Searching for Moose in Chiltak River - Haines, Alaska

            Since being to Alaska last summer, my ultimate dream/fantasy here was to see a moose. Maybe it’s from all those Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons that I watched when I was a kid. It perhaps slipped into my unconscious mind and are now re-emerging and giving me the strange desire to see a moose. So when I saw that Haines, Alaska is one of the best places to spot a moose in the wild, I had to go and take a chance.
            At 7am I walked off the ship to see wonderfully eerie sight. The port town of Skagway was covered in a great morning fog like something out of a Halloween tale. The neighboring cruise ships were engulfed in the soft, smeared clouds. I met with my guide who led me to the express boat that would take us the 45 min through the Chilkoot inlet into the town of Haines. I boarded the boat and as we left the dock and trotted along the inlet, we were able to see some great views of waterfalls and misty mountain formations being caressed by the early morning fog. After a short while we made it to the dock of Haines.





            Walking off the pier, I was faced with the town in front of me. A quiet little town which had simple houses with simple coloring. It was almost spooky how neat and quite it was; something almost out of a Tim Burton film or something. I proceeded to the end of the pier where the buses were there to take me to the location. I was met by “coronel” Karen who I was told by my Skagway guide to salute when I saw her. I looked at her and she said to me “Didn’t someone tell you to salute me?!” I gave a quick two fingered salute and then she laughed and pointed to my bus. The buses were old; from the 70’s probably. I definitely saw them in some old 70’s horror movies and now they have come to Haines to apparently retire and  die. I got on the old piece of scrap metal and took a seat.





           The bus got going and as we passed through the sleepy town, the driver gave us some narration and history as well as the way of life of the people in the town. The deeper we got into the wilderness, the more excited I got. I just had a feeling that today I was going to see a moose. I kept my eyes on the side of the road, scanning frantically hoping to see a large brown figure on four hooves or even better, some antlers. We drove alomg side the Chilkat River and were explained that it is the most shallow river in the world. The driver joked that If you fall in, don’t panic, just try not to get your life preserver wet and just stand up. The river in most parts is only 9 inches deep!
Finally we reached the site that was nestled along the river. We got off and met Sierra, a young 30 something year old guide who I was going to get on a flat bottom boat with and she was going to 
show me along the Chilkat river. After putting on some cold weather gear, I got onto the boat and we 
took off. 
            From the boat I could see the amazingly rugged skyline. The mountains ripped into the deep blue of the sky and the heavy clouds masked the rest. This day out of most days I was told was 
unreal. They rarely get days like this. They also told me that all of last night It poured rain. The thin frail trees whistled in the ice-cold wind. On top of a few of them, were bald eagles resting. They perched there, majestically scanning the land and water for food. They would fly off when we got too close and it would soar to some far off destination. After being wowed by the views, I remembered my true purpose of being here: the moose.









I tried looking through the brush to see something that resembled a moose shape. We floated by some open fields and hills where I thought for sure we would see something- a moose, a bear, a sheep.... Something! But we saw nothing. She pointed out a part of the bank where moose commonly eat and had eaten the grass down to the nubs; but they were gone now. My hopes were dwindling about seeing a moose. I was getting ready for the eventuality of failure.
 We got a great glimpse of the near by Takshanuk Mountains which had two small valley galciers on them. The glaciers had a light blue hue to them which gave the colossal mountains some character.

As we headed back to the site and the tour came to an end, I gave up hope. It looked like once again I came to Alaska for the second year in a row and have missed seeing a moose. I will say though that all was not lost. I still had an amazing time boating the Chiltak river and experiencing its very wild scenery.           -DB

Tea at The Empress - Victoria, B.C.

            "Another cup please!" as the server came by and poured another round of tea for the table. This was a REALLY swanky hotel. The Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Colombia, once a popular hotel for the english royalty, is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city. The Victorian stye building brings in hundreds of thousands of toursist in each year and the most popular thing to do is to sit down for a cup of its home-grown tea. 

            In front of my at the table is a three story little tower filled with scones, finger sanwiches and tasy pasteries. I take a bite of the finger-sandwich and take another sip of the warm tea. I'm sitting with 4 other passengers from the ship. To the right of me are two older ladies who hail from Kentucky. They were sweet old ladies who were very excited abut their cruise.

