End of the Season

5 Months ago today I was waking up in Alaska for the first time. It feels like it could have been yesterday. Most summers fly by for me, but this one was at warp speed. Some things are the exact same...it was raining then and it is still raining now. Almost everything else is completely different. 

When I got on a plane from Seattle to Ketchikan, I was ready for a great summer full of awesome wildlife and new adventures. I thought I'd spend 5 months in rainy Ketchikan and be so ready to come back to my sunny beaches. I thought that I'd have fun and it would be another place on my long list of cool places I've lived, but after this I'd be ready to move on to somewhere new. 

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would fall this much in love with a quiet little fishing town in rainy Southeast Alaska. 5 months has past and I am still here and I am in no way ready to return back home. Yes a sunny beach day would be nice, and I'm excited to see my family. But I am in love with Ketchikan. I have never not wanted to leave a place more. I've extended my stay by a month, and I've already asked about returning next year. 

The season is over but that doesn't mean that my adventures are. In the next month I plan to squeeze as much fun in as possible! In fact I've already started. Yesterday I went fishing with some great friends. We caught a ton of rockfish and saw some beautiful humpbacks! Later this week I'm going to head up to Sitka with our captains and some other crew to take our boats back to our home port. I'm excited to see another community here in Alaska. 

I know that in a month from today I'll be loading a ferry and heading back to the lower 48. This winter there will be plenty of adventures back home I'm sure...especially with little Sarah getting married. Plus there will be plenty of my east coast friends to visit! But I am already counting down the days until the season starts next year! 

I mean with sights like this who wouldn't be...

Saying Goodbye...

September is coming to a close pretty fast...and although I'm staying for another month, most of my friends are leaving this week. So as I've become accustom to being a seasonal worker...its time to say goodbye. I not only am saying goodbye to my friends...But I am also saying goodbye to spending all my time on a boat.

Finally a picture of the humpbacks

This last month has been pretty amazing! The humpbacks have been moving through and I have seen whales almost everyday that I have been out. About 2 weeks ago we dropped our passengers off for the island part of the tour and had a little time to just watch whales. They were all around! There was peduncle throwing, tail slapping, and even one feeding right at the entrance to the harbor. It was one of the best day I've had on the water.

Feeding Humpback

Tours have been dwindling down and the weather has been getting rougher, but its still been a great adventure! Today I went on my last cake date with my friend Bryce and tomorrow Kayla leaves. I can tell that the summer is ending for sure...but that also means that fall is just starting.

That means more time spent with the friends that I have made that live here year round. More disney movie nights with Gwenn and Stephanie. More dinner dates with Sarah and Amanda. More bonfires with Brian and Nick. And more sunset dates with Tristan and Siren. More time to relax and enjoy Ketchikan with out the tourists.

I'm super excited about my next month here. I'm sad to say goodbye to my friends this week, but that is something that I'm used to. Saying goodbye means that I just got to spread my sunshine to more people who are going to head somewhere else out across the country! It means I will have more friends to visit in different places!

The next week will be busy breaking down all the boats and doing odd projects around the docks. Then I'll head to Sitka for a little adventure to return our boats up there...but there will be more to come on that. But for now I'll just enjoy the sunset from last night replaying in my head!!

September is here...

Well September is finally here, and in Alaska it means that summer is officially over! This is something I'm not used to seeing as I wear shorts in December back home. But I'm sure I will adjust. With the end of summer arrives the rough weather of fall. This results in canceled tours...which results in some interesting adventures for me!! 

With my number of canceled tours increasing...I've gotten to explore a little more! 

Tristan and I took Siren (his dog) up to a Sylvas Lake. The path to the lake is a nice wide gravel road...but it goes basically straight up. So for those of you who know me well (Ann) you know there was lots of whining! And that was just to the lower lake...to get to the upper lake you had to go up a little "trail." I say "trail" because it is more like rock stairs with trees growing in or falling in the path! It was an adventure for sure but I'm so glad I did the hike...it was absolutely beautiful at the top! We had a picnic and played fetch with Siren...then made our way back down.

View back over the Lower lake.

Tristan and Siren heading down the path to the lower lake

On another day of canceled tours I dissected a squid that Tristan had in his freezer. Squid dissection is one of my absolute favorite things to do!! So when he said I could have the juvenile Humbolt squid to play with...I was super happy! And I was right back in environmental educator mode as I pointed out and played with each part!! They eye was so cool!!! It was so awesome to get to see a different species up close! 

