Today we slept in a bit, finally getting underway and to the worksite by 11 a.m. I thought that I had heard Andy and Gage on the trail around 8 o’clock, and my suspicions were confirmed when we got to the work site and saw him and Greg Sykes, a Coast Guard drop-master whom we had met the week before, stacking tools by the trailer. They had just finishing up laying some geoblock to connect the portion of the trail we had worked on with the portion that led to the parking lot. That had effectively completed the first leg of the trail which allowed us to now begin work on the second portion.
We hiked to the second drop site, and the majority of the students and staff began to assemble the geoblock there into the various configurations needed on the trail. Ethan, Justin, and Michael Shyer went ahead to help with grubbing and fastening geoblock to the trail. The rest of us quickly settled into a groove, rapidly assembling geoblock into larger and larger mats at a faster and faster pace. I was particularly impressed with the speed and accuracy of Haley and Emily, both of whom could assemble and fasten geoblock at twice the rate of what I could at any given time.
By lunchtime the drizzle and overcast had given way to increasingly clearer skies, and we were soon working in our shirtsleeves. It was nice to feel some heat and warmth after so much rain and chill.
Pretty soon it was time for Haley, Emily and me to depart and prepare some dinner for the rest of the team. After much debate, we finally decided to make some pasta with a meat and veggie sauce. Turns out that it was a hit!
That night, during our nightly ritual of discussing out favorite events of the day, we found out that Emily, Andy, and Allison had been holding out on us. During their paddle the night before they had seen a couple of sea otters and A HUMPBACK WHALE!!!! It swam within 50 feet of them, and treated them to some up close views of it’s blowhole, and it’s tail as it dove beneath the surface.
Needless to say, everyone wanted to paddle that night, and it was a veritable flotilla that set off an hour later. We paddled to the head of Anton Larson Bay after circumnavigating Larsen Island, which took us about an hour and a half. The water was calm and the conditions allowed for great views of the surrounding snow capped mountains. We saw numerous flocks of birds as we neared Puffin Island, and happened to catch a glorious view of the sun between two snow-capped island peaks.
We brought the kayaks to the take out and then Andy took us back in the skiff to camp. The kids stopped into the food hut to make hot chocolate and hang out, and then it was off to bed. Tomorrow we will be heading into town for a much needed day off and some showers.
No comments:
Post a Comment