Tenakee Springs, July 1, 2012: Quintessential, Quirky Alaska

Only Road in Town

One skinny, muddy, dirt road shoots the through town – population 100, swelling to 200 in the summer.  The posted speed limit is 10 MPH but since no cars or trucks are permitted I guess they’re talking to the golf carts draped in canvas and sport utility wagons topped with blue tarps that tool up and down the road to nowhere – it ends on both sides of town.  The claim to fame here is the natural hot springs in the public bath house – “Nude Bathing Only Please” – Men 6 AM - 9 AM, Women 9 AM -12 PM and so on, staggered throughout the day, until late in the evening when there is a free for all.  No clothes,  no soap - no thanks.

When we are close to the harbor, Safari radios us, having parted company and destinations with them in Sitka, to tell us they just left Tenakee Springs and there is a great bakery in town that serves cinnamon rolls.  It just so happens that I am on a quest to find the best cinnamon roll.  Last summer I started this journey and I had plenty of contestants up and down the BC coast as every harbor and town we went to had a bakery with cinnamon rolls.  I just assumed I would continue up the coast in Alaska trying every cinnamon roll, large small, frosted or glazed - I would try them all, my quest having no boundaries, no sacrifice too great.

Words to Live By

Turns out my quest has been squelched as there are no bakeries in Alaska thus far, well…,   Ketchikan has a bakery in town but since it is only open when cruise ships are in – nada.  Next, Wrangle has no bakery, they barely have a town.   Meyers Chuck, the hamlet of 20 people, has cinnamon rolls but you must call the Post Mistress – yes, post mistress - ahead of time to let her know you’re coming and she will bake them and deliver them to your boat – a full service postal office. Unfortunately, I did not know this in advance.  Petersburg had a bakery but the owner developed a gluten allergy and closed – you can’t make this stuff up.  Sitka has a bakery that does wedding cakes but they are closed for the month of June – really, June?   June is the month you want to take off? 

The Bar

The situation is so dire that just last   night I resorted to  whipping  up my own buns based on a recipe the chef from Pybus Lodge gave me after much discussion including  the merits of raisins – sometimes, nuts – never.  But now little Tenakee Springs, they have a bakery.  I am delighted.



Nicer than Most Homes

Tenakee Springs is lined with small wooden cabins, some being added onto, and a limited “commercial” district - said bakery, a general store with the basics and one bar of questionable repute – just our kind of place,  but at 7 PM on a Saturday night – it was boarded up.



 I follow the road out of town and meet up with a resident heading the same way.  He tells me that the residents of Tenakee are at their best when things are tough but other times they just stir up trouble. Sounds like the rest of the U.S.  We passed a cemetery with one raised burial spot which got me to wondering how that whole death thing works without a funeral home for embalming.  I know that further up the coast in Haines, the local True Value store sells caskets -  but here?

Local Resident
Taking a Sip From Stream

                                               

We walked further into the woods, crossed a brook,  and there on a tree hung 2 communal coffee cups tied to a branch by some wire, perfect for quenching your thirst with the fresh water cascading down from the mountains.  These streams are what provide most of the residents with their water supply, a gravity drip system tapping into these creeks.

It’s a quirky little town all right – Jim thinks its hillbilly heaven, I prefer to see it as part hippie holdout, part artist’s haven.  But the cinnamon rolls – not so much.  

June 22 – June 29, 2012, Sitka: Seven Days Sitting in Sitka

The Sitka Harbor entrance is blocked when we approach – by a humpback whale.   He is clearly claiming right of way so we stop and boats pile up behind us as we wait for him to continue on his passage, and he does so at a leisurely pace, allowing me to finally get a good picture.  I swear, between the wolves and whales swimming in front of our boat, it’s amazing we get anywhere.

We finally dock at our slip – or “stall” as they call them here, in full sunshine – not the “liquid sunshine” they joke about but the kind that has everyone scrambling for sunglasses.  Sitka is at the beginning of a 3 day heat spell – 70 degrees and the only “summer” they have seen thus far.  Many businesses shut down for the day, posting signs in the window reading “Closed Due to Weather.”  Some locals told us they hope to have a few more nice days before autumn, others complained about the heat.   

