I Got A Job!

There is just so much shopping, apartment cleaning and laundry doing that I can do in a given week. I knew that I would have to do something if I was going to save my sanity for the entire summer. Dan was worried that I would become bored. Actually I thought he was worried that I would shop all his pay checks away at the jewelry shops! So, to stave off my boredom, I decided to actually look for a job. I asked Wendy at Taquan if they had any openings there. I was hoping I could drive the tourists between the ships and Taquan. That would be a nice cushy job. But Wendy said that they had all the help they needed. "But wait.....let me make a call to someone," she said.

So here I am, on the dock, Berth I, at the Regent Ship, Century, standing in the rain. Note the smile on my face, though.

I work for Experience Alaska Tours. We stand on the docks, rain or shine, holding up the sign for the tour that the passengers booked on the ships for the different crab feasts that we offer. The passengers/tourists seek me out, I take their tickets and make sure that they get on the correct bus that will take them to their destination.

All of our tours are to the George Inlet Lodge for All You Can Eat Crab Feasts. The differences between the tours are: 1) drive to the lodge by bus, hop on a boat for an hour and a half round trip boat ride out to the crab pots and back to the lodge for an all you can eat Dungeoness Crab Feast, then a bus ride back to the ship; 2) drive to the lodge by bus where you are escorted to a private dining room for drinks, hors d' oeuvres, and all you can eat Dungeoness Crab Feast, then a 20 minute flight-seeing tour on the airplane back to Taquan and a bus ride back to the ship; 3) bus ride out to Taquan, hop on a Beaver and have a 20 minute flight-seeing tour landing at the lodge where you are escorted to a private dining room for drinks, hors d' oeuvres and all you can eat Dungeoness Crab Feast, then a bus ride back to the ship.

The other day, I was invited to go along on the drive/drive (number 1, above) tour.

This is the boat that we took out to the crab pots. They set the pots at 5am each morning so that by the time we get out there, hopefully there will be plenty of crab in the pots for us to see. Asako was our tour guide that day. She gives us her tour speech and we hope we will be able to see whales or eagles. We were lucky with the eagles that day.

This is where the crab pots are

There was no wind and the water was like glass. The picture to the right shows us coming up to the area where the crab pots are. At the end of the day, they release the crabs that were caught in these pots. These crabs are here just to let us see and/or hold if we want to. They get the crab that we eat from other pots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asako pulling up a crab pot

Hooking up the rope to the pulley

Asako asks for a volunteer to help with pulling in the crab pots. She then explains how to tell the difference between the males and females. They can only keep the males that are 6 inches across as they are the mature males. Anything else is thrown back (I knew that from watching "The Deadliest Catch").

It was a very interesting tour. I'm glad that I was able to ride along. I was also VERY glad that I was able to participate in the All You Can Eat Crag Feast! Those Dungies are very delicious. Just for fun, the lodge has a contest to see which table of 4 can eat the most by having everyone pile their shells in the bowl in the middle of the table. They then measure the height to determine the winner. MY table won!! Whoo Hoo!! Well, okay, maybe we cheated a little bit. They tell us that there has to be crab shells on top. They don't say what can be on the bottom. So we put our bowl on top of a pint beer glass and we won with a height of 17 1/2 inches (yeah, and we had a lot of shells too. those people can realy eat!!). Our prize was we were allowed to get up in front of everyone and do the "crab dance". Very fun.

But soon we had to climb the 79 stairs straight up to the road and catch the bus back to the ship.

