Caitlin's Adventures Across the Land

So, if it seems like I've been off the radar a bit since my last entry...its because I have been. My Alaskan adventure has hence come and gone. I made some amazing friends, memories, and I learned many many...many life lessons. For example: never wear flip flops into the rain forest (or PJ pants for that matter), never eat halibut lasagne, and never go fishing at low tide (you will get stuck on rocks). I'm so glad that at the end of the season my parents had the chance to come out and experience where I was all summer. Its not really a place that you can describe simply in words. I'm still keeping in contact with a few of my fellow co-workers (via Facebook of course) which is nice, we've all kind of spread out across the country. Scott and Nani have offered me the job for next year, and I'm strongly concidering going back for the 2009 season!

Alright, so to catch those of you up that I haven't talked to in a while...I've decided to spend my winter working at Grand Targhee Ski Resort in Alta, WY. Its absolutely amazing here. I'm living in Driggs, ID, which is about 13 miles down the mountain from the resort. It ends up taking me about 40 minutes to get to work because of switch backs and icy road conditions. Its an unbelievable drive, the resort is on the western side of the Teton mountains. EVERYDAY, as I'm driving (actually, riding the shuttle, I don't have my car out here) to work I get to see the Grand Teton mountain which is absolutely breathtaking. Driggs is a VERY small town, not quite as small as Craig, AK (population is around 1,000) but its still pretty dinky. They do have most of the common amentaties...groceries, hardware, coffee shops, hospital, tanning salon, yoga, etc. etc. but there's just not as many options. We do have a Burger King attached to one of the gas stations and a subway right behind my condo. The employee housing out here is really really nice. I live in a (practically new) 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo that looks out over the entire Teton Valley. My fellow "green" friends will appreciate the fact that we have all state of the art environmentally friendly appliances...its nice but I can't run my washer and my dryer at the same time so that's a little frustrating. We also have a central vacuum system which I had never seen before. You have a hose and it plugs directly into the wall, its AMAZING! haha.

Anyways, I'm absolutely loving being out west. Its gorgeous here. I have a cow pasturein my back yard, and every Sunday they heard the cows down Main Street to another pasture. You can find anything to do that revolves around being outside. I have a couple friends that live here in Driggs, that I met up in Alaska, and they've been showing me around quite a bit. They took me fly fishing a week or so ago down the Teton river on a really beautiful clear night. We had perfect views of the mountains all around us, it was just unreal. I've been snowboarding twice now since I've been here. The mountain hasn't gotten enough snow to open fully yet, so I'm taking up snowboarding for the time being. The resort offers their employees free lessons, so I took them up on that just last Friday. The lesson helped A TON! Meagan, if you're reading this, you need to take a lesson, you will be amazed how much easier it is instead of trying to teach yourself.

I'm just here at work right now. Its been extremely slow due to the fact that we haven't gotten nearly enough snow to open the entire mountain. Out of my office window I can see the summit of the mountain, its gorgeous, but the view comes and goes as the clouds roll in and out. Right now I'm watching to see Ski Patrol come down, they're running our main lift today up to the summit to check on the conditions of the snow. We need about another 12-15 inches before we can open up completely. The problem lies in the fact that although we do have 27 inches already, its not enough to cover rocks and exposed roots which is really really dangerous. Do your snow dances for us!!

Also, on a side note, I saw a moose on my ride to work the other day, and I've learned to identify cougar tracks in the snow!! I've yet to see a grizzly, but we have them here, and I'm hoping that I never come across one!!

Alright friends and family, its about time I posted a new blog, huh? I called home today and my mom was going on and on about how people are dying to hear about my adventures. I apologize that its been so long. Its very frustrating trying to use the crew computer because its very very slow. But I'm here now and ready to share my stories! I have to warn you though, its kind of the same stuff day in and day out...

Lets start out with the weather. I can not tell you how much I'm missing the Michigan summer warmth and being able to be out on the beach. I keep hearing of people who can't cool down and are at the beach all the time...its killing me. Aparently this has been one of the coldest summer's they've had here in a really long time. Yesterday I can't imagine that it got above 45 degrees and it rained ALL day. Aside from the cold, the sun sets around 11pm and comes back up between 3 and 3:30am. Today I saw a little glimmer of hope when the sun came out this afernoon but it was quickly extinguished as the clouds rolled in. I actually wore my long underwear to work last night for the second time since I've been here.

