Gustavus

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Luggage check-in at the Gustavus airstrip.

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Long-term parking in Gustavus.  People leave their cars for many months or years judging by some of the deflated tires.

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Saying goodbye.

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The gravel pit where we went shooting.

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The Fairweathers.  The day we flew out was the nicest day of our entire stay in Alaska.

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The mountain range that separates Juneau from Gustavus.  When we flew to Gustavus we had to go around the mountains because of bad weather.  On this day we flew directly over the top.

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The retreating low clouds.

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I believe that is the Mendenhall Glacier.

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A little lake tucked up in the mountains.

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I was quite happy to be seated up front.

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Juneau just above the instrument panel.

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Landing at the Juneau airport.

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An Alaska Air flight taxiing.

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The Juneau terminal.

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Our airplane transportation.

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While McLean and his friends sighted in their rifles for the moose hunt I did some target practice with Emily’s dad’s old 22 pistol. The sights were woefully inaccurate but I still had a good time. It is rather fun to have a six-shooter (even a small one) hanging from the hip.

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We were shooting at the local gravel quarry.

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Mushrooms abound in the forests of Gustavus. Emily, McLean, Margot, and I tromped off into the undergrowth in search of some edible mushrooms. We found many that were edible, a few that weren’t, and some hallucinogenic ones, too.

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A delicious little mushroom.

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Ring Creek.

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Some yummy highbush cranberries.

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A mushroom that is highly hallucinogenic but also that can be deadly.

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A huge mushroom.

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Cleaning mushrooms in the barn.

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Mushroom processing in the evening.

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Emily’s brother, McLean and I went out in a little skiff for some afternoon fishing. We didn’t have a single bite but we did manage to finish a six pack of beer and see some interesting marine life. A couple of whales were breaching a half mile away. Some otters came and said hello. A sea lion thrashed a salmon around on the beach. Even some porpoises came and visited us. If only some fish had come to take a nibble on a hook!

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The small harbor at Gustavus.  Most of the boats were pulled up near the high water mark and allowed to rest on the ground.

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Our little skiff being backed into the water.

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The new state dock being built for Gustavus.  Soon a ferry might stop there.

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McLean enjoying the best that fishing in Alaska has to offer.

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An island through the mist.

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I’m on a boat!

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Some funny large tractor trailers waiting to be loaded onto a landing craft and taken back to Juneau.

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Emily and I spent part of an afternoon enjoying the small lodge and visitor complex at Glacier Bay National Park. The exhibits in the museum had not changed since Emily was a child. Unfortunately the tourist season at the park had ended so we were not able to partake in the bar but we did have a nice little hike along the shore.

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The sign at the main entrance to the park.

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A prime example of some muskeg.  Most of Gustavus seems to be made of the stuff.

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The docks at the park.  Cruise ships can tie up out in the bay and shuttle passengers in.  Some smaller ships are able to dock at the pier on the left.  Local boats are moored in the channel.

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The rocky beach exposed by the tide.

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Emily found some yummy seaweed.

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Some snow visible in the distance.

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Playing in a tide pool.

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Further up the bay at the park headquarters.

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The sun came out long enough to give us a rainbow.

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The home that Emily’s parents built and that she grew up in was sold several years ago. It sits on a large piece of property next to McLean’s homestead. The new owners have changed very little since they moved in. We walked around outside to see where Emily spent her early formative years.

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The house through the willows.

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The front porch.

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The side entrance into the kitchen area.

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Where Emily’s mother’s garden used to be.  It’s all overgrown with grass now.

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The community gardens in Gustavus.  We were harvesting from a few rows of someone who had already left town for the winter.

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The new state ferry dock under construction.  Maybe by next summer there will be ferry service to Juneau.

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Driving the old Ford pickup.

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In the red pickup.

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The river that runs through town.

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Enjoying an evening at the Gusvavus Inn.

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Margot found some battery-operated candles with which to play.

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We went out for a little fishing on one of the many creeks that runs through Gustavus.  McLean got a nice big fish on a fly rod.  Emily and I played around on a rod with a spinner.

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Killing the fish before it can escape.

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Nice looking fish!

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Driving in the red pickup out to the homestead.

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The road that runs toward the new hydro project and past the homestead.

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The homestead.  In the center with the smoke coming out the chimney is the cabin.  It has two rooms and is very cozy.  Behind it is the garage/barn/shop.  To the right with the metal and blue plastic roofs is the old bunk house that is now used for storage.  To the left of the cabin are a few out buildings for wood, chickens, etc.  The road is behind the barn.  I am standing in the field out front.

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The outhouse.  It has a great view for contemplation.

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A moose we saw along the side of the road.

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Margot gets dressed up with a paper lamp turned into a hat.

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Emily cooking a pancake breakfast on the stove in the cabin.

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Margot and the dog taking it easy outside.

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Driving in the old yellow Ford truck.

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Toilet paper was burned in the barrel on the left.  The buckets on the right next to the seat had sawdust and ash to mix in with human waste.  That helped keep the smell down and promoted the poop to decompose.  Underneath the seat was a steel bucket that had to be emptied periodically.

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The field and meadow.  Moose routinely walk through the area doing their thing.

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The road looking back toward town.

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The national park boundary line is only a few hundred feet from the homestead.

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In the national park.  It is easy to see how someone can get lost very quickly if they don’t know where they are going.

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Some cool mushrooms we found.  NOT edible.

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Also NOT edible.

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Hanging out in the woods.

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Margot’s bike.  In a few months she’ll be pedaling it on her own.  We brought up the helmet for her to protect her head from the ground.

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Up in the loft of the barn.

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The inn at the end of the road near the hydro project.

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Cutting down some young alder for smokehouse wood.

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We later switched to a proper chainsaw.

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Someday Margot will upgrade to a keytar.  McLean was helping her to play.

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Always the entertainer.

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Margot watching some Sesame Street on a little portable DVD player.

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Another good breakfast.

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We helped McLean build the smokehouse during our stay.  It’s setup to hold seven racks.  That’s a lot of smoked fish!

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A little break in the weather.  The only day of good weather we had in Gustavus was our last day as we were getting ready to fly out.  Otherwise it rained or was cloudy and cool the entire time.

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Margot walking out to the pea patch.

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The smokehouse doing its thing.

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I painted a scrap of wood.  It hangs in the outhouse now.

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Emily and Margot in the back of Sarah’s car at the Juneau airport.

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The plane that we took out to Gustavus.  We walked out, climbed up the wing, clambered in, and away we went!

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Looking back at the Juneau airport.

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Flying out over the water toward Gustavus.  The fog and clouds were thick enough that we had to fly around some mountains rather than over.

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The controls on my side had been removed.  I guess I could have still played with the fuses though.

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It was a very happy day of flying.

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Sarah and Margot in the way-back of the plane.

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An entrance to a bay or a sound.

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Some pleasant little islands on the way into Gustavus.

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Approaching Gustavus.  The airport is directly ahead.  If it were clear there would be a range of 15,000 foot mountains visible.

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The small white blips in the upper left portion of the meadow area include the homestead where we stayed.

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The final approach to Gustavus.  The airfield was built in WWII when Gustavus was taken over by the military in need of an airbase.  Now days the airport services air taxis flying between Gustavus and surrounding areas, private planes, and the occasional Alaskan Airlines 737 bringing tourists to Glacier Bay National Park.

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