17 crab in this pot

Here are some of the pictures I took of our boat tour:

A stare-down

Asako holding a male crab

We were in 56.4 feet of water for this crab pot

Beautiful waterfall on Revilla just around the corner from George Inlet Lodge

Dan's Letter From Kamp Ketchikan: May 31, 2011

We arrived on Saturday the 14^th of May and I checked in with Taquan. They wanted me to start recurrent training right away so Sunday mourning I started a solo review of procedure and started doing all of the tests that are required. On Monday I went in for my pre-employment drug and alcohol test. I had forgotten just what that involved. I had “GONE” just before leaving for the testing facility. Well I realized just how dumb that was when the tech at the testing facility gave me a bottle to fill. Oh s***! The pressure was on and try as I might I failed to perform! That didn’t mean just wait and try again.  No! I had to fill out paper work documenting the incomplete sample! And then wait in the lobby until I felt “ready” to try it again. No pressure right, just drink a lot of water and try again. Not quite. You are limited in the amount of water you can have in any given time period. They don’t want you to try and dilute the sample. Hum hum hum, “may I have some more water please.” “No it hasn’t been long enough yet.” Humm da humm humm, “can I have that water now.” “Just a few more minutes.”

As I was waiting for a retest, a young woman came in for the same test. I wished her good luck as the tech called her in. She looked at me quizzically as she went in. A few minutes later she came out and sat in the lobby a few chairs from me. I looked at her and said, “not enough huh.” She looked back and said, “yeah.”

Another woman walked in and we both watched as she filled out her paper work and then took a seat in the lobby. A few minutes later the tech walked out and called her in to give her sample. The young woman and I both looked at her and wished her good luck. 

I wish I was a coffee drinker. I’m sure that would have made all of this unnecessary. The older woman came out and took a seat in the lobby. I looked at her and said, “not enough huh.” She looked at me with a flush of embarrassment and said, “yeah.” We all chuckled and entered into bathroom banter.

I would sure like to get out of here. I feel like I could go but I don’t want to under perform again. Besides being hard on the ego it could have legal ramifications for the drug test.

Could I have some more water now?

I asked the tech if it was common to have someone not fill the cup. He said it was quite unusual. In fact it had happened only once in the last few months. 

Great, even more pressure! Humm da humm humm.

I feel like I could do it now but I want to make sure. Could I have another glass of water?

I can do it now, I’m sure, I think! I went up the window and told the tech I was ready. We went through the whole process again. “Everything out of your pockets, sign this form stating I showed you the rules, wash your hands, now DON’T FLUSH AFTER YOU’RE DONE.” He handed me the cup, it looked bigger than I remembered, and I started slowly at first, a drop or two at a time, then more, and more. I made it to the mark. I kept going past the mark. Where was this when I needed it? The cup was nearly full and I had just started. Do you remember the movie “A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN?” If you do, then you remember the scene I’m thinking about, uh-huh that much. When I finished I reached for the handle to flush (reflex). Luckily, it was taped as a reminder.

As I left I wished the girls good luck. Whew that ordeal was over. It would take about three days before the results would be back and I couldn’t fly until the company got the all clear on the drug test. I finished all the tests and went along on a couple of trips to get reacquainted with the area.

Two and a half days later the drug test results were back and Kevin, our Director of Operations, put me in the Beaver for recurrent training and a check ride. We did the required hour of training and the check ride and I was on the line. The next day I flew four Misty trips for a total of 5 hours. So far I have flown over 30 hours.

The weather is always the issue here in Ketchikan. A few days ago we had normal Ketchikan weather, ragged 500 foot ceiling and 3-4 miles visibility and light rain. It was too low to fly the usual route over land to get to the Misty’s so we had to stay over water all the way and go around Point Alva to the Behm Canal, then up to Rudyard Bay. This added about 10 minutes to the flight. Even with the low ceilings it was a beautiful trip. We were limited to where we could go in the Misty’s but the tour was great. Sometimes when the weather is low it is even more spectacular with the clouds hanging on the sides of the mountains.

More later.............

Monday, 23 May: I got to ride along on a Misty!

Today Dan told me that he had an empty seat on a Misty Fjords National Monument tour. They had just 4 passengers and there would be room for me if I wanted to go. IF I WANTED TO GO???? Of course I did!!

Also, I was lucky enough to sit in the co-pilot's seat (helps to know the pilot). Here's Dan (all business) just after we took off. It was kind of a misty day, but good ceilings and visibility. I was in the plane with my seat belt on before the rest of the passengers got in.

