I counted more than 25 of them sitting along the roofline of Safeway. I've never seen so many Bald Eagles in all my life! And they're ENORMOUS!!! Apparently, they nest on top of buildings and can become aggressive to passers-by who happen to walk close enough to make them feel threatened, especially when they have young still in the nest! Locals complain that they've become so numerous that they're pests and they have been known to attack both people and pets, particularly small dogs. 

Enormous bundles of rope and nets for fishing. 

We went into Alaska Marine Supply just to check it out and it's a great store that sells everything you might need if you were a fisherman or had a boat of some other kind. Everything from groceries, hardware and marine supplies to kitchen appliances, furniture and outdoor gear including Helly Hansen rain gear and X-Tra Tuff boots from here to kingdom come. A very cool place to poke around in and, in the end, we bought a couple of awesome t-shirts and ball caps...

Dutch Harbour

Freezer containers to ship seafood worldwide. Note my husband standing in front of them. They're HUGE!
This was only one of several stacks of these at this one loading dock.

For over 20 years, Dutch Harbour has been the #1 fishing port in the United States. In 2007, the community was highlighted when the show "The Deadliest Catch" shone a light on the Alaska King Crab fishery and showed the drama and perils of fishing in the Bering Sea. 

The ubiquitous Xtra-Tuff gumboots, pride and joy of Alaskans everywhere.

A skiff sitting on the side of the road.

We headed towards the residential part of town and meandered past the museum, expecting it to be closed as well BUT - what luck! - they were opened for a few limited hours. It is a great little museum that covers the multi-faceted history Unalaska/Dutch Harbour has; the Aleut people, the Russian settlements, WWII, the commercial fishing history, the natural history and volcanic evolution of the Chain... We ended up sitting and watching most of a very well done documentary of the Aleut story during WWII - the American military evacuated the Aleut people from the islands when the Japanese arrived but had made no provisions for them so they just dumped them off in a remote location south of Juneau at an abandoned cannery site. They  were left to fend for themselves and the consequences were dire. Most were there for years and the poverty, sickness and mortality rate was astronomical. It wasn't until the 1980s that the US government finally acknowledged the atrocities... a very sad (but all too familiar) story... 

Russian Orthodox church built in 1896 when the Russians came for fur trading.

From the museum, we walked another couple miles through the active cannery district, over a big bridge at Captain's Bay and up the hill and down the other side into Dutch Harbour. People were gathered in big groups on and around the old wooden footbridge watching pikers guide toy boats down the small creek - the July 4 boat race! We crossed the footbridge and came to the small but very pretty municiple park and playground. From there, there are several square blocks of old houses, most looking very run down and weather-beaten. To the left was another old Russian Orthodox church, built in 1896, with it's classic onion shaped roof and today, it was surrounded by a carpet of grass loaded with tiny pink daisy-looking flowers. We followed the beach road and could see, in the distance, a collection of flags on flagpoles and what was clearly a memorial of some kind. We wandered to that end of the cove and, indeed, it is a memorial for many things - mariners lost at sea, WWII, the Coast Guard, there is even the enormous propellor from the SS Northwestern which was bombed in the harbour during WWII. 

Memorial Park

Propellor from the SS Northwestern
that was bombed in Dutch Harbour
in 1942.

By the time we finished here, the fog was rolling in for earnest. The air was saturated with damp and suddenly, the temperate morning was turning into a bitterly cold afternoon. Our hopes to go see some of the WWII sites were dashed as everything became buried in pea soup thick fog. We were also getting tired - we'd walked over 10 kms - and the soggy weather wasn't encouraging us to go much further. We happened upon a taxi parked in a driveway so we knocked on the door and the owner drove us back to the ferry dock. 

Random WWII propellor in the grass behind the museum. 

When we got to the dock, someone had thrown a huge frozen fish head onto the side of the road and several Bald Eagles were hanging around, taking turns at it. I've never been that close to a mature eagle and I couldn't get over how HUGE they were. Unbelievable. 

