Halibut Fishing 101

After fishing like crazy off the city dock, I felt I was getting pretty good at this sport and even mastered the skill of filleting. So when I was invited to go out on skiff and fish for the famous yet delicious Halibut.....I was in fish heaven.
























I was told about 3 times the price of the rod and reel, so I stored that in my head and thought whatever you do, "don't drop this pole overboard!" I'm sure it would have been more acceptable to go 0verboard myself, since the price tag on me has yet to be determined!



















First things first and bait had to be caught....and this guy was no bigger than an overgrown minnow, but we all got our hooks baited and off we went.


I had license, two power bands to prevent seasickness, water and the ever handy camera!!





















Gotta have that self photo to prove I am here!




















What a beautiful evening and even more beautiful view of Mud Bay in Sand Point.

And what a backdrop the Ridge adds to the view!!

I was feeling pretty proud of my catch (little white guy top corner) until Nate hauled this monster in and plopped it down beside mine. Now, who is the bait??



















The sunset created such gorgeous colors and seemed like rainbow icing on a cake!
























And then I spotted a vertical rainbow over the Ridge and it was like God said, "here ya go, have another slice!"



















As we headed back to the harbor, whales were breaching and rolling all around us and we had to stop and just soak in the beautiful surroundings. Knowing this was probably the one and only time I would be out here before I leave, I had to fight back a few tears.































The reflection of the sky in the window was a shot I couldn't pass up.























As we pulled back in to the harbor a little before 11 PM, the water was like glass and Lesley was waiting on the dock to catch our victorious return back home.

Once at home with a freezer full of fish, I couldn't help but let few tears slide, this was truly the trip and adventure of my life. Yes, thank you God!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!! Unga bound!!

What a day we had today! When I was awakened this morning by my favorite mother-in-law at 6:30 am to wish me a happy birthday 24 hours early...I wasn't so sure what the day was going to unfold like........I had no idea what a day God had planned for me and my Pastor's family.

But He did and what a blessing we had. Not only was it the most clear, pristine day we had in almost a month, but it was warm (64 degrees), no wind and our friend Rick invited us to go on a boat ride to the neighboring island of Unga.

Waaaahoooo!!! I have bugged people for 2 1\2 years to take me over there to explore and today was our day!!

I've never changed clothes, packed and scooted out the door so fast in all my days here. But in 15 minutes, I had gear, food, water, extra clothes, TWO cameras, 3 batteries, lip balm....but no sunscreen....oops..



















As we were pulling out of the harbor, Pavloff and the Sister volcanoes were peaking over Unga as if they were standing guard and watching over us.



















Between us and Unga, we watched whales spout, breach and roll along both shorelines. Occasionally we would watch one come out of the water like a torpedo and splash in the ocean, stunning the fish so the rest of the pod could feed.

As we got nearer to Unga, Rick pointed out the Elephant Rock formation along the rugged shoreline.

Long-necked Cormorants, fat and colorful puffins, and noisy gulls flew over our head or dove in the cold waters around us, keeping us entertained along the way. A few eagles even soared around us checking the visitors out.

And then the first glimpse of Unga Village, long abandoned, but still weathering the Aleutian winds and climate.



















The church walls have collapsed, but the steeple still shouts its presence. Several of the elders here were married in this church while they still lived on Unga. At one time there were over 5000 people who lived here and after I saw the place, I wondered, "WHY DID THEY MOVE?"

The tide was low when we got here so we did a little beach combing, rock climbing and even had a picnic on the warm sand. PB & J never tasted so good! We picked up a bunch of beach glass for souveniers and considered it our way of beach-clean up as well.

The remains of the school here look pretty modern still. The last residents left here around 1964 when the new harbor was built over in Sand Point. What memories they must have and stories I would love to hear.

A bird's eye view of the cove inlet and the gorgeous God-given day we had!

Of course a photo of self to again prove (to myself) I was really fortunate enough to be here.

