Alaska: Day 4: 7-9-93: Wetting My Feet & Drying My Clothes

As soon as the rain stopped (about 7:15 a.m.), Matt and I got up and put away the tent (which had faithfully lived up to its "waterproof" claim, keeping us dry and suffering little water retention). After packing up our campsite, Jill, Matt and I trudged back to our bear canisters for a little breakfast. Jill planned to walk straight to the beach, but Matt and I wanted to explore an old research cabin and gold mining operation we had spied during the previous hike. So Jill went on ahead and Matt and I hiked to the cabin. It was a deserted, ramshackle structure with a surprisingly large amount of supplies inside. Rotten food and rusty equipment seemed to comprise the main contents. From what we could surmise, the cabin was originally used as a home base for research purposes and then as a shelter for fellow campers. Notes we found informed us that the cabin had most likely been abandoned by the researchers around 1981, having since fallen to obvious neglect. The walls and roof were busted open in places, and -- thanks to a family of sparrows which built a nest inside the shack -- the floor was caked with bird droppings. After a quick search revealed nothing of true value, Matt and I each took a souvenir (I found a neat looking magnifying glass) and hiked to the other side of the river to explore the supposed "gold mine." Along the way, however, I succumbed to a rather nasty bout of diarrhea, undeniably a consequence of Matt's suggestion earlier in the day to "try the water" ("it's sweet -- the best water in the world!"). At the time he told me that the naturalist's warning about bacteria in the water from animal feces was B.S., "just something the park had to say to protect its buttocks." Well, I don't know about the park, but my buttocks was flaming! (I think I'll stick to tap and bottled water from now on).

-----------------Cold & Sweet -- But Drink At Your Own Peril!-------------

Anyway, we made it to the gold mining site only to be disappointed. The type and amount of equipment (plus the lack of holes/caves) suggested to Matt and I that the gold mining operation hadn't involved mines but sloughs. There would be no spelunking today! Still, it was fun to play archaeologist and look through all the rusted equipment for a keepsake. I found a small rusted wrench and pocketed it. By this time, the arduous hike of the previous day had caught up with me and my shoulders, thighs, knees and calves were killing me. Moreover, the mosquito bites I had sustained on my face and legs were itching like crazy (along with some mysterious and scary looking red welts which I couldn't identify). So we made our way back to the beach, a pleasantly easy hike.

We met up with Jill, and I removed my drenched boots and socks and rested on a rock for two hours until the ship arrived. Just as we spotted the boat, it started raining again. Nothing serious, but enough to be annoying. Reduced to bare feet, I found the walk along the rocky shore quite painful, but I was too tired to redress myself, and I figured my haven was only 15 yards away. Of, course, I should have known better. It seems I'm fated to suffer, for the ship couldn't dock near the shore (due to the same jagged rocks), so I had to follow it down the beach about 50 yards, and then another 50, after that proved equally futile. Chafed raw and frozen, my feet burned with the fire of 1,000 suns. I've scarcely felt more relieved than when I got back on board "The Spirit of Adventure." I ate a quick lunch, went to the head, and waited for my tootsies to dry and thaw. After viewing a bald eagle nest (complete with mommy and baby eagle), the tail of a Humpback Whale and one final stunningly blue glacier (Reid Glacier), I began to record the experiences you are now reading.

Well, the boat is docking now -- it seems I've lived to tell the tale. I'm going to kiss the dock, return my bear canister and catch a few "zzz's".