We headed back onto the boat and had a short nap before the boat pulled anchor and we started our return trip back to Homer. We had dinner and went to bed early because we were, by then, heading into open water and the ocean was getting pretty rough again. 

July 3 - Sand Point, King Cove, Cold Bay, False Pass

Due to the delay from rescuing the fishing boat, we didn't come into Sand Point until the wee hours of the morning so we slept right through that. The ocean picked up significantly in the night and the heavy rolling of the boat woke me up. Thankfully, I don't get motion sick but the boat bucked and heaved hard enough a couple of times to make my stomach lurch. I was worried about my husband who DOES get motion sick quite badly but he's been religious about taking his Bonine (a miracle drug!) and he was completely fine, thankfully!!!

I'm trying to find the name of this mountain - if you know it, please comment.
Just after this photo was taken, we saw a HUGE kodiak bear on the grassy knoll on the left.
Unfortunately, my photos of it didn't come out well... :(

Lupines in abundance everywhere!

We arrived in King Cove. Our time there was shortened up a bit because the Captain was trying to make up some lost time. Meaghan, one of our cafe servers, told us the crew refer to Chignik Bay as Cheeseburger Bay and King Cove as Hamburger Cove - none of these little villages along the way have any shops or cafes to speak of. When the ferry comes in (every two weeks in the summer only) it's a BIG deal. It's a floating restaurant! After the ferry passengers head out to explore, they open up the restaurant to the locals. Many come to eat but they also leave with bags and bags of take-away. Cheeseburger and fries and pies for days... they also buy supplies from the ferry - everything from caselots of food to toilet paper. The ferry tries to anticipate the needs and stocks up on extra supplies for this very reason. It's not intended to be a supply ship but it sort of works out that way anyway.

Cold Bay

Tustumena at dock in Cold Bay.
Amazing mountains in the background - this is typical on this trip.

Just making sure I know "The Plan"!

Sheds someone mounted in their front yard - Cold Bay

We headed over to Cold Bay. We had a couple of hours so we hoofed it through the town. There used to be a military base there (which is no longer) but the 10,000+ ft paved airstrip is still there and used at their airport. It also doubles as an emergency landing strip for commercial flights in the north and for the Space Shuttle (back when it was still operational). They have the smallest wildlife refuge in Alaska (this one is only 400,000 acres) and the refuge center offers a free bus tour. Alas, their bus only holds 20 people and over 30 of us signed up so they did a lottery for the seats. Between the two of us, we got one seat so we gave it up as we've already seen a lot of wildlife in the last month.The town is a collection of pre-fab homes, derelict commercial buildings and a very large Coast Guard base. No fishing in Cold Bay (not sure why) so there aren't any boats, canneries or marinas. It seems that the Coast Guard is the main purpose of Cold Bay (that we could see.)

Cold Bay - this village is typical of the villages along the Aleutians.

From Cold Bay, we headed for False Pass - the last point on the Alaskan Penninsula before we head off the mainland and out into the Aleautian Island chain. The weather deteriorated significantly after we left Cold Bay and soon, a cold, dense bank of fog engulfed us and it started to drizzle rain. The wind started to pick up and the ocean rose. During dinner, we surged and dipped over 10 ft. waves but, to our amazement, we weren't bothered by it much. I guess we've found our "sea legs" as they say. False Pass was a short stop - only 45 minutes - just long enough to stand on deck, watch people wander along the pier and the galley pack up and send out about 50 cheeseburger and fries to a waiting crowd and then we pushed on. We'll sail along all night and should hit Dutch Harbour around 9:45 tomorrow morning.

