Yakutat and Beyond

Yakutat is NOTHING at all like Aniak.  Where Aniak is 2/3 native (and that is Yup'ik/Athabascan), Yakutat is only 1/3 native (Tlingit).  Here in the town of Yakutat the roads are paved.  And in the borough of Yakutat we could actually drive up to 30 miles away on a pretty decent gravel road.  There is some subsistence living here but not to the same extent as in Aniak.

Beth checking the view on the 30 mile gravel road

Yakutat seems to be a little bit more of a tourist attraction.  We have met folks from Washington, Idaho and California who are up here for the fishing.  Halibut are a big draw out on Yakutat Bay and into the Gulf of Alaska.  Trolling in the bay will net plenty of sockeye, some reds and very, very few kings.  The king population seems to be rather scarce due to either over fishing or just late arrival (perhaps they are on a different schedule this year).

The work for Beth and I has been going fine.  It is definitely different here in the big "city" as compared to out "in the bush" but we are adapting here after our first week and have a little less than two weeks left in Yakutat.

It is the exploring of this area that really has us excited.  We have been over to the Gulf of Alaska to watch some of the best surfing waves on the Pacific Ocean.

Also out by the beach, we have been in awe as we watched a small group of eagles soaring from the tall pine trees out over the water.  

Mark on the bridge over the Anuak Salt-chucks
Salt-chucks have been a fascinating sight and have captured our attention much the same we were enthralled with the salt marshes of coastal North Carolina.  

Best view ever...Harlequin Lake

Glacial ice is everything we heard it would be: majestic, blue and BIG.  The waters fed by these monstrosities have the most peculiar blue/green color.  The rivers are cold, clear and tasty and while not teeming with salmon, we are hopeful that we will see some before we depart this area.

Moose track

Wildlife is the only thing really missing from our short visit to SE Alaska...so far.  

Eagle talon track

We see traces of many animals but to date the only ground creature we have seen was a rabbit hopping across the road in front of us.  We will keep you posted when we finally see a bear.


Mark