[(7-10-93) Oops! I'm starting to fall behind a little in my journalizing -- I'd best be finishing yesterday's exploits . . . ]

After leaving the boat, I followed Matt & Jill down to the Ranger Station to return my bear canister. Taking them up on their generous offer to avail myself of the staff compound's laundry facilities (it's free and one of the last opportunities I'll have for a while), I followed them back to their place. Depositing me in the laundry room with promises of returning with some food from the staff cafeteria (everything is so expensive here, I was drooling from gratitude as much as hunger!), Matt & Jill left me to my own devices. Quickly cursing myself for not stopping at my lodge room for a fresh change of clothes, I scavenged the premises for something to cover my person whilst I washed the wet, muddy pants I was wearing. All I could scrounge up were a bed sheet and a scratchy towel (both of questionable cleanliness). Briefly considering and then rejecting the whole Greek Toga Thing, I stripped to my birthday suit and swiftly wrapped the towel around my waist, praying that no one would casually stroll by at that exact moment to catch me with my "naughty bits" hanging out. I completed my fashionable ensemble with a windbreaker tied around the towel and a clean (albeit wrinkled) T-shirt, trying to convince myself that this might somehow make me appear less obvious (donning a wooden barrel like a destitute Bugs Bunny character would probably have been more subtle, though admittedly, I would have been hard pressed to find a cooper). Comically half-dressed as I was, I proceeded to stuff the washer, resigned to the fact that I would have to spend the entire Wash & Dry Cycle in the hot, stuffy, "detergently"-noisome confines of the laundry room. Even were my loins not "betoweled", I would have laid low anyway, since I wasn't supposed to be utilizing Staff facilities.

To kill the unbearably slow 2 hours, I read a bit more of The Firm and buried my nose in the book whenever a staff member came in (luckily, only 2 people spoke to me the whole time, and I deftly circumvented their questions as to where I worked with vague or tangential responses). Roughly 15 minutes into my vigil, Matt came in with a full dinner plate, but before I could properly thank him, he started eating from it. "Would you like any fruit?", Matt asked. "Umm... THAT sure looks good", I hinted. "You think so?", he replied, seemingly oblivious to my covetousness. He went on to inquire whether I'd prefer apples, oranges or bananas. I inwardly sighed, tightened my belt, and asked for a banana ("If it isn't too much trouble", I couldn't resist adding). He assured me it was "no problem" and swallowed another heaping spoonful of steamy sustenance before heading back out. Well, I guess a free hot meal was too much to hope for. Matt promptly returned with a pair of bananas, which I scarfed down shamelessly.

As I transferred my clothes from the washer to the dryer, Jill came in and asked if I wanted any dinner. "NOW we're talking!", I thought as I covered the discarded banana peels with a moist cotton Tee. I tried not to drool on her as I responded with a polite and heroically restrained "yes, please." She soon brought forth a heaping plateful of new potatoes with gravy and corn niblets. She said dinner included some unidentifiable mystery meat, which she decided to spare me. Having already procured Matt's address, I asked Jill for hers, as well, before she left. I tried not to get too much gravy on the paper as I tossed it in my backpack.

As the dry cycle wound down, Matt came in again, this time accompanied by his sister, Michelle, whom he introduced. She was very nice, and we hit it off immediately because of our common career goals. She asked me how I liked being a kindergarten teacher (which I assured her I enjoyed immensely!), and she informed me she was currently a junior at an Arizona college, pursuing a degree in elementary ed. She was especially interested in the primary grades (K-3). She talked excitedly about her first lesson, which she had taught to kindergarten children before coming to work for the summer at Glacier Bay. I wished her all the best, and we said our goodbyes.

As I returned my attention to the laundry, I smelled something burning. Scanning the room, my eyes lit upon the furthest washer, and my jaw dropped as I witnessed smoke pouring out the back of the machine. Suspecting an electrical fire, I quickly unplugged the machine and prayed that it wouldn't go up in flames. Thankfully, it did not. I folded my newly dried clothing, changed into something more presentable and hoofed it back to the lodge.

That night was a very subdued one, in sharp contrast to the rugged adventure of the past couple days. I watched a film on Glacier Bay called The Grand Design (great shots of calving glaciers, whales and mountain ranges), walked around the Glacier Bay Museum and viewed a slide show on Alaska's wilderness. Then I went back to my room, hung up my tent to dry, read a few pages and fell asleep about 10:00, peacefully dreaming of puffin filled icebergs.