July 2 - Chignik

Our "Trust Tusty" - the nickname for the  Tustumena - chugged through the night and around 7am, we noticed that the engines suddently geared down and we were changing our course. The Captain came on the PA and announced that we were responding to a distress call. Apparently, a fishing boat was in trouble and we were the closest boat able to respond. We found the small fishing boat and some of the Tustumena crew went out in the emergency zodiak boat. Turns out, the boat had an engine fire and was out of commission. After some backing and forthing, we ended up towing the boat by 600 ft. of her anchor line behind us for the next 6 hours but, because of that, we were only able to run at half speed. This brought us into Chignik Bay about 3 hours later than scheduled but it was a fun bit of real-life nautical drama to watch.

Early morning rescue - the fishing boat had an engine fire.

Calm waters - NOT a sign of things to come!
The weather can change very quickly!

Coming into Chignik

Tustumena docked at Chignik

Chignik (like most of the small villages along the Alaskan Penninsula and the Aleutian Islands) are largely native villages and cannery sites. You could see that, at some point, Chignik was probably booming. Off the dock, we walked over a small bridge and then a network of boardwalks head off in several directions, leading to a number of now run-down and mostly abandoned homes, workshops, smokehouses, old canneries and other buildings. At the end of one boardwalk is a coffee house and a small bakery that makes homemade doughnuts for the community but, on Ferry days, they make an extra huge batch for the boat passengers. Whatever the passengers don't buy, the Tustumena crew buys up the rest. It's the "thing" to do on Chignik - go find the local bakery, buy some homemade doughts and buy yourself a good cup of coffee.

Chignik boardwalk - on the hunt for homemade doughnuts!
Chignik residents bake them just for the boat visitors and the Tustumena crew buys whatever is left.

Chignik general store

Slough in Chignik

We have been AMAZED at the terrain so far. The Islands are a brilliant emerald green and most of them are covered in grass and low growing Alder bushes. They look like something out of Ireland or Scotland and remind me of photos of the moors. I'm not sure where I acquired the preconceived idea that the Islands would be barren rocky outcrops (maybe from my experiences on the East and West coasts of Canada) but the Penninsula and the Islands so far are completely different than what we had expected and are stunningly beautiful. The other surprising things is that many of them have enormous, jaggedy snow-capped mountains that tower over the bays and dwarf everything around them.

The Aleutians are often referred to as the Emerald Islands because of their stunning green colour.

An example of the huge, jagged mountains that rise up from the peninsula and some of the islands.

The other thing that has been a wonderful surprise is the food on the ship. The Tustumena crew crank out some fantastic food from their galley. They have a decent menu and it's almost all from scratch. The portions are very generous and the prices are incredible. There is a strict "no tipping" policy because the crew are State employees and the taxes are included in the already modest prices so honestly, we have to say that overall, the food on the ship has been the best bang for the buck in all of Alaska! So far, my favorites have been the homemade clam chowder and the Shrimp Louie - a beautiful salad with a huge pile of fresh shrimp. Fantastic.

We spent another lovely sunny evening on the upper deck, watching whales in the distance and beautiful islands and mountains roll by. 

July 1 - Kodiak Island

After sailing all night, we woke up this morning about an hour outside of Kodiak Island after chugging across Cook Inlet and out into the Gulf of Alaska. We pulled into the town of Kodiak via a very narrow channel and into St. Paul Harbour.

St. Paul Harbour, Kodiak Island

Welcome to Kodiak!

St. Paul Harbour

We made a quick pit stop at the Visitor's Center on the dock and then crossed the street over to the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Center. The Center is free to wander through and well worth the time. They have some excellent displays, complete with lifesized sculptures of Kodiak bears (the largest Grizzly subspecies in the world). They're enormous! The Center is run by the Fish and Wildlife folks and they do fieldwork as well so they're very informed hosts and have a lot of interesting information to share.

Updstairs is a skeleton of a Grey whale that the community salvaged and preserved. In  2000, the Grey whale died and washed up on the shores of Kodiak Island. A biologist found it and recognized the opportunity for the community so she gathered up some support and they dug a huge trench and buried the whale for 4 years to decompose. In 2004, they dug it up again and removed all the bones, cleaned them up and then a team of people reconstructed the skeleton on a metal framework and installed it in the Center in 2007. They have a series of information panels that tell the story and show photos of the 7 year project. Fabulous!

