Sitka – Travel・Surf・Yoga

Prince of Whales – Part 6

March 13, 2020 Guest Travel

This is part six of our journey to Prince of Whales island. If you missed out on part five, you can catch up in quick fashion here. It also happens to be our 100th post on TSY. We want to pause to say thank you to all of our readers, and hope you’ve enjoyed our many adventures! We’re always interested in hearing about your travels also, so feel free to share in the comments anytime.

Edgar and Leigh left the lodge early in a light rain and cool temperatures. I stayed back, not in a hurry to get out of bed but still up by six thirty. In Alaska time, that counts as sleeping in. I cooked the rest of the salmon that was in the fridge so I could make a quick salmon patty supper, roasted the two remaining apples and made Bisquick biscuits, as the bread was nearly gone.

The son of the father/son hunting team next door gave me four little strips of his deer already cooked. I said I should wait until we shot our own, but he insisted. In addition to my thanks, I gave him the remaining vegetable soup and two huckleberry pancakes. He invited me to go halibut fishing the next day. I wasn’t sure how much movement we’d get at sea, and if I’d get sea sick, but it sounded fun. I wanted to ask Brent, the lodge owner, how far the boat they were taking would go out. I was really entertaining the idea.

Edgar and Leigh came back for lunch around 1pm. I served them bacon and eggs and fresh biscuits. Nice for a change.

After the warm meal we went back to the hunt. They were walking a lot of rough miles, and seeing a lot of does, but no shootable bucks. The terrain varies drastically from soggy, muskeg bottoms, to deep rain forest, clear cuts, and tall pine forests. It is hard hunting; there are thousands of acres and bucks that stay hidden, especially this time of year. After giving it our best effort all day, we pulled into the lodge at dark again, exhausted and empty-handed.

Dinner was mac and cheese with broccoli and leftover bacon bits with salmon patties, and baked apples for desert. We were all in bed shortly after ten.

On day seven we got an insider’s tip on where the big bucks were hiding, but getting there proved quite the adventure.

~Kate Riley

Prince of Whales – Part One

December 27, 2019 Guest Travel

It began the way it always does, with a phone call. “Kate, do you want to go hunting in Alaska?” He sometimes calls me mom, but in recent years mostly “Kate”. It’s not with disrespect— we have become friends.

“Count me in,” came my immediate reply. I even extended my trip by putting two extra days on both ends. Edgar lives on a trawler just outside of the Houston ship channel. I enjoy a little time on that boat. Thursday I flew to Houston and Edgar picked me up at the airport. We drove straight to the Bow Out, the 1973 40-foot DeFever PassageMaker. I dropped off my luggage and he took me out to dinner for some “catching up” and contemplation of the adventure ahead. We were off to hunt sitka deer, the small black-tailed deer native to southeastern Alaska. The conversation drifted from logistics of getting to Prince of Whales Island, our hunting destination, to our hopes for the hunt itself. The “what ifs” and “whens” exhausted, we headed back to the Bow Out for a great night’s sleep. I rest very well on that old boat.

The next morning Edgar got up early and headed off to work. He makes that forty-eight mile rush hour drive every morning to downtown Houston. I didn’t get up until almost eight. I enjoyed a leisurely coffee on the fly bridge in the hot Houston morning. Then I spent some time getting a little “house” cleaning out of the way. The captain will come back to a clean ship.
The one hundred-plus degree afternoon was a good time for me to take care of some business calls inside the comfortable air-conditioned galley…. no matter how much I enjoy the view from the upper deck. Edgar arrived after work and we packed up and went to Leigh’s, through Houston’s Friday night traffic. They took me out for a Vietnamese dinner, then back to the house for packing hunting and fishing gear. Showers and bed did not come nearly as early as that 3AM alarm.

Next up: On the first full day of our adventure, we found ourselves in an all-out airport sprint, and got our first glimpse of the quirky town of Ketchikan… a place where salmon runs and cruise ships oddly intersect.

-Kate Riley

Thoughts on Alaska

July 28, 2018 Guest Travel

Thanks to our loyal contributor, Marie, for sharing these thoughts on her recent Alaskan adventure.

Starting off, there are a few preconceived notions about Alaska that I have found to be exceedingly true. From traditional totem poles to glaciers to the sheer vast emptiness of the land.

By emptiness I don’t mean lack of substance or matter. I’m referring to the lack of human disturbance of the natural world: buildings, parking lots, houses, all of the things that fill our eyes every single day (Maybe not my sister’s, as she’s been living in a tent clearing trails and building bridges for the Rocky Mountain Youth Core since early summer). The majority of people take the sight of untouched land completely for granted, and mostly, I think, because they’ve never had the opportunity to understand it or have not been taught the significance of the untouched space. I was so fortunate to have been raised to love and treasure the connecting beauty that nature, particularly the mountains, holds. Thinking of the people who have been my mentors in helping me know how precious it is and will always be gives me an unmeasurable amount of gratitude. It makes me who I am.

Alaska holds so much, and it’s one of those rare places that you see and you just think, this is how it is supposed to be.

We took “The Seeker”, a rough and tough landing craft, out to an island one day, and sat on the beach with the sun shining down on us. The moment was how I picture heaven.

I have seen a few different oceans and there is always some sort of noticeable change between them. I speak just for southeastern Alaska, but when you look down into the water, there is nothing but clarity and life. The forests are the same way! They look healthy and happy and there is so much diversity when you train your eye to notice the vitality on a smaller scale. Seeing the unvarnished beauty and strength of nature provides a sense of unwavering hope, and I’ve been able to feel it all day and night and it’s better than any cleanse you’d find at your local, overpriced health foods store.

Living on a boat, there’s nothing else like it. The first few steps in the morning feel like they’re your first three steps ever. I’m sure this is all comical to the ones that have experienced it. All in all, I have definitely developed a much deeper respect for Alaska, seeing as I was the woman riding a borrowed, squeaky bike in my Xtratuffs.