Pacific NW

Expeditions

Justin and I excitedly wolfed down an egg breakfast and prepared to explore the abandoned resort. Broad daylight reveals that it has been in disrepair for several years! On our row to shore we investigated one of the larger blue icebergs in the bay. It was grounded out in 30 feet of water and relatively stable, about the size of several semi trucks. Justin listened to his inner-calling and couldn’t resist the urge to climb onto the berg. He looked ridiculously small as he climbed about on the iceberg, and I rowed out a ways to capture the full magnitude of it on film. All we could do was laugh hysterically at the situation. The resort consisted of 8 or 9 very nice log buildings, some of them quite large. We went through the whole place, building by building, and found many treasures inside. A large dining area had been all boarded up with plywood, and a bear had ripped a few sections of it out to gain entrance. While the buildings were still nice, they were in a rapid state of decay and neglect. Some of the rooms in the buildings were quite eerie. It is strange what people leave behind in these places out here. Shivers went up my spine as we explored children’s bedrooms and opened up doors to the deep-freeze rooms. In the large industrial kitchen we found an electric can opener on the floor. I’ve been needing a can-opener for the boat, and here one was! I claimed law of the sea and made off with this new treasure. We had great fun investigating the old resort and hiking around on its grounds. Though there wasn’t a soul around for a hundred miles, we spoke to each other in whispers and felt surges of adrenaline upon entering each building. We carried my axe in the case of encountering a bear or a strange human. The afternoon turned hot, sunny and still. My new can opener didn’t work when I plugged it in. Justin fished from the boat while I worked feverishly all afternoon taking the can opener apart and putting it back together again. Belowdecks became a mess of tools, sprockets, gears, and plastic pieces, and I became covered in grease. It was perhaps a perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon! Alas, just as the can opener whirred to life, Justin caught a fish! The buffalo sculpin had really hooked onto Justin’s line, so we couldn’t release it alive. With a quick prayer and a blow to the head we dispatched the fish. It was so tough that we had to chop it apart with the axe, and we used the pieces for bait. In the evening we went for a row, trolling with Justin’s sculpin. In the distance we sighted a noble-looking mountain and immediately set off to climb it. By the time we finally landed on the beach it was 20:30 hours. We had no water or “hiking” clothing or food and didn’t care. Just as axe, a knife, and the desire to summit the mountain. We tied Modulus to a tree and charged into the brush. Immediately we became drenched in sweat and in many places we had to climb hand over hand, grasping tree branches, in order to pull ourselves up the cliffs. It was as awesome hike! Toward the top it opened out and we spotted 3 deer running to the summit! We must’ve scared them up to there from the lowlands. Finally we gained the summit, which turned out to be the tallest pinnacle on Glacier Island. A spectacular panorama stretched out all around, simply amazing to behold. Below lay a view of almost the entire Prince William Sound, impossible to describe. Atop our mountain we found a seismographic station and many swarming mosquitos. I shook the metal boxes–it may have registered on the richter scale. Far out across the Sound we could see out the Hinchinbrook Entrance, with the wild blue Gulf of Alaska beyond. That is where we will be sailing out into next week. At that moment I began to mentally prepare for “the big crossing” and felt once again a deep respect and awe for these treacherous waters. The mosquitos only permitted us several minutes on the summit. The light was fading slowly anyways. We ran down the mountain and back to Modulus. We never did find any suitable water to drink on our hike, and had become quite dehydrated. We immediately rowed out to the nearest iceberg and chopped off a large chunk of ice. Justin should have become a stonecutter. He placed an axe blow to the iceberg such that it cracked to pieces and flipped over, nearly capsizing Modulus! The ice was very cold on our teeth, but nonetheless we ate a quantity of it to quench our thirst for the long row back to the boat. Once back aboard the mothership we changed into dry clothing and started a blazing fire in the woodstove. We ate a huge meal, stretched our muscles, and went to bed to the sound of crackling and popping logs.