Grey whale skeleton in Wildlife Refuge Center

Panoramic of Kodiak

Kodiak marina

From there we wandered through the town and out along the walkway by the marina and along some canneries. We went out onto the small spit and watched the marina activity (including two guys who got caught unawares and got high centered in the marina when the tide went down) and then crossed town to the Monk's Rock Coffee House. The Monk's Rock is run by some Russian Orthodox missionaries and the funds they raise support youth programs on the Island. It's a warm, welcoming cafe with a small bookstore on one side. We had some fantastic borsch for lunch with a homemade bun and spent a bit of time talking with "Uncle John" from Boston who came out a few months ago to work in the cafe and help out. Upstairs is a thrift shop that has a lovely homey space with more tables for dining amidst shelves of books and thrift wares. I wandered around the shop and found a brand new pair of colourful wool socks from Germany and then I spied a gem! A book and CD set of Italian folksongs for children, recorded by Padre Paisii de Lucia who works for the mission but came from Italy originally. I haven't been able to listen to the CD yet but, thumbing through the book I recognized a couple (Santa Lucia and Funiculi, Funicula!) so I'm looking forward to learning them all (including the one about the ant and the cricket who were going to get married but then the cricket "broke his head" and was pronounced dead so the ant went and had a nice glass of wine!) to my grandsons! Who  knew, in Kodiak, Alaska we would find a lovely traditional Russian lunch, some wool socks from Germany and a book and CD of traditional Italian songs!

After lunch, we wandered over to the oldest Russian Orthodox church in Alaska. Outside, there is a rather large collection of bells, some of which were ruined in a large fire years ago. We noticed many of the windows were boarded up and thought they might be doing renovations but we found out later that several days ago, someone (with a bone to pick of some kind against God? The church? Who knows...) went into the church and set about smashing everything he could - windows, furniture, holy relics and other objects etc. He didn't steal anything, just tried to smash as much as he could, we were told. The whole community was devastated but are slowly making plans for restoration.

We carried on to the Branov Museum which is a turn of the century Russian house that was also used as a center for trade over the years. They have an excellent section about the Alutiiq people from this area as well as the Russian and European history. They also have a section dedicated to the 1964 tsunami that leveled most of the town of Kodiak and was a result of the 9.2 earthquake.

Branov Museum

Kodiak is a place of "Biggests"  - they have approximately 3500 Kodiak bears on the Island which are the biggest subspecies of Grizzlies in the world. The Island itself is the biggest Island in North America and second biggest in the US (only outranked by the big island of Hawaii).  The Port of Kodiak is Alaska's biggest and most diversified fishing port and it's consistently ranked in the top 3 commercial fishing centers in the United States. The country's largest Coast Guard base is located  there as well. The Island is home to almost 13,000 inhabitants and even boasts a small Walmart although it's about 4 miles out of town (not sure why...) Say what you will about Walmart - the locals are pretty happy to have it because other than it, the only other store is a TINY Safeway about the size of a small 7-11. Beyond that, you have to get to Homer (a 13 hour boat ride or a flight) or Anchorage (the boat ride plus a 6 hour drive or a flight) for supplies. There is also a Navy Seal training facility on Kodiak which is VERY high security - so high that someone, a few years ago, was shot for coming into the compound without authorization. A local young man told us that sometimes, they can hear the Seals in the middle of the night when they are doing survival training in the bay. They're all out in the water, arm in arm, and singing in the dark to keep morale up. He said it's kind of eerie to hear it...

