Hi Friends,
We are fortunate to be spending the winter in Warm Springs Bay caretaking the Baranof Wilderness Lodge! We figured out a while back that our first year here was 2004! A quick Covid update on us--Jen is furloughed from Alaska Airlines and won't be flying until 2022! Rick's job as captain of Polar Mist's extended summer cruise through SE Alaska has been postponed until next summer.
We have been here at the lodge since October 16th. This photo is actually one I took from the skiff while I was out logging, but shows our dock, the main lodge, and some of the guest cabins.
We got a ride from Sitka this year with Jackson Dozier, who brought us and all our supplies around from Sitka.
All the bare necessities needed for seven months of remote living are protected under the tarp!
Thelma and Louise pretended they didn't like the boat ride, but they settled down once we got underway. Thelma and Louise have been with us since last May. They're siblings from Petersburg who I picked up with our friend Captain Paul, so they are experienced boat cats. On the way back from Petersburg we actually spent the night here at the lodge, so this is not their first time at the lodge!
Capt Jackson backs the boat away from the work dock at the harbor in Sitka. We normally take 10 to 12 hours to make the trip, but Jackson got us here in about 3.5 hours, in spite of what he said was the heaviest load he's had on the boat. That slowed us down from 30 kts to about 25 kts.
The trip through Olga, Neva, and Peril Straits was smooth running!
We did get to enjoy a little "Chatham Chop" once we rounded the corner into Chatham Strait.
We had lots of cat accessories to unload.
Thelma and Louise enjoying their cat condo in their new home for the winter!
The cats love the "Artificial Sun" (big radiant heaters we use in the lodge)!
Lodge owner Mike Trotter heading out for a week of fly fishing on the Kenai.
Mike flew to Juneau by float plane to connect with Alaska Airlines.
That's Mike's plane taking off.
One of our fall chores is to lay in a supply of firewood for the winter.
These are two "volunteers" that I found floating out in Chatham Strait. A "volunteer" is a log that I don't have to wrestle off the beach and into the water to tow back to the lodge.
Each log is cut into rounds.
Then "we" split and stack it. The woodshed is full, so we've got four pallets of wood that we tarp alongside the shed.
Mike's return from his trip. He brought some supplies in for us from Juneau.
Mike rowing his dory over to the townsite for winter storage.
Not a bad spot for "Miller Time"!