More sea birds enjoying the day and the rocky perch.

And away we went, this time we are heading over to Squaw Harbor, where there are still some people living and being more like care-takers of the place.

Skipper Rick and crewman James out enjoying the sun and conversation......uuuuhhhhh....who's driving the boat????

Squaw Harbor and the old processing plant. All the worn red still makes for a colorful scene to welcome new and old visitors alike.

Amazing!

What a beautiful sandy beach...I think I would like to live here...for a while that is!! I'm sure the winds and rain make it here, too.

The sea lions were sunning themselves minding their own business and then we show up. They heard us and dove into the water before we could get too close.

And the trip back was no less enjoyable. Doesn't our new airport terminal look beautiful?

And look, Pavloff and the Sister are still watching over us as were return. What an absolutely amazing day, thank you Rick and James for the trip of a lifetime! All of this right in our backyard!

Home sweet home and another glorious day added to my Aleutian adventure!! TYG!!!

Don't worry, I'll catch ya.........

Those words are supposed to bring reassurance to a leery sole..........kind of like "Hi, I'm from the government and I am here to help you."

Yeah, right!! Well meaning intentions are not always followed by the action we desire.























Such is the case I experienced last Saturday when a friend and I hiked to the infamous Pirates Cove on the far northeastern side of the island.

Here's how the day began.....


The tide was super low at 11 am and Patrick and I headed out to the Sand Dollar Beach, planning to hike the beach all the way to Pirate's Cove. Neither of us had been to that point of the island, so we were up for the challenge. Patrick is visiting here and it was great to have a hiking partner with me.

The beach at Sand Dollar is sand stretched out from one end of the cove to the other and was great for walking on. However, that was the last easy stretch of sand we saw until we hit the other side of the island.


















The shore line was nothing but these huge rocks and boulders all slick with seaweed and ocean scum. This made the travel slower and a bit more difficult since you had to constantly look down for your next step, and that didn't always guarantee you weren't going to slip and fall.

And boy did I on several occasions.

The grandest was when Patrick leaped across a small creek and uttered those little words to me, "don't worry, I'll catch ya......" Well, the little creek was filled with rushing water full of melt-off from the mountains and yes Patrick did catch me, right before my head went under as I fell back into the creek from not quite making the leap like he did.


My breath froze in my chest as I struggled to stand up and crawl out onto the bank. Oh that water was far worse than cold!! Ringing water out of every stitch of clothes, it took a few seconds before I realized, crap...I messed up again!


But, between the two of us, we had spare socks, spare coat, and even a spare pair of rain pants. So, I was able to shuck some of the wet things and go on with the journey. I mean why stop now?? Thankfully my matches and lighter, camera and GPS device were unscathed and other than Patrick feeling bad, I was not hurt and nonetheless ready to go.

This is the first view we saw as we topped the bank and gazed at the infamous Pirate's Cove.

What a cozy spot back here and it immediately made the dunking seem like such a long time ago.

I've been told at one time there was a post office, store and houses over here, even a processing station.



















There is even a lone tree and it looks about as beat up and weathered as my feet feel right now.


The geographical rock formations are quite unique and it was great to explore them and wander the quiet crevices compared to the ones we crawled over to get here.

Not quite sure what the custom built Ford Ranger's job had been, but it seemed to add a little to the scenery around "town."



















The only building standing is an abandoned cabin and surprisingly it was in pretty good shape.


So it was reassuring to know if the weather were to change and catch you out here, there is shelter ...........




















and even the shelves are pretty well stocked.....



















I don't even remember this cereal, do you?? Got milk to go with it???



















I hung my wet clothes on drift wood and walked the beach collecting beach glass and treasures while Patrick headed around the next horn to the next cove.
























I don't necessarily have a bucket list, but I do have things I want to do before I leave here and now I can definitely mark this adventure off my list.

We headed back to my waiting 4 wheeler at Sand Dollar beach and timed it a little too close as we had to wade through the rising tide a time or two around rocky cliffs.