Back on the ship, we set sail and enjoyed an excellent meal. The weather was picture perfect and, after dinner, we sat out on the deck and watched the islands go by. Around 8pm, we were absolutely delighted when a pod of about a dozen killer whales travelled in the same direction as our boat. The Captain came around to bring us a bit closer and we travelled with them for about 30 minutes. They were rising as they swam along and many of them would slap their fippers or slap their tails. It was so fun to watch! Shortly after that, we saw a Fin whale. What a GREAT way to wrap up the day!

June 28-30 - Homer

We pulled out of Kenai City. We got lucky that the rain held off while we packed up our camp (we've been lucky that way!) and then we set off. We headed down Kalifornsky Beach Rd along the coast. My God, there are some gorgeous ocean-front properties and almost everything is for sale. Some of the homes are magnificent and some are quite derelict and falling to wrack and ruin. Several looked like fishermen hoarders (hmm... maybe an idea for another bad reality-TV series!) had been staked out there for some time - no end of rotting boats, fishing gear and other nautical paraphenalia laid waste to the wind and rain. There were a couple of small villages along the way and then we found ourselves on the bluffs overlooking Homer, Cook's Cove and the Homer Spit that curves out into the bay like an enormous lobster claw.

We made it to Homer, Alaska! 

Lookout on highway. You can see the "claw" - the Homer Spit, reaching out into the bay. We camped
right on the end of that spit.

Home Spit

Through Homer, we followed the main road out onto the Spit which is several miles long. Before you get onto the spit, the road takes you by the Homer float plane base located on Beluga Lake. The road runs along the separation between the lake and the Beluga wildlife wetlands refuge and Bishop's Beach. Once on the spit, there are strings of nautical businesses, a boat graveyard, some campsites and then you get into the major tourist area which consists of several collections of reclaimed sheds, shacks and barn-like structures that have morphed into chic little gift shops, cafes, restaurants, tour operator offices, pubs etc. It's a hubbub of activity. Parallel to the Spit road but behind the shops is a walking/biking path that overlooks the Homer Spit marina.

Shops along Homer Spit

More shops along Homer Spit

Panorama of Homer Marina

More funky, cool shops on Homer Spit

This marina is one of the homes of the Time Bandit, one of the famous fishing boats from the TV series, "The Deadliest Catch." The Time Bandit spends part of the season in Homer and part of it in Dutch Harbour when they go crab trapping for Alaska King Crab in the Bering Sea. She wasn't in port when we were there but we might catch a glimpse of her later this week down the Chain. 

At the end of the Spit is the Homer Spit Campground where we stayed. It's a little worn out but the folks are nice and the view is second to none. Our site was next to the Mariner's Memorial on a little rise on the beach. The main reason we chose this site is that it's a stone's throw from the Alaska Ferry Terminal. I booked this campground in January and made arrangements with them to store our bikes and camper for a week while we take the boat down the Aleutian Island chain, leaving June 30.

After setting up camp, we walked down through some of the shops and got our bearings. We wandered along the marina and then had dinner at The Little Mermaid. Restaurants on the Spit are a bit "spendy" and the Mermaid was no exception BUT - the two chefs who run the place are AMAZING. We had quite possibly the BEST fish chowder on Planet Earth and their Halibut was pretty damned awesome too.

Funky RV that is permanently parked on the Marina walkway on the Spit.
VERY cool place to live - in the summer, anyway!

Homer is also a deep water commercial port.

The famous Salty Dog Saloon

Inside the Salty Dog Saloon

A cute little guy looking at the day's catch for one of the many charter boats.

Random stuff hanging off the shower shed at the campground.

Our camp spot beside the Mariner's Memorial at the Homer Spit Campground. Gorgeous spot...

The weather was on and off again drizzling rain but by the time dinner was done and the sun was dipping towards the horizon, it was cold and down right miserable. We headed back to camp and I pulled on all my warmest layers and hit the hay. I've finally got my cold weather sleeping outfit down to a science: fleecy tights, wool socks, long sleeve insulation shirt, fleece motorcycle liner jacket with hood pulled over head and drawstring tight. All of this under an army-issue, heavy down sleeping bag. 