So we're off. There were three ships in at port that day. Here are two of them. The air was smooth, no bumps. I knew that this was going to be a good tour. Dan started the CD that had some interesting information about the area we were flying through.

The tour takes us over the Tongass Narrows, around Mountain Point and over the Carroll Inlet, crossing the east side of Revilla. Then cross the Behm Canal. Actually, the Behm Canal is not a canal at all. It is a glacier-formed channel. From there we enter Rudyard Bay.

This is a picture of Rudyard Bay. We will then bank to the right and see "The Wall" on the left. The Wall is over three thousand feet tall and a sheer granite wall scrubbed out by glaciers.

Dan gets pretty close to the Wall, or, at least it looks that way. It is so big we are dwarfed in comparison. I once saw another airplane in the Misty's and boy did it look little next to those massive granite walls.

Coming to "The Wall"

Up close and personal

This is a picture of Big Goat Falls. The falls are two thousand feet high and come out of Big Goat Lake. I don't know if you can see this or not, but the lake is still frozen. Some of the fresh water lakes in the Misty Fjords are still frozen even into the month of June. By later in July they are all thawed and ready to re-freeze by late September.

One of Dan's and my favorite lakes is Nooya Lake. Here is a picture of the lake looking down from the head of the lake. The head is still frozen, but the mouth of the lake is open. I have been to the Misty's twice before and landed once at Bailey Falls and the second time we landed here on Nooya. When we had landed on Nooya it was mid August. It was the most breath taking spot. So very quiet and ethereal. It just left a lump in my throat. You really can see the hand of God here in the Misty's.

Looking from the head to the mouth of Nooya

Were are going to land at the Amphitheater this trip. Notice the other plane landing before us. At this time of the year it is one of the best places to land. We had a very nice landing - very smooth. The other passengers seemed to enjoy it as well. Whenever we land at the Misty's, the pilot always asks if everyone wants to get out onto the floats. Almost everyone does. Only two of our passengers were game for it, plus Dan and me. I don't know how deep the water is in the Amphitheater, but I know that in Rudyard Bay it can be up to 1,000 feet deep. I would imagine that it is pretty darn deep here as well. It was very quiet there. And it smelled good too, all the damp spruce and cedar trees. The water was a light green-aqua in color. And, with no wind, it was very peaceful. But, after what seemed like too short of time, our pilot said we had to get back into the plane and be on our way.

The Amphitheater from on the floats

Back in the airplane and ready to go

 

 

New Eddie Stone Rock is in the Behm Canal. Eddie Stone is the core of a volcano that the glaciers scrubbed the outside of the rock away and we are left with the core. Dan says that the rock is over 200 feet high. There is an eagle's nest in the top of the trees that grow on the rock. We could see the bald eagle's white head, but I'm not so sure it shows up on this picture.The way back to Ketchikan takes us almost back the way we came. After Eddie Stone Rock we go over Ella Creek (where I saw a black bear), Ella Lake, then rejoin our path back to KTN, over Fish Creek.

Back over the Carroll Inlet, around Mountain Point and up the Tongass Narrows. As we were approaching Taquan's base we came upon  the Coral Princess just leaving port on it's way up to Juneau. I can't imagine what the passenger's on the ship were thinking when they see an airplane flying low right next to them, in preparation for landing, and then actually see the plane land on the water right next to them. I'll bet it was awesome!

Here's Dan just after we touched the dock, securing the plane so us passengers can get out and take our pictures with that awesome pilot!

Sunday, 22 May: Ride Along to the George Inlet Lodge

 

This afternoon Dan was assigned to fly out to George Inlet Lodge to pick up passengers who were there after booking an Excursion Crab Fest. That means they flew out on a Taquan airplane to the lodge, road on their boat to their crab pots, retrieved some Dungeoness Crab to take back to the lodge to eat. Then Taquan comes back for them and gives them a 20 minute flight tour on the way back to KTN.

