November 18, 2006

The gap between summer and ski season is dragging on. We have both come to realize the role goals play in our lives. We have always been pursuing something. The last few years have included major goals like moving and finding jobs. It has included minor goals like climbing mountains. We are now at a point of having accomplished every goal and we are both searching for our next goals. We have both been contemplating writing books, but I have struggled to find an idea that can maintain my motivation. I am finding it difficult to work with words all day and then write in the evening. No worries, just a little restlessness. Ski season starts tomorrow so maybe that will provide some further distraction.

Last weekend was another epic weekend trip. We went to Sitka for the three day weekend. Amazingly, we had three bright sunny days in Southeast Alaska. Sitka is an interesting little town, isolated from the rest of the world by water.

On Friday, we visited the national park that has totem poles. We hiked through a wooded area and along the beach. We even saw a whale roll a couple hundred yards off shore. We then drove to the cleverly named Whale Park, a shore area with platforms, boardwalks, and telescopes for looking for whales. We had hoped to see some, but most must have headed south already. Then we headed up the road the other way. We pulled over at a turn out when we noticed a group of surfers enjoying the favorable weather conditions. It was windy and sunny. The temperature was comfortable for November in Alaska. We finished the daylight hours downtown, climbing the hill to the place where Russia officially turned Alaska over to the United States.

On Saturday, we hiked about 4.5 miles up the Indian River valley. This took us through the ancient spruce forest. Some of the trees were amazing. In areas that were logged, huge moss covered stumps were scattered throughout the forest. We ran into several armed locals and found out that it was deer season. I wasn’t as worried as I would have been hiking in the woods in Ohio during deer season. We didn’t see any deer or even hear any gunfire. We just enjoyed a lovely hike in the forest along the crystal clear river. A few leftover silver salmon were still hanging around in the deeper pools.

We went back to the totem pole park after our hike to see the visitor center that was closed on Friday for the holiday. We looked through their displays and learned more about the native people and the Russian influence in the area. We stopped and spoke briefly with a native artist who was carving various wooden objects. He was rather happy to have found a recently downed tree that the owner was willing to share with him. Kris and I enjoyed the simple lines of the wood carvings.

We spent our last day in Sitka hopping from one end of the small road system to the other. We got out and hiked up to a lake, along the beach, through a marsh, and through more forests. It was beautiful scenery and a fun visit.

Winter is here. The sun doesn’t rise until mid morning and is setting around 4:00. We have had some beautiful sunny weather which means it has been cold. We have had temperatures below zero almost every night and haven’t seen 20 for over a week. We had about 8 inches of snow a couple weeks ago and it has stuck around with the cold temperatures. All of the local waters are frozen over.