June 29

We woke up this morning to the sound of rain. It poured down in fits and starts all night. We lagged for awhile and, sure enough, the rain stopped. We got up and decided to find some breakfast, Back down the road, The Spit Sisters Cafe was open - a warm and welcome sight on a wet, misty morning. Inside was warm and fuggy and packed with people. We ordered our breakfast and decided to sit out on the deck, overlooking the marina as, by now, the cloud was lifting and the sky had brightened up just a bit. We had a lovely breakfast and enjoyed the improving morning...

Back at camp, we took advantage of a window of dry weather and we spent a couple hours walking along the expanse of beach front that goes for miles along the Spit. This is an EXCELLENT rock hunting beach. There are miles of grey flat rocks that are perfect for skipping and then there are strips of smaller, rounder rocks that come in a myriad of colours, shapes and patterns. We collected a handful of little rocks I want to use for jewellry and I even found a pink rock in the shape of a heart... :) All along the way, we saw sea otters out rolling on their backs not far from shore and having their lunch, LOTS of bald eagles and some jumping fish.

The beach in front of our campsite. A tug boat is pushing a barge out of the harbour.

We made some plans for the transition to storing our gear and going on the boat trip. The weather forcast was for more cold, wet weather and I realized I had underestimated my cold weather clothing options. On the bikes, we have electric vests we plug in and heated hand grips but you can't take those on the boat! Back in Fairbanks, Lynn bought a light-weight Patagonia down jacket at Big Ray's. Alas, all they had for me there was bubblegum pink (not my colour!) so I opted out. I found myself coveting Lynn's jacket so we decided to see if anyone in Homer carried them. Lynn was coveting my long underwear. He forgot to bring his so we decided a little shopping trip was in order. 

We drove into town and went to Ulmer's Pharmacy which is a misnomer for sure - it's really a small department store that carries a little bit of pretty much everything. They were out of long underwear but, in the clothing section, they had fleece lined tights which were perfect. We each scored a pair of those. From there, we headed out East Road a few miles and found Redden's Gear Shed - a half acre warehouse of marine, hardwear, outdoor gear, boat repair stuff, clothing... it was unbelievable. It also has an extensive collection of game trophies (if you're into that kind of thing) from all over the world. I really don't like dead stuffed things for a bunch of reasons but they've got lots if you're looking...   We didn't find my jacket but we bought so great wool socks...

Across the parking lot is a fabulous coffee shop. We were ready for a break so we wandered over and discovered a beautiful little oasis in the middle of a fairly industrial area. We sat in the solarium and read the local paper and enjoyed some Irish Car Bombs. 

Oh. My. God.
It's worth going all the way down East Road for an Irish Car Bomb and a coffee. If you're in Homer, just do it. Seriously.

Our last shopping option was Homer Jeans and there, we hit the jackpot. They had one gun-metal grey Patagonia just my size... WOOP! I was so excited! I put it on and instantly, I could feel the heat start to collect around me - a rather LARGE slice of heaven when it's cold, wet and windy. BRING ON THE BOAT TRIP NOW! Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of cold, wet wind, I shall fear no more!

From there, we hit Safeway. We'll be on the boat for a week so we decided to bring some food along - they have a cafeteria but we don't want to rely on it over much - we're not sure what to expect. We booked a stateroom so we'll have room for some groceries and our small cooler.

After we finished our town trip, we headed back out to the Spit and had dinner at Captain Pattie's. It was OK but not as good as the Mermaid and more expensive. The whole day was on and off again rain and the last week or so, we've seen highs of MAYBE 10 degrees Celcius with lows down to around 2 or 3. It's damp and sometimes, outright wet. It started to rain fairly hard so we hightailed it back to camp and hunkered down for the night. 