The George Inlet Lodge is, of course, on the George Inlet, which is North and East of KTN. Dan says that when you take off from Taquan in the Tongass Narrows you fly to Mountain Point, then turn left at the George Inlet. All I know is that it is, again, a pretty flight. And today's flight was very, very smooth. It was high overcast and Dan flew over Revillagigedo (the island that Ketchikan is on) at 2,000 feet.

It is amazing that we have had sunny and relatively warm temperatures but there is still snow on the mountains. In fact some of the lakes in the Misty's are still frozen. But I will save that story with pictures for the next blog.

See the snow on the ground and on the mountain?

This is the head of the George Inlet

We are flying a little lower now because right around the end of Revillagigedo (locals just call it Revilla) we will be turning right to get to the lodge. BTW, Dan says you can use Google Earth, look up Ketchikan to find all of these places. Just go there and look around.

Here is the George Inlet Lodge. Look at how glassy the water is. Dan is going to have to do a glassy water landing. But I know he can do it!

The Lodge used to be at a different location as part of a logging camp in the 60s or 70s. The previous owners moved it via barge to the location where it is now, and turned it into a lodge. If you would like you could do a Google search for George Inlet Lodge Ketchikan to learn more about it.

Here is the plane we flew there in. We are not at the edge of the dock by choice, it is just about that small. I know that you cannot get two planes there. I hope our people are ready because there is another plane coming behind us to pick up 4 other passengers.

These are our passengers. Looks like they are all tuckered out from eating too much crab. They did say that they enjoyed the flight-seeing on the way back to KTN.

Once back at Taquan, Brian, the dock worker fills up Dan's plane before Dan ramps it for the day. He, Dan, has a flight tomorrow morning. Everyday, 5 days a week, they have a passenger, a psychologist (therapist) who works with the native people. She lives in Ketchikan, but works in Metlakatla on Annette Island. Taquan takes her out in the morning and ProMech Air picks her up in the evening (a 15 minute flight each way).

Well, all the planes, except one who is going on a freight run, are back for the day. Pilots will begin ramping their planes. It is fun to watch. But ya gotta plug your ears when they do that because, at full power, it gets really, really loud.

Finishing Out Our First Week

Saturday, 21 May

On Dan's second day off, after sleeping in to 8 o'clock (ahhh), we decided to explore the other end of the island (this time it was 18 miles of road). The sky was partly sunny and the temperature was nice enough to wear only a vest over a long sleeve shirt when the sun was behind clouds. I only mention this because in my past experience it has rained more than it has not. This time, there has been so many nice days without rain that even the locals are talking about it.

Before we left town, we decided to drive around the residential streets up the mountain. Let me tell you that they are really really steep, narrow and winding. But the views are spectacular. Here is a smaller ship just coming in to KTN.

There was little to no wind and the channel, the Behm Canal, was like glass. We also passed by a couple more waterfalls. I'm always amazed at how fast the water runs down the mountain. We stopped by one for more pictures. When I was standing by the waterfall I could feel the mist and the cold wet air coming off of it.

Cute blue rubber boots

After a nice drive and more waterfall pictures, we decided to head back to town.

Tomorrow, the 22nd, is our 40th wedding anniversary. Dan decided he was going to take me out to dinner at Cape Fox. Cape Fox is an upscale hotel and restaurant on the side of the mountain right behind Creek Street and our apt. You have to take a tram up and from that vantage point you can see downtown Ketchikan.

                                    Here is a picture of Cape Fox. Notice the change in weather. The clouds are rolling in, but not raining yet.

This is the view from the tram looking up at Cape Fox.

                                    Now we are looking down from the tram.

This is the view out the windows in the restaurant. The food at Cape Fox is very good. I finally got my salmon (with hollandase sauce, rice pilaf and steamed vegetables). Dan got the Chicken Marsala - very good. The bad thing is that the drinks are very expensive, so we decided to walk to Annabelle's for our after dinner drinks.

