The ferry ride from Washington took three nights. It is hard to pick out any section to describe, as the entire time we found ourselves surrounded by the steep, wooded beauty of the inside passage. Being on a ship for a few days was enchanting for me. I alternated between reading, sleeping, and staring out at the landscape as we glided by. Hour after hour, something even more beautiful was around the next corner. The journey north provided a wonderful preview of what is coming, and we are excited to revisit it at a slower speed in smaller boats that will allow us to get up close to the details of this landscape. Although the ferry was enjoyable, I found myself feeling like I was in limbo… waiting for what was coming next.
Now we find ourselves on the very sunny streets of Haines, Alaska. The thermometers in town were reading over 80 today, and it was a little bit surreal to be staring up into the mountains at glaciers while dodging into the shade to find some comfort from the heat. Luckily for us, the volunteer fire department in town was having a fundraiser BBQ today. Delicious home-cooked food and sharing a meal with the locals was the perfect way to be introduced to this town.
Haines seems like an interesting place, one that we could hang around in for a while. We could go on a flight into the mountains to see the glaciers. That would be amazing! There are some hikes close to town, rafting on the Chilkoot River, and incredible wildlife preserves we could visit. It seems odd to say, but none of those are appealing to us at the moment. We are anxious to get going on our paddling trip. We have been planning this for years now and the mixture of excitement for the great things to come, as well as the nerves from wondering what we have committed to, has got a hold on us at the moment.
Over dinner we talked about what to do and we agreed: if we stay a day or two the feeling of limbo will just persist. It seems best to rip off this band-aid and get on the water… find out what this is going to be. We’ll have plenty of time to tarry along the way, to see the sights and take our time. For now, it is best to get some sleep and be ready to paddle. Tomorrow morning we leave before the tide drops too low, before we get stuck in the mud.