June 30

We woke up this morning to - gasp - patches of BLUE SKY!!! The sun peeked out now and again and instantly warmed us up. What a perfect morning for packing up after being assualted by rain again last night. We couldn't seem to work up much energy for it so we slow-poked along and eventually got it done. We went across the street to La Baleine Cafe and it was excellent and very reasonably priced - our Spit favourite recommendation for breakfast or lunch for sure. We went back into town and visited Old Town - the original Homer townsite which still consists of a few blocks of heritage buildings that house, among other things, a couple of nice cafes, a B&B, an Inn and an art gallery. We visited the gallery and wandered around a bit. We also visited Bishop's Beach but the wind was really kicking so we didn't stay there long. 

Homer's awesome Arts Center - a museum in the main part, a funky thrift shop downstairs, a lovely B&B
 and cafe on the left side. 

B&B and Cafe on the side of the Museum

Cafe sitting area

Wind sock at Bishop's Beach in Homer. Note the bird guy is wearing the ubiquitous Xtra-Tuff gumboots!

Thai restaurant and book store - Old town of Homer

We were back at camp by 4:00 so we finished up our gear reorganizing and then headed back over to The Little Mermaid for their fish chowder. Kathy, the owner, appologized profusely but said they were booked solid. When we said all we wanted was the chowder, she let us sit out on the boardwalk with our soup and a beer. Perfect.

After dinner, we moved our trailer and motorcycles to their storage location, locked everything up tight and covered them up and then we hauled our bags down the road to the Ferry terminal. We got there around 8:00 and, lucky us, they let foot passengers load right away. We were able to get our stateroom keys, drop our stuff and then spend the next 2.5 hours watching the rigamarole that is the Alaska State Ferry's loading process for the Tustumena. Believe it or not, they load the vehicles one at a time. The driver drives their vehicle onto a platform which is then lowered by chain hoists down into the belly of the boat. The platform then spins 45 degrees so the vehicle can be driven off to be parked and chained down to anchor points on the deck. The platform spins back into place and is hoisted back up again for the next load. Unbelievable. Each vehicle takes about 10 minutes to load. If you're lucky, they can put two smaller vehicles on at a time... No wonder it takes hours to load and unload the boat but it's a labourious process because they have to be able to seal the hold and everything has to be tightly secured because we go out into open ocean - a very different kettle of fish than BC's ferries that go through protected waters.

The "Trusty Tusty" - the Tustumena - one of only 2 open ocean rated ships in the
Alaskan ferry fleet. She's not big but she's reliable and capable.

Some ferry passengers forgo renting berths or sleeping in the public chairs.
Instead, they opt to pitch tents on the decks, securing them down with duct tape.

The Tustumena is a relatively small ferry. It can take 200 passengers and has about 30 staterooms. I'm not sure how many vehicles it can take but the boat itself is about 300 feet long. It's only 1 of 2 open-water rated ferries in Alaska. The boat finally pushed off 45 minutes late - we pulled away from Homer Spit at 11:15pm, leaving behind a spectacular sunset over the pier. 

Homer Pier

Pulling out of Homer and heading for the Aleutian Island Chain

July 10 - White River to Whitehorse

We woke up this morning to heavy skies but no rain so it was an easy pack up. We didn't get eaten by the bear last night so that was a relief! We wandered around the RV park for a bit, looking at the array of interesting things they have there - turns out it was an old 250-man army camp back in the day which was later converted to the RV park but there is still a 3000 ft. grassy airstrip there and a collection of old army vehicles gently rotting amongst the shrubbery. This RV park is one of the nicest we've been to - the grounds are so well kept and there are lovely trees and a pond with a bridge and small fountain. 

