Summer into Fall

This afternoon, Amanda and I dropped three friends off at the airport and realized that it is now officially the end of summer. 

While seeing people leave is very sad, it also just serves to prove how amazing of a season it was - met amazing people and had some incredible experiences!

But today marks more than just the end of the summer, it marks the official beginning of fall!  Amanda and I start our official training at Starbucks tomorrow afternoon and I'm actually really looking forward to it!  Learning new things and having a set schedule that I know in advance will be beyond delightful! 

The winter here will be an exciting new experience and I'm thrilled to be here for it!  Rain and snow and fingers crossed for the Aurora Borealis! 

I hope you all are as excited as I am!  Bring on the adventures!!!

"Family" Fishin' Trip

It always surprises me how, despite the summer season only lasting 5 short months, coworkers and friends in the tourism industry very quickly become our own little family.  And that's exactly what I've found this summer.  For example, Captain Liz has become a surrogate auntie for all of us - hosting dinners, being there to answer questions, and also there with a hug whenever you need one.  My friends are people that I know I could call at 3am if I needed them or to go for a hike on a day off.  It's truly remarkable actually!

Right to Left: Sarah, me, Amanda, Liz, Katy, TJ, and Wyatt

On that note, Liz left to head to Maui (she whale watches there in the winter - lucky duck!) on the 16th and so we all went fishing the Friday before she left.  The family outing included Liz, Katy, Amanda, Wyatt, TJ, Sarah, and myself.  It was a beautiful day despite being overcast and having a slight bump to the water.  Our plan was to go out to Icy Strait where we would fish for halibut, stop by the dead whale south of Funter Bay on Admiralty Island where we would look for hungry bears, and then troll for some salmon before heading back home. 

My roomie, Amanda

You'll never lose me in that coat!

The other Katy

Sarah

Sarah and Amanda caught each other and Wyatt had to untangle them

Sadly, halibut fishing was a bust (despite Sarah and Amanda catching each other) but it was a blast.  My arms were so tired though!  When fishing for halibut (since they're a bottom fish) your line has to "bounce" along the bottom.  Now that bottom is pretty darn deep, like 300-400' deep.  And your line? It has a weight on the bottom.  And in order to make it bounce merrily along the bottom, you lift it up and out it down continuously.  And when your captain decides he wants to move the boat, you have to reel all 300-400' of line and your lead weight all the way back up.  Fun but exhausting!

After we solidified the notion that my presence on board is a repellant to all fish ever, we decided to drive on over to check out the dead whale. Now, I shared photos of the dead whale in my "Playing Catch-Up" post and those photos were from back in July when it had only been onshore for about two weeks.  At this point, it has been gnawed on by bears and exposed to the elements for about 2 months or so.  The shape of the whale itself is still generally there, but there are now some ribs visible and the pelvis is now completely bare.  It's pretty darn cool! And the best part.... THERE WAS A BEAR ON IT!!!!!!!  Liz got some amazing pictures of the bear; he had whale blubber all over his face! 

Isn't he just the cutest???

The bear and the camaraderie made up for the lack of bites and it was still an amazing day out on the water!

Have a great weekend everybody!  And go Ducks!!!

Here Fishy Fishy...

On Mondays, ships don't begin getting into port until the afternoon.  Usually these empty mornings are used for sleeping in, doing laundry, etc.  But two weeks ago, we did something we should have been doing all summer - we went fishing!

-2.8 foot tide that morning meant several boats were dry!

Looking back towards the Mendenhall glacier from Auke Bay

Katy, Amanda, and myself went with our friend Wyatt who is a captain on a charter fishing boat.  It was a gorgeous morning, crisp but absolutely cloudless!  We didn't have much time since we all had to work by noon, but nonetheless it was amazing to get to get out on the water at all.

This particular day, we were trolling for salmon.  We each got to choose our own hoochies (colorful lures designed to look like cuttlefish) and then it was time to sit and wait. 

LOVE all the colors!

Knowing this could easily be one of the last times we got some serious sunshine until spring, most of our morning was spent sitting outside soaking it up.

Douglas Island in the distance

We were only able to be out for a few hours and between the four of us we were able to catch 3 fish (2 Cohos and 1 King salmon).  Sadly, Amanda and I didn't catch any but Katy and Wyatt let us hold up their fish!  They made for a few tasty dinners! 

Katy reeling in her Coho!

Me, Katy, and Amanda

Next summer, I can promise you, I will be out fishing as often as I can!  I always enjoy any opportunity to be out on the water and fishing is an absolute blast!

Catch-Up Part 2!

This post is to going to catch y'all up on the month of August.  :)

At the beginning of the month, my parents came to visit and it was absolutely amazing to get to see them!  While they were here, I was able to take about 4 days off of work to get to spend as much time with them as possible.  We did a lot: hiking, flight-seeing over some glaciers in Taku Inlet, whale watching, among others.

For the hike, we went up Mt Roberts to the tram and had lunch.  It was quite the warm day but it was absolutely amazing to get out in the trees!  At the top, we got some lunch and got to catch up.  Walked around town and got dinner at Tracy's Crab Shack (best crab cakes I've ever had!) and watched the Wilderness Adventurer leave port (the boat that several of my friends work on). 

Blurry photo taken by a 6 year old climbing the mountain behind us

Mom and I

Downtown Juneau from the top of the tram

Aren't they adorable???

The day after, we went on a flightseeing tour and it was the best thing ever!  Pretty much, we flew down Gastineau Channel, over several glaciers including the Taku, Hole-in-the-Wall, and several others.  It was awesome! 

We also went on out to the Mendenhall glacier that afternoon and walked out to Nugget Falls.

We also went whale watching while they were in town but I haven't gotten those pictures from my dad yet... hopefully soon!!!

In August, I also started guiding some of our Whales, Bears, and Glaciers tours.  So I'll just throw some of those pictures up here for ya. :)

BROWN BEAR!!!

So that wraps up August, everybody!  I hope you enjoyed my pictures; I greatly enjoyed the experiences that lead to them!  Everything is going well in my little world up here in the north.  Hope everyone's week goes splendidly!

Next post coming soon!  Possibly tomorrow even!!!