But, all in all it was a good day, I learned valuable lessons AGAIN and got a few good pictures along the way.



















The otters even cast us a playful eye as we trekked past their feeding spot and headed home to our own.

Lessons Learned

Well, we are never to old to learn lessons and thankfully I am still alive to write about them. I was bound and determined to go out for a long hike and Red Cove Lake was my destination this day.

So, I packed the bag with all the essentials...food, water, radio, extra socks, camera and extra battery....and off I headed. I have two GPS devices and abandoned the thought of taking them, after all, this is an island and if you know where you are going, how can you get lost? Right??










































The trail was still frozen and this made travel a lot easier. The temp is supposed to get up to high 30's and the sun has been coming and going making for a pleasant day to hike. Not much wind kept me warm, too.




















Looks simple enough doesn't it?

Well, something should have told me this was going to be a heck of a day when I fell in the first creek I came to, soaking my right foot and sock, scratched my hand and dropped the camera...great all that in one trip!!

Ahhh hah!! The famous buffalo and their signs! Maybe I will get to view them today...from a distance that is!!

Made it to the edge of the lake with only the one incident and took the self photo before I headed around the bank to the beach rarely visited.

The edges were frozen and cracked and shoved up against the bank that made travel slow and pretty slick in places..of course the Yaktrax were at home with the GPS devices, cause I wasn't going to need them, right?? I even had to crawl on hands and knees at one point cause the alders were so grown out over the ice I knew it was dangerous to walk out that far on ice...at least I listened to my Dad's voice somewhere along the line!!

Two hours later I emerged on the beach tired, wondering if this was such a great idea and hungry already. So, I sat and ate my snacks and just enjoyed the surf. I thought about going back the way I came, but when I remembered having to crawl on my hands and knees around alders and slipping over the edge of ice, I decided it would be safer and probably faster if I headed up a trail, over the Ridge and back to the 4-wheeler.

One last shot as I headed up the trail and back to the 4 wheeler....and then, just like that, the trail disappears up here!!

How in the world does a perfectly good trail one minute turn into this brown frenzy of rock, alders, ice covered snow and ravines deeper than heaven knows what??? But it does and it did!!

I wandered around, heading in the direction I thought would lead to the main trail...and wandered and wandered and wandered........then topping a small hill....

This guys is standing...all by himself and no one else around!! There were tracks all over in the snow, but where was the rest of the gang?? In these brown alders, they could be laying down and I would never see them till I was right on them...or they on me!!

So, I bushwhacked for almost an hour to get around him and potential company and just seemed to get lost'er and lost'er and farther from anything I recognized and I began to realize I chose the wrong way home!

I did my share of praying and lo and behold, when I would get to the end of Laura's rope, there God would give me a glimpse of the trail in the distance and I would head for it. Not to mention I had ravines to scale down, more creeks and ice to cross. I fell numerous times on the snow covered ice and even once my knees buckled from being so tired and a stick went up between my glasses and my eye and then I was really mad for getting myself into this mess. And scared!!

It was dangerous up here...alone...no GPS and my biggest problem, I was so turned around, if I had to call for help, I didn't know how I would tell them to get to me...I didn't know where I was!!

A mere 5 1/2 hours later, the trail emerged again by God's grace and I sat to take one more rest. I ate all my food, drank all my water and donned both pair of socks over my sorely blistered heels, my bruised toes and beaten spirit.

How could I have been so foolish and silly? Oh it happened alright and it was rather easy....the entire day took me 7 1/2 hours of hiking over this mess.

As soon as I got home, I dropped my clothes and boots in the living room, headed to the bathroom and soaked in a tub of hot water till my feet stopped throbbing.

The blisters have healed, I think I will loose the two toenails, and I got a good picture of the buffalo....from a distance.....was it worth it??? Probably not, but it was a lesson I won't forget for a very long time!!!

Again, TYG!!!!