            The other two are a young couple from Ottawa Canada. The guy who works for an insurance firm, is on his very first cruise. His girlfriend is a long time cruiser as that her parents have also been cruising for decades and would frequently take her along.

            As i am enjoying the conversation at my table I also take notice at the beautiful decorations around me. The giant white colomns and deep red curtains that give the room its intensity. Elaborate crystal chandeliers as well a large fireplace with a portrait of a Victorian gentleman above it. 

            Out the window we have a clear view of the city hall building which has lights surrounding the whole thing: 3,333 lights to be exact! 

            After tea, our tour bus drove us back to the ship but not before giving us some nice views of the city. Victoria still has the royal feel to it as it did back in the 19th century. The Empress Hotel is a great example. I look forward to my return one day so I can live the life of luxury at the Empress Hotel all over again.          -DB

The White Pass Railroad - Skagway, Alaska

            It looked like something out of Disneyland to be honest. Large wooden train compartments with olde style text painted on the side. The many compartments were connected together by a steel pin which was once painted black but has started to corrode slightly and is now more of a burnt orange. The conductor, who looks like some extra from a spaghetti western, yells “All aboard!” I walk back briskly to the very last compartment and go inside. This was no Disneyland re-enactment train, this was the real deal. This is what Disney modeled their trains after and now I was about to embark on a scenic train ride through White Pass and climb to its summit.

            I take a seat next to a familiar face. Its another musician from the ship. I sat down next to him and we chat till the train gets going. As the train pulls away from the town of Skagway, the views from out the window change drastically in a matter of minutes. Over the intercom, the conductor narrates all the points of interest along the way. We pass a 49er's cemetery and some old run down trains that they put off to the side for the passengers to look at. I decide that I want to get a better look at everything so I head to the back of the train and go outside on the open chain linked ledge. After nudging my way through some people that were already there I managed to get a good spot to observe. Looking over the side and looking at the railroad tracks leaving the compartments below us, I wondered how many people probably drop their cameras over the side by accident. I bet there has to be at least like 20 cameras a month that get dropped and never seem by their owners again. I looked along the tracks to see if I could spot any but I had no luck. The railroad company come by and clean it up daily I bet.

            As we gained elevation, the views got better. The mountain sides were covered in large Fir and Spruce trees that seemed like they were rolled out like fresh new carpet over the hills. Where there weren’t trees, there were jagged rock formations that were equally impressive. This day in particular was cold and over cast. While I didn’t enjoy necessarily the brisk, piercing winds shooting through my jacket, I did enjoy seeing the never-ending evolutions of the cloud formations that gave the ride a mystic quality that made the ride more exciting.

            After going through a few tunnels and over a few wooden bridges, we made it to the summit of White Pass. At the summit was the U.S./Canadian border so we had to stop and dislocate our caboose and have another one attach on the opposite end where it would pull us down the mountain again. The peak was really cold. In the last 10 minutes before reaching the peak it had to have dropped 10 degrees in temperature. The many trees that I had seen before have now completely disappeared and all you see is cold grey rocks, some water dribbling and a few spots of moss. It seemed like a bleak, desolate place that only a few living things dared to live.

            We started making our way down the mountain and saw everything again but now on the other side. Sitting back in the compartment, I was thinking that it would be nice to get some tables in here, a few cocktails perhaps being served. Maybe even some nice cheeses to be served as you drove by. That’s the only thing that might make this a little better. I mean, if your going to be on a train for 3 hours, at least get some refreshments going. Some old rugged scenery from a 19th century train with a glass of Glen Fiddich in hand would be tops. Being as cold as it is, you would’nt even need to put an ice cube in it! I guess I have no room to complain though since the ride was very enjoyable (not that I was complaining or anything).          -DB

The Mendenhall Glacier Hike

Its pretty fucking cold out. Its not snowing quite yet, but the rain, drizzle and wind make it pretty miserable. I was really hoping that for my hike today to the Mendenhall Glacier would have had better weather, but lets face it - Alaska isn’t known for its warm and sunny weather. I strapped my backpack on and walked with my guide to the trailhead. I tried keeping a stiff upper lip and to man up through the miserable, frigid cold. 

