wading through the yukon

The last couple of weeks have been days packed full with events and experiments. You would think it a town of 5 streets by 20 blocks would be lacking and content with boredom. But oh no give it to Alaska to prove me wrong. Each day is packed with opportunity and a taste of something out of ordinary. After I got off the trail, I decided to spend my government stimulus check on a trip to anchorage and Denali. I have friend who was going to be in the area conveniently during my days off. In fact the only inconvenient part of the whole trip was trying to not to keep from laughing the entire time. So to get to the other side of the state, I decided to be frugal and take the ferry to Juneau. I heard many good things and it was interesting enough. However, the rainy weather and my own lack of sleep beforehand due to celebration of summer solstice, made it hard for me to stay awake. Yet, I did manage to keep my eyes open long enough to see plenty of glaciers, sea lions, beautiful coastlines and lose my wallet. After a brief visit to the thrift store and plenty of time to read in Juneau, I flew to anchorage.

The rest of the trip was filled with random events and plenty of good times. We kept ourselves busy driving along the coast, going to a nature reserve, visiting some stores, watching movies, playing scrabble, eating, and just lying about trying to suck every breath out of our vacation. We spent a couple of nights in the quirky little tourist base camp town Talkeetna, popular among those attempting to climb McKinley, RV’ers and those going to Denali. We stayed in my first ever American hostel. I don’t know what I expected, so when I found myself in a place that easily fit the description of “Grandma’s House” it was somehow comforting in a strange way. Pat, age 71, pseudo converted her house into a hostel, by making tons of little rooms filled with large beds, quilts, odd knickknacks and homemade curtains. The downstairs held no air of formality, doors were not locked, the kitchen is stocked with goodies, and you are likely to meet people from all over the world watching Jeopardy in the family room. Other than explorative hikes along the river and meals at the local Smokehouse, we found it almost most pleasurable to just lie on the bed talking and messing around on the computer. We did extend ourselves long enough to make it to Denali where the rain was relentless, yet the wilderness did grace us with sightings of sheep, a bear, a moose, an owl and a caribou. Quickly the time came and it was time for us to part. I flew to Juneau, spent the night in the airport then flew early in the morning to Skagway. Only leaving myself enough time to drop my bag, pack my stuff and head off on the trail in the same morning.

The trail once again provided plenty of natural silence, long hikes, manual labor, sunny days, and a reason to act like 12 year old boy looking for trouble. I have found in the past the best tactic for me to overcome a fear or something I dislike is to immerse my self in the very thing that I have tried to avoid. If anyone has hiked or climbed with me near water they know, mostly because I will say it over and over, that I really do hate having to walk on wet rocks in the process of crossing water. So when I found out that we had to jump in the ever growing river to tear apart a bridge, my body swayed between hesitation and anticipation. My emotions were quickly distracted by the fact I got to put on hip waders. If they weren’t so big and I wasn’t wearing park service clothes underneath I would go so far as to say there are almost cute in a way. With waders strapped to our belt buckles, all of us picked up our crowbars and threw on an extra layer and plunged into the icy water. Of course the idea that we got to destroy something attracted a couple of the backcountry rangers to volunteer to help us. By the time we all were in the water and started pounding and prying away, there was one too many boys in the water trying to be men. After ripping off a couple of planks, I decided to go the shore and nail down all the rusty nails on the wet boards as they flung them to me. After a quick couple of hours the job was done and we felt quite happy with ourselves. Enough so to go relax in the cabin, drinking tea and reading till we warmed our limbs. The rest of the day wasn’t as thrilling, as we were back in our regular old work clothes, hiking along, doing so re-routing. I don’t know if I overcome my fear of wet rocks but I discover I need hip waders.