We had coffee in the office and visited with the Amanda for awhile. She was telling us that pretty much all those derelict looking places along the Alaska Highway ARE, in fact, abandoned. She said it's a real problem up in the Yukon and Alaska. There was a boom in the 70s and 80s and a lot of people "got back to the land" up there - built houses, shacks, cabins, roadside gas stations, cabins, resorts and shops but now, the economy has faultered (as with everywhere) and many of those homesteading youngsters of yesterday are all now aging and wanting to sell and retire somewhere where the winters aren't so fierce and there is better access to resources like medical care etc. Very little sells and many places have become unstable, having been rigged up haphazardly on permafrost that eventually melts and becomes bog from the warmth of the buildings. Everything eventually shifts and tips into the muck. We've see quite a bit of that. It's sad to see these places; doors open, windows smashed, rooms empty and weathered old signs hanging cock-eyed by a rotten nail or two... the detritus of long past dreams people came, had and then abandoned...

Finally, at 10am, we steeled our nerves and headed out to face the worst stretch of road we'd been repeatedly warned about my everyone who has travelled it - the stretch from White River to Destruction Bay. "How bad could it be?" we thought... "we've done some dodgy roads in our travels."

It was bad. 

In fact, hands down it's the worst stretch of road we've been on in the past 100,000 kms of riding over the last 4 years. About 60 kms of thick, loose, marbley gravel that was only matched in treachery by the 10 mile stretch of unpacked dirt recently heavily rained on creating a greasy slime. Fun times. On top of THAT, there was an abundance of complete morons driving trailer-hauling pick up trucks coming in the opposite direction travelling twice the speed they should have been, sending waves of marbley gravel up in our faces. By the time we got through it all and pulled over for a break, I was so mad I ranted for about 15 minutes, threatening nasty letters to every official I could think of and wishing punctured tires and a bucket of pox on the heads of all the gravel-spraying drivers... sigh... and then I got over it. We had something to eat, fed a bunch of Whiskeyjacks from our hands, chatted with a nice lady from New Zealand and we headed out again.

We skimmed along the edge of the Kluane Wildlife Sanctuary that borders the Kluane National Park and Reserve. The mountains were hemming in by low-lying cloud for the most part but it was still a nice view. The pavement to Burwash Landing was only marginally better in a lot of places than the crappy gravel - great rolling frost heaves spread out for miles through the tundra like a roller coaster track and filled with pot holes and deteriorating patch jobs. It was hard to make any speed because we had to keep slowing down to 50 or 60 kms/hour to make it through the rough parts, sharp dips  and roller coaster rides. 

From here, Kluane Lake spreads out along the north side of the highway - a gorgeous turquoise green lake that runs for miles. On the right are the St. Elias Mountains, home to 15 of the highest peaks in Canada including Mt. Logan, the very highest peak in the Nation, towering over the land at 19,520 ft. The road winds it's way along the shore and today it was stunning - not a ripple on it. 

We stopped at the historic Canyon Creek and walked across the old bridge. The original one was built in 1904 by, among others, the famous Sam McGee (immortalized by "The Cremation of..." some years later) and then rebuilt to original again in the 1940s. As we returned to our bikes, a purple black storm was creeping up in front of us and we could see great streaks and sheets of rain hammering down in the distance. On with the rain gear and off we went into the eye of the storm. We were royally swamped for several miles and then, as quick as it came, we were through it and out the other side. 

We rolled through Haines Junction and continued on through a million MORE miles of endless tundra but, as we neared Whitehorse, we started to see meadows, fence, horses and signs of some agriculture. Dotted along the highway, abandoned places still sulked but the tundra started to thin out as the edges of the permafrost gave way to warm, fertile ground...

We arrived in Whitehorse around 6pm. We considered continuing on to Teslin but we were tired. It had been a long day of slow, stressful riding, pouring rain and bad roads and, although there were some enjoyable and beautiful stretches as well, we were played out. We had hopes to be home by the 12th but now, it looks like we may be delayed a day. 

We decided a hotel room was in order. We grabbed one at the Airport Chalet (NOT a recommend although their pub restaurant is excellent - stop for food only...), had a fantastic steak dinner in the hotel pub, a long piping-hot shower and that, as they say, is "all she wrote!"