So now I'm disappointed. Ryan went down the mountain to pick up Jordan and Darlene from the pick-up point, and on the way back, they saw the same adolescent moose that Bob saw on the first day. Everyone else seems to be bumping into the amazing wildlife that surrounds us - me and Linda, we've seen nothing. I walked down with Tom to the spot where he encountered the bear yesterday and saw a series of huge bear prints. I tried to imagine this animal in the spot they saw it, scraping its claws against a creek-side tree - it must have been scary at the time of course, but then how exciting to be in this spot and come across a scene like a real-life Attenborough documentary. As I looked back up this creek, with its boiling white water tumbling over river stones the size of large terriers, making that pounding roar that is hard to believe water can make, through the overhanging curtains of green, the thought occurs that this amazing idyllic scene, which takes your breathe away, and could sell a million scenic calendars, is tucked away up an almost inaccessible valley, along an overgrown track, down a steep, mulch-strewn creek bank, and is the natural home of wild creatures that necessitate the utmost care and attention. So few people in history will ever see this beautiful sight, yet there are probably millions of these places all over Alaska, and we're still only 20 minutes from downtown Anchorage. Phew.
I'm not sure why we didn't do much today. After his encounter, Tom stated that he was not going to leave the cabin until it was time to go back. I'm not sure if there are any managed trails here (like on Flattop) since it is private land and not managed in the same way. When I asked Ryan yesterday what we were likely to do today, he said "Whatever you want to do - nothing, if you like. That's what this place is all about"
Ryan pottered around doing a few odd maintenance jobs, while Bob went into town to get a hacksaw to finish installing a new stove pipe. I can imagine that there must always be a long list of jobs that need doing - the cabin is probably 30 years old, and is showing it's age in several places - but I can't imagine how difficult it must be to get stuff done. If I start a job at home and need another tool, I just pop to the garage where everything is. If I don't have something, Home Depot is 20 minutes away. And I have multiple outlets for my power tools. Bob has to make sure he has the right tools in his mountain-side toolkit, or else it's a 2 hour round-trip into town for a hacksaw - though he does have the generator for his drill and the vacuum cleaner apparently.
Anyway, Ryan and I 'helped' Bob with this stove pipe project, which was a little like doing a jigsaw with awkwardly fitting pieces that weighed 300 pounds each. After trying four or five different approachs to get the pipe parts to fit in the too small gap between the stove and the chimney, we had to wait for Jordan to arrive to be able to lift and manouevre the stove into the right place. All the while I was humming "Right, Said Fred" to myself, as we removed yet another piece of the pipe in an effort to make it fit. Eventually, with brute force and a rubber hammer, the job was complete.
We had a marvellous communal meal - 10 of us crammed round the dining table - eating Mary's delicious Salmon Loaf, made with prized Yukon King Salmon, which is, apparently, the salmon equivalent of Kobe beef. When we get to Homer, we're told that fresh Alaskan fish is a major part of the dining experience, and I'm looking forward to trying this in it's full glory. And a long cut-throat game of Monopoly rounded off the evening - Tom won, as usual.
Pictures at Flickr.
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