I'm also going to share with you a couple more pictures. One of that smaller ship that was coming in at the beginning of this posting and one of a barge with containers on it. This is the main way that shops here in Ketchikan get their wares. And people use this mode of transportation for some of their larger items that they need shipped here. You see these barges coming up the inside passage being pulled by tug boats. It is amazing how high they stack those containers and then, on top of all of that, you see these full sized motor homes, 5th wheelers, school buses and 18-wheelers! Some even have pretty good sized boats on them. Sometimes at the grocery stores they may be out of things, like, oh say, milk. The explanation is that the container that those grocery items were in, probably fell off of the barge. Well you could see why when you see how high they stack those puppies!

This is a small barge. I have seen these containers stacked much higher on other barges.

First Week in KTN

Well, we completed our first week in KTN. We were very busy. Dan started ground school on Sunday. I started looking around town. Dan would take a lunch break and I would pick him up and we would go to the A&P grocery store (the locals call it Alaska & Proud) for lunch. Now, I realize that sounds odd, but they have a Great salad bar, deli sandwiches and even hot food sold by weight. We love to get the salads and eat them at their little cafe on site.

Then it is back to work for Dan and back to serious looking around for me. Do you know how many jewelry stores they have in KTN? I DO!! Then I'd go pick up Dan at the end of the day and we would check out which restaurant we would like to eat at for dinner. Seriously, I know that some day I'm going to have to cook dinner. But in the meantime, the picture above is of the historic Gilmore hotel and our favorite hang-out, Annibelles. The picture to the right is of a cruise ship downtown at berth #3. Note the sunny sky in both pictures.

Friday and Saturday were Dan's two days off that week. And Taquan was having a cook-out for lunch at the hangar. It was a good way to meet the new people and for them to meet the new us.

Later we decided to spend the rest of Friday driving to the West end of the island (14 miles to the end of the road). We stopped at Knudson Cove Marina to check out a place where we could go on a kayaking tour. Also, they would rent you kayaks after they saw how well you could handle yourself. They also offer fishing from the kayaks, but that is where my ears lost interest. It was a pretty marina and the people there were very friendly.

At the end of the road is Settler's Cove and a really nice park. Here is a view of the ocean and the cove. We also saw two yearling black bears along the road................where's your mama???

We talked to the park ranger and she said, "Oh yeah, the mama and her two yearlings live around here. We see her often." Yeah, but I didn't see her, I'm still wondering where she was. Probably keeping an eye on us. So when we walked through the woods, I spoke VERY LOUDLY!!

It was just beautiful there. The walking paths, the bridges and the stairs up to see the water falls. This time of year there are a lot of waterfalls as the snow is melting off and there is no soil to absorb the water, only rock down which it will fall. The result is breath-taking.

We decided to head back and stopped in at Taquan to watch them ramp up the planes for the end of the day. They bring the planes to the dock, to a teeter-totter like ramp, line up the plane and put on full power while driving it up the ramp. The tricky part is knowing when to stop so that when the teeter-totter levels, you don't go shooting across the dock! Then the ramp guys secure the ramp and tie down the plane. They do this with 5 of the planes, put two in the hangar and one outside the hangar. If you think ramping the planes is exciting, to get the two in the hangar, which is up the hill, they drive a truck with a special trailer on the front, down the launch ramp while the plane drives at high power, trying to line up with a bulls eye on the trailer, sticks it onto the trailer and then, while still at high power, the truck backs up the hill with the airplane at tow until they are on level ground at the hangar. They then hook up a hoist to lift the plane off the trailer and bring it into the hangar and set it onto the floor. It is just amazing to watch.

Getting ready to ramp the plane.

                                                                             Lining up to the ramp.

Hitting the power to "drive" up the ramp.

                                 The 8th plane on the pad outside the hangar.

The 6th and 7th planes in the hangars where they receive regular maintenance overnight.