The next few days were spent on the re-routing, which is actually quite fun. It’s like putting together a picture with nature’s puzzle pieces. Everything around us becomes a building material. Basically, we identify areas where water or erosion has caused the trail to be dangerous or inconvenient. Then we figure out what needs to be done, usually this involves find large stones to put as steps, creating a new path, digging water channels, clearing the trail of roots, putting up signs, etc. I also got to spend a whole sunny afternoon in one of the few meadows along the river. If it wasn’t for the hum of my weed whacker and the fact I was clearing a space for an emergency evacuation helicopter, it would almost have been romantic. The 8 days went quickly and almost every opportunity to enjoy the sun was taken. For our hike out the weather decided to jolt our routine and pleasure of the sun by being overcast and rainy. Our hike out soaked us to the bone to the point where we forgot we were ever dry. However, our excitement could not be dampened by the rain. What were we so excited for- hot meals, dry clothes, a social life? Oh no, the raft! For the last few miles of our descent, the trail crew has a raft which takes us with the river, past the final hill and straight to the ranger station. This is the one place during the hike where the weather was welcomed. The water levels had risen to make the usually temperate ride almost unpredictable and fog lingered in long stretches like gray fingers over the water. I couldn’t feel my own hands, but the smile on my face never waivered. Eventually we made it to the station, loaded our stuff and headed into town, back to reality.

Now, the last few years I have spent July 4^th abroad, forgetting the past of daylong bbq’s and fireworks, resigning to the mindset that is just another holiday, not full of much. Leave it to a small-town in Alaska to show me I was wrong. Starting even the night before, the town held a dance party in the streets, followed by fireworks above the docks. Then early in the morning of the 4th the fun began again and did not end till late. First, I got to be IN a parade, not stand on the side but sitting on a float waving. The park service created a float resembling the days of the gold rush. All the girls and guys wore costumes, putting boxes on our backs and chanting for gold. Aside from the joy of wearing a hat easily confused with a wicker basket with flowers, I was instantly excited at seeing the Canadian Mounties all decked out in uniform and marching in sync. Don’t worry my schoolgirl giddiness did not prevent me from getting a picture with them.

The rest of the parade was made of up various clever floats from local businesses and the audience was packed full of tourists, seasonals, and locals. However, the highlight of the day was the egg toss. I am not even kidding as I say. The town decided they wanted to break the Guiness Book of World Records for the largest egg toss competition ever. So over 1000 people lined up in pairs down the entire main street as a helicopter hovered above documenting each minute. While waiting in line to begin tossing the crowd did the wave, sang songs, and gave pep talks to their eggs. Sadly, my partner and I didn’t win but watching the victory was just as gratifying and we beat the record by double. Though the streets smelled rotten, festivities continued throughout the day. There was the slowest bike race, arm wrestling, bbqing, horse shoe toss, awards, pie auction, and the railway spike driving contest. The last contest was the best. Everyone you would think would be involved in a small town Alaskan competition that involved using a sledge hammer to beat down nails into large pieces of wood was definitely present, stereotyping was justified among the cut off tees, tattoos, muddy boots, buzzed heads, flannel and sunglasses, smoking game judge, facial hair, and loud shouting. I was so amazed by the speed, strength and stupidity of some that I watched the whole thing.

The rest of the night was spent at a potluck with the park service crew, enjoying the warm evening and demonstration of party tricks. Somehow we managed to have two different types of mac n’cheese, three pies, fresh corn, rice krispy treats, bbqing meats, and coleslaw. And thank goodness because I was beginning to wonder if I knew how to celebrate the Fourth of July.

The rest of my days was well spent and worthy of an email for each. However, here are the highlights:

-hiking AB mountain on a very sunny day, its one of the highest points you can get to in a day hike and overlooks the whole area

-exploring and taking cool pics of an abandoned mine along the highway

-lying in the sun in the world’s smallest desert in the middle of the Yukon surrounded by glaciers, making it my first time to Canada

-finally being able to go to church and meet the other 60 young single seasonal Mormons in town

-going to White Horse, Canada to the Superstore for groceries, going to an actual movie theater, visiting the world’s largest salmon fish ladder, finding a great sweatshirt at Salvation Army, and eating delicious salmon and chips

-running and riding my bike

- finishing a couple of good books

-driving through the Yukon

-Travel stories at the local library

Now as I am ready to send this email out, I am sitting in the New Haven café, four blocks from my house, surrounded by the Skagway local Asian population. The air swirls around me with dialects I do not know but smells of food so familiar to me that I reminded of the part of me that clings to the fact that you can always find a bit of your past and fantasies in the common present. I am going back out on the trail and who knows what’s in store.