This week my tours have been great we even saw over 15 Humpbacks on one tour this week! The guests loved it! Once again no pictures...I'm too busy telling everyone about the whales! But on my normally scheduled day off I went ziplining again with Gwenn! It is probably one of our last really nice days that we will have for a while, so it was great to be outside! 

I can't believe that the season is almost over. It has been a wonderful summer so far! I know that my adventures are far from over...but September brings the end to the forefront! Soon my Allen Marine friends will all be heading back where they came from. Thankfully for  me...I get to stay an extra month! More time for adventures with my year round Ketchikan friends!! And then of course...updates from the road trip on the way home!! 

After we dropped our guests off...I did a little whale watching!!

I know, I know...it has been almost a month since I last posted! That is what happens when I have spent all of my time out doing stuff. I spend my days at work and evenings hiking or beach-combing! My days off I spend trying to relax.

The past 2 weeks I have gone out to the Misty's on our bigger boats for fun on my days off. A lot of the staff made mention they couldn't believe that I was coming back again...I was just there last week. But as you will see from the pictures...the 2 days couldn't have been more different. The first day was a typical Ketchikan day...rainy and Misty. There were more waterfalls than I could count. Yesterday the skies were blue and the sun was shinning.

Both days were amazing. In my opinion, you can never visit the Misty's enough. Everyday is different and there is always new wildlife to be seen! I have noticed that some of the crews have become complacent in getting to go there everyday. They forget that for the guests this is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I'm so glad that I have always thought of everyday being a little different. Every single bird I see excited me...even if I have seen them everyday!

Of course I have seen the big stuff too...whales, sea lions, and seals. And they probably make me happier than most of the guests. In fact I saw my first full breaching humpback a few weeks ago, with a whole boat of disney guests! I squealed and jumped...and was super excited!!  There are no pictures...but that is one I will see in my mind forever!

September is almost here...which I don't even want to think about. I am in no means ready to return home and back to the east coast. Work will start to slow down...which just means more time for adventures!!

I can't believe July is almost over....

It is hard to believe that it is July 22nd. I know that I say this with almost every post, but I feel like I just got here yesterday! Last week we had our mid-season party at Ward Lake. We had tug-a-war matches between all of the crews and lots of good food.

This past Sunday our tour got canceled so I had the day off! I took advantage of that by getting a little sunshine and going on a hike! I also went with Gwenn and Stephanie to see the Minion movie! It felt a little wrong to see it without the wonderful Carly...but I know that she is enjoying her time in Orlando!!!

Tuesday afternoon Tristan and I decided to hike up Brown Mountain. It is about 2 miles to the top, and it was an amazing view. We picked berries along the way, at least the ones that Siren (Tristan's dog) didn't eat. My new favorite berry is the

Watermelon Berry! It is a little red berry that tastes just like a watermelon. On the way up i only whined a little and never asked how much further...I was pretty proud of myself. The trail was basically stairs all the way to the alpine level, and then it turned into a muddy, rocky mess.

Getting to the top and getting to look back over Ketchikan was incredible! We took time to have a snack, blow bubbles, and play fetch with Siren. But my favorite part of the hike was walking through the alpine wildflower fields. The colors were amazing! There were blues, reds, oranges, purples, and whites!

Living mainly on the coast, I'm not a huge fan of steep trails that head up mountains. But I am so glad that I pushing out of my comfort zone here in Alaska! Everyday is a new adventure! And there is almost too much to write about. But I wanted to share a few pictures from the hike! So until next time enjoy...

Halfway done already....

So today is our Mid-Season cookout at work. I can't believe that we are already halfway done with the season. It seems like just yesterday I was stepping off a plane from Seattle not knowing anyone here, and now I can't imagine my life without Ketchikan in it. Since the last update I have been diving (yes you read that right), learned how to throw an ax, found more sea creatures to play with, and hiked through the rain forest. 

Alex, Gwenn, Kayla, Amanda, Bryce, Stephanie, Me, Tristan

Last week on my day off I decided that I would brave the cold waters of Alaska to go diving with Gwenn. I have an extreme love of sea creatures, which is the only thing that got me in the water. Putting on all of the gear was a hassle, and I couldn't really move because I was in a 6.5 mil wetsuit with a hood and gloves. But after a few ups and downs in the water to readjust being back diving, I started to explore. Sea stars of every color and shape, sea cucumbers, crabs. clams, cute little fishies, were a few of the new friends that I made! My favorite was playing with a moon jelly in my hand under water is now one of the coolest things that I have done!! I will be back in the water for sure this summer! 

