We're going to Canada!

Why go, eh? (Okay, I had to say it at least once...)

Because it's (also, as of today) sunny on the other side of the mountain range! Or so we've heard...

Scotty and I first learned about Atlin Lake about a year ago from a local fisherman who goes there every summer. As he described mostly clear skies, plentiful lake trout, open camping, and an easy drive from Skagway, we were hooked.

M/V Fairweather arriving in Skagway, Alaska

May 2010

So this weekend we're loading up the beloved Suby and catching the Alaska Marine Highway ferry out of Juneau for a four-day Labor Day weekend getaway!

Catching the ferry can be an expensive affair if you're going from Juneau all the way to Bellingham, Washington, like Scotty and I did on our first big trip together. (It's about $1500 round-trip for two people with a car.) But round-trip from Juneau to Skagway is a bit more affordable at $296.

I love taking the ferry. It's how I arrived in Juneau for the first time ever when I moved here in April 2006. I remember that great adventure well, and keep meaning to write about it, because it was truly one of the most freeing experiences of my life. Riding on the Alaska Marine Highway ferries is like stepping back in time, when travel was much slower, the experience less catered. It's transportation, not a cruise. And there are all different types of people on board with interesting stories.

Last weekend we pre-packed our camping gear and all that's left to get ready is our food. We also borrowed an inflatable two-person dinghy from a friend and tested it in Auke Lake. 

The dinghy will be making the trip tied down on top of the car, with our bicycles in the truck bed underneath. We'll also be bringing some borrowed poles and tackle for lake fishing. 

Test run on Auke Lake

August 26, 2012

The ferry leaves extremely early in the morning on Saturday (we have to be at the ferry at 6 a.m. which means leaving our house by 5:30...), but we can nap on the way. There's a stop in Haines and around 2 p.m. we'll arrive in Skagway. From there, we'll be making the 154-mile, 3.5-hour drive, heading east to cross the Canadian border into the Yukon Territory, and then south to British Columbia and the tiny town of Atlin, BC (year-round population, approximately 450).

Map of Atlin (found here)

At 300 square miles, Atlin Lake is the largest natural body of water in British Columbia. Originally a gold rush settlement in the late 1800s, the town of Atlin is nicknamed the "Switzerland of the North" because of its surrounding mountains, much like the small European country. Atlin was also known as an exotic tourist destination in the 1920s. Since major roads had not yet been developed, at that time it was only possible to get there by following mountain passes from Southeast Alaska or a boating through a chain of lakes in Canada.

We plan to camp, using down sleeping bags meant for four-seasons. But if we were to come across a better (warmer) option, we might take it. Since it's not peak season, we're going without any reservations and hoping for some autumn colors (yep, it's already feeling and starting to look like fall up here).

We've also packed the most important thing- our passports, because there's no passing through the Canadian border without them any more. And after six hours on the ferry and almost four hours on the road, there is no way we are turning the car around.

I'll be back soon with a recap of our Canadian adventure!

Life After New York

Today, as I walked down the hill past the cemetery on my five-minute walk to work, I breathed in the fresh intermingled scent of trees and grass and a faint breeze from the ocean down below. And I couldn't help but think, this is how the earth is supposed to smell. Being in New York City helped me remember why I came to Alaska in the first place: to experience a place where people were still deeply connected to this planet in their everyday lives- and to each other.

A hint of green on Lafayette Street, New York City

June 2012

It's already starting to be hard to believe I spent the first half of this summer there. In a way, it was so different from my everyday life here in Juneau, it kind of feels like a dream.

I meant to spend more time chronicling what it was like to be there, but a few things changed that. One, the program I was taking at NYU meant long hours in a classroom and when I got home I often had more work for class. After that, the last thing I felt like doing was spending more time on the computer, writing.

So I ended up walking a lot, covering a good portion of mid to lower Manhattan, across the Brooklyn Bridge to Downtown Brooklyn and back across the Manhattan Bridge. I walked because it was a good way to see the neighborhoods and because it was free and once again I was experiencing what it was like to be a broke college student.

Lafayette Street

Honestly, when I was in the city I often felt lonely despite being surrounded by people. It wasn't for lack of contact with others... but maybe genuine contact. No one really seems to care or want to hear your story; there are millions of other stories. And it takes time (at least for me) to feel like I am a part of things, to establish solid friendships.

I especially missed my life, my boyfriend, and the home we've created together. It's been years since I stopped being a college student and joined the full-time work world. In fact, I've never felt like "just a student" since I got my first part-time job at 14. And there I was, surrounded by many classmates just getting out of school, some of whom had just left their hometowns for the first time. It didn't make me feel so much "old", as it reminded me that I am simply at a different stage in my life. I've been there, done that. And I like where I am in life now.

While New York City is a fascinating place, I missed the outdoors, the mountains, and the Pacific. I guess I'm just a West Coast girl at heart. But the city does have its own beauty...

Standing on Broadway, Lower Manhattan

I liked watching the sky: the clouds and light reflecting against the buildings, different with each passing minute, and at night the twinkling lights of the cityscape.