My guide was Kellie and she has had years of hiking/survivalist experience. She mentioned as we walked closer to the trailhead that she organizes outdoor survival camps for kids coming for troubled homes at her year around home in Montana. She does lots of these charity things for kids and it is immediately apparent that it is something she is passionate about.

As we starting up the trail she pointed out some bear scat (poop), which she mentioned is common in this area. The bears I guess come and munch on the salmon (which are still currently running) that go upstream to spawn. She assured me that she had some bear spray with her and that she knows the procedure to defend us from a grizzly bear charge. After she tells a story about how some hikers that were recently attacked by a Grizzly, and I’m starting for get slightly nervous as the trail starts getting deeper and deeper into the forest.

The forest floor is very wet and covered with moss, lychens and berries which I guess were edible since Kellie just scooped up a few as we were walking past and just popped a few in her mouth. The trees were massive Sitka and Alder trees that shot straight into the air and covered the skyline that took most of the rainfall that was coming down upon us. The moss that covered much of the ground, looked a lot like a pea-soup green shag carpet. It was so abundant and thriving, that often it climbed up the trees trunks and onto a few of its lower branches.

When we finally got to some higher elevation, we were able to see some of the neighboring hills and rivers. The smeared grey sky set an eerie backdrop for the river and mountains. Kellie said that its days like this that the ice from the glacier tends to glow a deeper blue than usual. Excited by this, I pressed on further.

Unfortunately, the higher in elevation we got, the colder it started to get. I realized that my long sleeve shirt and windbreaker were not enough; especially when you are starting to get soaked. I tried keeping my hands in my pocket for warmth, but water started getting in them and it only made it worse. I tried to keep my mind off of it but it became more and more difficult as we gained elevation.

Finally we reached the top and were able to over look the vast land of Juneau’s rain forest. It really was like something out of a National Geographic special. In the river you could see little blue icebergs that had broken off the Mendenhall glacier and were slowly drifting away. We were on the wrong side of the mountain to the glacier yet, so after a little rest break, we headed down the other side of the mountain to get a better look at it.

It only took about 15 minutes down the mountain will we came to a look out for the Mendenhall Glacier. It was really an awesome sight. The massive slab of ice, which had to be several hundred feet high and probably a half-mile wide, indeed glowed a sky blue, which seemed serial. Never in all my years of getting ice out of the freezer have I seen ice be naturally blue. Next time I order a Blue Hawaii, I’ll have to ask for it with the blue ice.

 On either side of the glacier were huge jagged mountains that had been deeply cut and scathed by the slow moving ice. Off to the left, of it, was a massive waterfall that was dumping thousands of gallons of glacier water per minute into the river below.

After I took some photos, we continued the short hike down the rest of the mountain and to the Mendenhall Glacier National Park. There were several other tour groups there taking photos as well. We walked past them and found the restrooms where I was able to relive myself. Once I met back up with Kellie, we took a detour on our way back to the car; an area that is known for its bear sightings. So we walked over in that direction, hoping that we could get a glimpse of a bear eating some salmon or something similarly cool. As we were just about to walk into that area, a park ranger walked out of the area. Kellie asked if she had seen any bears but the ranger said that they hadn’t seen any. Just my luck... We walked through anyway and was able to see by the stream where bears had just been because of all the half eaten salmon that were chucked all over the grass near the stream which made it reek of rotting fish flesh. After a few minutes of hope, and no bear sightings, we decided to head out.

On the way out, a woman in front of us and her husband were pointing something out in the bushes. Was it a bear perhaps? A Moose even?! It was neither; it was a baby porcupine trying to flee from the woman’s loud voice and blaring camera flash. I managed to see if for a little while before it trotted its way into the nearby bushes and out of sight. It was too young to have proper quills so it was mostly covered in brown, wirery fur; but at least I was able to see some wildlife finally!

The rain forests in Alaska are so vast that it boggles my mind. It just seems like we have thousands and thousands of miles of trees and unexplored land up here in Alaska. Its exciting to know that there are still places like this. Places that are so wild and beautiful and unexplored, that it could make someone all their life exploring these lands, and they would have only seen just the tip of the iceberg.  -DB