Gwenn and I ready for diving

After our diving adventure

Being friends with the Lumberjacks has had many perks between bonfires and fresh fish, but my new favorite one was learning to throw an ax at the target. One night a group of us headed over to learn at the show. I was pretty proud of myself for hitting the target a few times! I even moved up to the heavier real ax. Everyone came away with all 10 fingers and nobody lost any limbs. We did have a really great time, and a new memory and skill to take home! 

Hitting the target

Ax throwing

I made a couple new sea creature friends from nudibranchs to kelp crabs. As part of our Wilderness Survival Tour, we partner with the University of Alaska looking for the invasive Green Crab. Thankfully we haven't found any...but we have found lots of other creatures in our crab pots. This week I got to lead the survival tour and in our crab pot we found a clown nudibranch, decorator crab, a baby sun sea star, and a Hairy Triton!! We also saw a dear that was swimming across the channel.

Giving my love to a cute little Clown Nudibranch

In love with the Alaskan rain forest

Along with all of these new adventures we have still had lots of hang out time at Fat Stans with many more pizza and wings!! I have been on a couple hikes around the area and found lots of tasty berries on the trails!! There are so many species of berries here in Alaska! 

I'm obviously still enjoying my time here in Ketchikan!! It continues to steal my heart with every new sunset or waterfall. Now that I am officially halfway done with the summer, I am already dreading leaving here! I love the town, the people, and the way of life here. But hopefully I'll be back next year...at least that's the plan! Because one summer will never be enough here!  

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July is here

So I know I promised that it wouldn't be 3 weeks until another blog post...but I have been out enjoying my Alaskan Adventure. There have been zip line adventures, early morning tide pooling beach trips, Beach bonfires, more skiff adventures, and a 4th of July celebration that has now become one of my favorite memories!! 

On one of our days off, Gwenn and I went to visit the raptor center. On the way there she told me, we were also going to get to go zip lining. I was super excited for this, since I had never been before. It was pretty awesome to move through the trees in the top of an Alaskan rain forest. We also saw a black bear down below us which was pretty great! 

While we were at the raptor center I got to hang out with a few injured birds. There was a cute barred owl, a red tailed hawk, a peregrine falcon, and a beautiful bald eagle. Also at the raptor center I got to hang out with a super cute reindeer. 

All my new friends Gwenn found me!!!

One of my favorite days over the past few weeks has been when my captain had to dive under our boat to get some sticks out of our jets. I was there to spot for her and help get her gear out of the water. While she was looking for some things that had been dropped off of our dock, she found me a few new friends to play with. My new friends came in the form of a stack of sea stars, sea cucumbers being thrown at me, and a cute dungeness crab. 

Finding baby sun stars!!! 

Tristan playing with a Dungeness crab.

Tristan found me a Moon Snail.

With my love of sea creatures, I couldn't pass up on the -3.5ft low tide this week. So Tristan and I got up super early and went to explore before work. We found so many great animals!!! there were new species of sea stars, more sea cucumbers, kelp crabs, decorator crabs, worms, and my favorite the most amazing moon snail I've ever seen! I am in love with the coast line of Alaska, there are so many amazing and awesome things to see! 

Bonfire with Tristan and Stephanie

Beach bonfires are my new favorite thing way to hang out with friends. We went with a bunch of people from work and a couple of the local fishermen. This meant that we got fresh fish with our bonfire!! So we had some halibut and rockfish. There was cornhole and another amazing sunset!! I took my hammock and set it up in some trees right next to the fire!!

Now I have had some wonderful 4th of July celebrations, but I'm not sure if any will be able to top this years. I started the morning off tide pooling, and then at work I had Disney day  which was great as usual!! Then we went to the Lumber Jack competition. The best part of that was the little girl log rollers, they stole the show for sure!! One pair went on for at least 20 minutes! Then we enjoyed our favorite pizza place for dinner at like 10!!! At 11 the fire works started...so Tristan, Gwenn, and Stephanie and I jumped in the skiff and headed out to watch them from the water. It was an amazing way to see them. It was also incredible to hear the fireworks echoing through the mountains!! 

Every single day I fall a little more in love with Alaska. It is stealing my heart more and more ever single day! It is hard to believe that I have already been here for over 2 months, and that the end of the summer is coming very quickly!! I'm not ready to think about it at all...leaving here is going to be very very difficult! But until then...I still have another 3 months!! 

Skiff rides with the crew.