Out the Road

After a couple cups of the Panamanian coffee black that I've been nursing for the last month and a chocolate chip/peanut butter waffle at the waffle joint, I figured I'd head out the road to see what the sunshine situation was like a few miles out of town. Alas, no golden sunrays, but I did find a solid afternoon without precipitation. A first in a while! As most weekend afternoons at the beach go, this one was theraputic. Looking across the Lynn Canal at the Chilkat Range, peaks upon peaks and millions of acres of wild, undeveloped forests and watersheds. Beyond which is Glacier Bay, Mt. Fairweather, Wrangell-St. Elias, and more wildness. It was good to set my eyeballs upon the reasons that drew me back to Alaska. Wildness. Undevelopment. Rugged old mountain valleys not yet consumed by the machine that is the new world order. Uncorrupted and natural. For now.

I shared the beach with a few other folks absorbing the 10,000 foot ceiling that will qualify as somewhat of a sunny day. Mostly dog owners out walking their always happy four legged rascals on the holiday afternoon, along with a few dozen harbor seals bobbing their heads in and out of the shallows offshore. A couple bald eagles played it cool roosting in nearby trees, and a few mallards and loons soaked their feathers in the seawater. Pretty good company.

Looking east into the snowcaps from Eagle Beach.

The Lynn Canal, with the weighty Chilkats standing guard beyond.

A family out for a stroll on the tide flats.

The casual holiday scene was indeed this: snow on the beach, a couple guys hauling their scuba gear into the icy drink for a quick forty minute mingle with the crustaceans, and a happy go lucky husky rooting them on from ashore.

Peaks for weeks.