Bushwhacking

For the second time in my life I went gold panning. Or prospecting, since there was no gold. I went with two friends, since we had the day off and Peggie was in Anchorage. We went to Dall Creek where an acquaintance has a claim we can use. Same place I went before. There is no trail. Not even a path. The creek falls rapidly, so it is uphill going in and the undergrowth, and the overgrowth, are very thick. The canyon narrows in some places so you have to cross the creek several times. Dry feet? Forget it. Slippery rocks? Oh, yeah. Thorn bushes? Yep. Spider webs? Uh huh. Fresh, ripe raspberries? Just pick & eat. Other berries? Don't eat 'm if you don't know 'em. Watch for bears. They eat 'em.
Once again, it is fun to do, no gold required. Being that far into wilderness, running water, picnic food, having an adventure, it's all good.
We did see a bear on the way there, in a place where bears are less common, and none of us had seen this one before. A bald eagle delighted us with a low fly over when we came out of the creek.
Went out to Dyea to see grizzlies last night, but only a few salmon are in the creek and the bears were no show. Later this week we will try again.

First of the second.

Half, that is. Today is the first day of the second half of the season. Yesterday was Moratorium Day. Unfortunately, Moratorium Day is not "officially" sanctioned. Too bad. Because on Moratorium Day there is a moratorium on law enforcement, rule following, and just being reasonable. That means you can (should be able to) run down tourists who walk blindly into your path, answer dumb questions (or even good questions) with comic answers, provide false facts about the gold rush (like the whole thing was started as a story in a silent movie).
So yesterday I (imagined I) ran over three tourists who walked right out in front of me as I was leaving a stop sign. I was already moving, and they stepped right in front of me. That is just the sort of thing that makes you want a moratorium. I explained the large boulders at the quarry by calling it the prison yard where the absence of small stones proved Skagway's low crime rate. And of course I told the morning tour that the water pipe at Pitchfork Falls was keeping the falls flowing.
I had a good time with it, eventho it is not "real."

New (this year) stuff

Yesterday some whales appeared in the harbor. We heard it first thing in the morning and I was able to watch them for a while during the day, then we both went down in the evening and watched. The harbor was also full of boats. Apparently the salmon are in the harbor waiting for whatever the signal is that starts them up the creeks for spawning. So we wondered if some third thing attracts both the whales and the salmon at the same time.
But the excitement isn't about the salmon, it is the fourth thing. Grizzlies. Yep, salmon means grizzlies. Within the next week, we will be able to head to Dyea and watch the bears.
Speaking of bears, I had a fun sighting today of a sow with two tiny cubs. The cubs were tumbling around like puppies (or cubs) and fell off a rock. Too cute. On the 4th, Peggie saw a grizzly on tour and her passengers emailed her the good photo they took of it. And told her it was the best tour they had ever had.

Missed adventure

Sunday's attempt at Panacea was only partially successful. We had a wonderful time and saw some great scenery. But, we did not make it to the top. Back in '09 Don tried to take us up there in an ATA jeep and we spun out on a wet, loose rock section. Sunday, we spun out in the exact spot in the truck. Believe it or not, there is a very recognizable rock in the road, so I know the spot. I want to try again later when the road will be dry. This is a time when I miss the locker on the jeep.
We examined the core sample stack and saw that the boxes are stamped with dates in '02 and '03. And our memories tell us that they have been rearranged and possibly some stacks have been removed. ???
Today both of us took tours up to Caribou Crossing. It was the calmest (no wind) day I have yet seen. Peggie has posted some pictures on facebook of Summit Lake. This is the only time I saw Summit Lake, Tutshi Lake, and Windy Arm all mirror-like. And they stayed that way all day. Normally the wind will come up by afternoon. Not today. Silly me, I told myself I didn't need pictures, so took none.
Monday, I saw a moose standing on the edge of Emerald Lake. Previously, I have seen bears from the overlook, and the wrangler where we used to take riders near there told me they had trouble with moose spooking the horses, but I hadn't seen moose in that area before. We drove around to that side, but the noise must have spooked her because we only saw tracks in the mud when we got there.
Yesterday's after-work rumor was that the train killed a sow who tried to cross the track to her cubs at the last second. Every one responded, "Oh, now the cubs will die, too." We don't know where this supposedly happened, or if it was one of the bears we have all seen or not.

Happy Birthday, Margie

It is always nice to have a birthday on a non-work day. Perhaps you can get that husband of yours to fix Sunday breakfast for you. I must admit, he fixes a darn good breakfast.
We are going up to the mountains again today. This time to Panacea, past Mineral Mountain on Tutshi Lake. It looks like the weather will cooperate with us. We would like to see some bears, but previously have seen Dall sheep and mountain goats up there.
This past week has been a lot of late nights. Good live music three nights in a row. Really good live music. Now things go back to normal.
Ah well, we get to look forward to Moratorium Day next Monday.

BOOM! POW! AAAHH!

Happy Birthday, USA.
We decided to sleep last night, instead of attending the fireworks. We missed the display, but made the right decision. We awoke at 11:11 when they started, and fell asleep again at 11:30 when they stopped. It sounded like a good, constant display. Getting up to go drive all day was easier for having slept.
Today is the parade and other activities. We will miss most of them while on tour. In Canada.
Oh well, we missed Dick's birthday, I guess we can miss this one.

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Dick

I can't believe I let such an auspicious occasion pass without comment. I mean, Dick is OLD.
How old is he? Well, I'll tell you how old he is: He's so old he wasn't allowed a cake due to the extreme fire danger.
He's older than that joke. He's older than I am.