Sitka is similar to the other towns we have visited -it’s like we’ve stumbled into the middle of an episode of Northern Exposure – we don’t know the beginning of the story, we  have no idea how it will end and we don’t even know what it’s about. 

Our Dinner View from Our Flybridge - A Pink Ribbon

The town has a strong Russian and Native American history and those cultures are still on display.  There is an active Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the middle of town and a National Historical Park known informally as Totem Park.

We take a one day fishing excursion in the Gulf of Alaska with three other guys.  Of course by this time, the weather reverted to normal Alaskan climate, 50 degrees and rainy and the sea conditions are particularly turbulent.  When we get to our fishing destination - in the middle of this big body of water that looks just like every other spot around us but somehow this is the spot - Rich, our guide, anchors the skiff   in the rough waters, with high waves rolling the boat back and forth.  We are tossed around like a toy boat in a waterfall – Jim and I both had bruises from banging against every surface of the boat and the only thing we have to show for our 8 hours are our black and blue marks.  Not a single fish wanted us – the three other guys snag Halibut, silver salmon and red snapper.  They take pity on us and give us their rock fish and red snapper, which were mighty tasty.

All the Fish We Didn't Catch

Our last day is spent provisioning the boat, which takes much longer than you might imagine especially since the grocery store is 2 miles up the road, we are walking and it is raining.  First we must dress for this activity.  This means two of us in complete rain regalia, 3 schlepping carts and a good dose of humor.  The store has everything we need, and more, filling 4 large boxes.  Luckily, they have a car to take us back to the harbor.  Of course now that we are riding back to the boat, the rain has stopped.  Make that an extra dose of humor.

Dinner with Gay  & Wyman

Sight-seeing and a couple of really good dinners later and we are ready to leave civilization once more explore the remote Alaska we have come to love.

June 20-21, 2012, Ell Cove and Deep Bay, Baranoff Island: Final Solitude before the City

Ell Cove

At 7 AM the big fishing boat tied behind us in Warm Springs loudly leaves and another commercial fishing boat, that can’t possibly fit into that same spot, nevertheless circles the harbor, eyeing it with intentions of squeezing in somehow and jamming us in in the process.  We start our engine and rush out like thieves fleeing the scene of a crime.  Safari is on our heels having also been bumped out by a fishing boat they had been rafted to.  We both cruise on up the coast for 8 nautical miles and duck into tiny Ell Cove.  By 9:30 AM we drop anchor and by 10:30 AM the sun is out, kayaks are in the water and we’re off to explore. 

Actual Sand

We paddle around the corner to a neighboring cove and as we turn the bend, instead of the typical rocky beach we spy a white sandy beach!!  And the water is turquoise!!!  I feel like we are in a “Lost” episode where we hurl through a space warp and end up in the Caribbean.  We drag our kayaks onto the shore and embark on a hike of the mountain behind us for  spectacular views of Chatam Strait.

                                                                         

Chatam Strait from Mountain We Scaled, (Huff, Huff)

Tree Roots We Conquered in Climb

                                                                         

Back in the harbor, we notice millions of tiny just-hatched jellyfish floating in the water and later that night, when our generator suddenly overheats and stops, we find millions of tiny jellyfish that have been sucked into our raw water strainer.  And what better time to clean said strainer than after a wonderful dinner and relaxing glass of wine.  But hey, on the plus side, it may be 11 PM but it’s still daylight out.

Millions of Jellyfish - Yuk

The next day we anchor fifty-one nautical miles north in Deep Bay – our last anchorage before Sitka.  Dodging the crab pots filling the bay we find a spot for the evening.  A low-grade feeling of melancholy hoovers over us because we are now in love with the anchoring way of life.  Marina sluts no more – we have morphed into anchor addicts.   I had no idea I could live off the grid this well – of course, it’s much easier to live off the grid when you have a generator, bread maker and hair dryer on board - but still….

If Only I Could Get This Thing Started