Union Square

In the end, going to New York helped me learn about far more than what was taught in class. And isn't that the way life is, anyway? Sometimes the most important part of traveling isn't what you see while you're away- it's about learning how to really be at home.

The Brooklyn Bridge

(P.S. This is not to say I won't be sharing some of my experiences of Lower Manhattan's grit and glory. I'll be back soon with a post on my old neighborhood. :)

Camping in the Catskills

View from Summit of Mt. Whittenberg, Catskill State Park, NY

The morning after our arrival in Newark, Scotty and I checked out of our hotel and took a (free) shuttle back to the airport, then another to pick up our rental car.

Then we hit the road, heading north. We drove through downtown Newark, a hodgepodge of brick office buildings interspersed with sleek glass and metal ones, and two story colonials. We passed auto parts stores, gas stations, fast food restaurants and Newark Penn Station, it's shiny block letters giving it an air of authority. Eventually, city traffic gave way to a four lane highway and concrete to grass and trees. We hit traffic only a few times.

By the time we stopped at a gas station, it was nearly lunchtime. When we learned that Woodstock was only a ten-minute drive away, we decided to go for some lunch and to stock up on food for the next day. Driving down the one main road of Woodstock, we came upon the Catskill Mountain Pizza Company. Our slices of cheese and sausage pizza were excellent, the crust thin, with just enough sauce. Oh, how I love East Coast pizza!

After lunch, we stopped by a small store just a few doors away, Woodstock Meats. The building was nothing more than a wooden box with a porch, but inside a colorful deli counter lined two sides or the stores with organic meat, seafood, and side dishes and the other two walls held dry goods and picnic items. It was a gourmet camper's paradise. We got some ground chuck sirloin for burgers and all-beef sausages. I'm not normally much of a red meat person, but the burgers we grilled over the fire that night were possibly the best I've ever tasted.

From Woodstock Meats, we went to one more store in town, Sunflower Natural Foods Market. This bright and homey grocery store houses a great selection of organic, natural and local foods. We picked up butter (from neighboring Vermont), eggs for breakfast, buns for our burgers, cheese and condiments.

Woodstock, NY

We said goodbye to cozy, friendly Woodstock and got back on the road to continue on towards Phoenicia and our campsite at Woodland Valley Campground just a few miles from there.

Since we had booked our site online, we weren't sure exactly what to expect. But our spot ended up being right next to a stream on the edge of the campground (but still close enough to the bathrooms). In a few words: peaceful and beautiful.

Our campsite at Woodland Valley Campground

Creek next to our campsite

Woodland Valley also has flush toilets and hot showers that accept quarters, firewood for sale (yes, fires are allowed!). That night we cooked over the fire and talked until the wood glowed red to embers. The stream provided the kind of gentle white noise that although other campers were at neighboring sites twenty or so feet away, we couldn't hear anyone else.

The next day we woke up to birds chirping and the sun shining. Having not brought enough to cook with, we decided to take a drive back to Woodstock for breakfast. There, we found the lovely little café, Bread Alone, with a line backed up all the way to the front door. The lovely smells made us decide it was worth the wait. I ordered french toast with fresh berries, and Scotty the lox bagel with cream cheese and capers. The coffee was sufficiently strong and we walked out into the day awake and relaxed.

A hike was next on the list. One reason we had picked Woodland Valley was that the trailhead to some of the highest peaks in the Catskills, including the highest, Slide Mountain. We started out on the trail around one in the afternoon, taking a small wooden bridge that crossed our stream at the opposite end of the campground. The path immediately began switch-backing up the mountain. We climbed for nearly three hours. When we stopped to sign our names in the trail register book hanging from a tree, it appeared that we were the only people from Alaska (and from outside the surrounding states).

 

We reached the peak of Whittenberg around four o'clock. asked a local guy who struck up a conversation with us to snap this picture. With a friend, he was continuing on to Slide Mountain and complete the trail at its base where they had a car waiting. He said he had lived in the area all his life.

At the summit we were also swarmed by biting gnats. Scotty ate his lunch but I wouldn't even touch mine until we were on the trail again making the descent back to our campground. Going down the mountain took much less time and we reached the trailhead just after six o'clock.

That night we decided to head to Phoenicia for dinner. We decided on Brio's Pizzeria and Restaurant for its outdoor seating. When we stepped in the door to ask for a table we caught a glimpse of a real wood fired oven and knew instantly we had made the right choice. I ordered an appetizer of mussels in a white wine & garlic broth with french bread and a wild mushroom and mozzarella pizza, both of which were amazingly good (even when taking into account that we had just gone hiking).

"Downtown" Phoenicia

The last evening of our stay the campground was visited by an ice cream truck :)

The following day, we packed up underneath an overcast sky. We woke extremely early, around five in the morning, in order to beat the Memorial Day Monday rush back into the city. We had overheard our campsite neighbors talking about their leaving time plans (around eight) and figured others would be doing the same. We also needed to take the train from Newark Penn Station to NYC's Grand Central Station with a somewhat extreme amount of baggage. It ended up working out well and we reached Manhattan by Noon, in time to enjoy most of the day (after a nap in my new dorm room).

Next time we travel, I need to take more pictures! So this time please use your imagination, or better yet, go see the Catskills for yourself!