The reason I was so cold and wore my long underwear to work was because...I got to go out fishing again yesterday! It was my third trip, and I was with my favorite guide, Captain Justin from Wisconsin. The fishing was extremely slow, but at least it was cold and rainy... Really, its amazing being out on the boat no matter what the weather is like. The lodge is so far away from any other signs of life, that when you get the chance to see something different, you jump on that chance. Justin did a charter for Nani's parents and sister Tracy, so I got to go along and try to catch fish for the lodge. We didn't catch any salmon but I did catch my first halibut (which, in my personal opinion, is much better eating). The kitchen makes fried halibut as one of the appetizers and its really yummy. We caught our halibut when we were trying to fish for salmon, so they were small, they call them "chickens." Mine were probably in the 20-30 pound range. Usually you catch halibut when you're bottom fishing at like 200-300 feet and its a pain to drag them up because they're so far down. When you catch them at those depths they usually weigh anywhere between 80-180 pounds. When you catch them on salmon tackle its nice because they're usually only 40-50 feet down and reeling them in doesn't make you feel like your arm is going to fall off. The best thing about my whole day was that in the last spot that we were trying to catch salmon, we had two humpback whales that decided that they wanted to be in the same spot! One of them was about 50 feet away. Being that close to a whale is something that you can only experience. It was amazing and something that most people would only get to see on the Discovery channel. Apparently yesterday there was a whale that came into our cove here, which doesn't happen very often. Justin was telling me that the day before I went out a whale came up literally right next to the boat and blew snot all over everyone...gross, but still pretty incredible.

Lets see, I'm trying to think of what else is going on. Nothing really all that exciting. This place, as in Sarkar Cove here, is a very special place. Sarkar Cove, is in Sea Otter Sound, and it leads to Sarkar River, Rapids, and Lake. You can try to find it on a Prince of Wales Map, it will be on the Northwest side of the Isalnd. Aside from the lodge, the land and the whole environment is very spiritually charged. We find a lot of native artifacts like beads, arrowheads, pots, etc. etc. Its the kind of stuff that you know has been around for a very long time and must have an amazing story to tell, if only it could talk. I have to remind myself constantly to put aside all of the stress of work and customer service, and just sit and appreciate the beauty of where I am. Its really quite amazing. I feel like everyday I learn something new about myself and life. Its definately a growing experience.

I've had three job offers from guests since I've been bartending. I have to wonder how serious they were being because I'm just sitting there feeding them drinks, but its still pretty exciting. I don't think that it really counts when they're drawing your contract up on a cocktail napkin. One of the jobs was in Seattle, one in Texas, and another in San Fransico. Aside from job offers, I'm really working up my bartender skills. I make a mean margarita and one hell of a key lime pie martini. Along with that, I have quite the repitoire of dirty jokes due to the influx of manly fisherman that are constantly rolling in. I love being behind the bar. Its very fast paced but its fun to be able to chat it up with everyone. The group that's here now brought all they're own alcohol and a whole bunch of Maker's Mark. Whenever any one orders one, I think of Jerry Gallagher.

So that's really about all that's been going on. Tomorrow the girls and I are heading to the Naukati mud bog races. Naukati is like Buckley to Traverse City. The mud bog races are one of the only things that this place has going for them, it will definately be a cultural experience. Tomorrow Speed Network will be there filming for one of their TV shows, so if anyone has Speed Network, watch out for the mud bog races. Two guys from Naukati came to the lodge the other day to ask if "the hotties from the lodge could come be the trophy girls for the races." My boss just rolled his eyes and said he had work to do. Don't worry, I will not be handing out any trophies in my bikini in the mud tomorrow. I'll will make sure to keep you all updated on this event though!

I'm missing Traverse City terribly right now. Its my first time being away from Cherry Festival, Fourth of July, Polka Fest!, birthdays, blue angels, golf.......I could go on forever. I keep telling myself that its a once in a lifetime opportunity for me here and all of that stuff will always happen. But I still miss everyone and I send you all my love. If some one could try and send me a little Michigan warmth it would be greatly greatly appreciated

Love you all!
Caitlin

Alright kids, its been quite sometime since I've written a new entry and I'm starting to hear about it, so here I am! So much has happened I need to try and sort everything out.

Lets see, the last big exciting thing that I got to do was go out on the boat with the guests for some deep sea fishing. The trip only had 3 guys on it so each day one of the employees got to go out on their boat with them. It was such an exciting experience. The boats all leave at 7am everyday, and watching all of the El Cap boats leave together, speeding off towards the mountains, is quite the rush. As we were going out, we saw a couple of fawns on the shore and an eagle that apparently sits on the same sign every morning to see everyone off. Each one of the spots that we went to was about 20-30 minutes away. We went to the Island that was the furthest north and west that you can go in Southeast Alaksa. I think that Island was called Coronation, but I may be wrong. We also fished at Little Beach and Port Allis. The fishing has been really slow (which of course has caused some tension amongst the captains) so I didn't really catch anything amazing. I caught about 12 fish and could only keep 3. The three that I kept were black rock fish and I caught them while we were salmon fishing. I also caught a couple of flounders and yellow eye that were too small to keep so we threw them to the eagles. We got the eagles to come right up to our boat! The other fish that I caught were called Turbins, which is a type of flounder with razor sharp teeth and just plain ugly looking. The thing that was frustrating about them was that we would catch them while we were bottom fishing at 300+ feet and have to reel them all the way back up, just to throw them back into the ocean. Overall it was just fun. The landscape around here is absolutely breathtaking. It was worth it just to go out and to be able to experience that. We saw whales right out in front of the boat and that just made my day.

The thing about deep sea fishing is that its extremely tiring. I don't think that it would necessarily be my idea of a vacation. And I now know why we have a massage artist at the lodge. I appreciate now what the captains have to go through everyday, I really dont' know how they do it.

There really hasn't been too many exciting events around here lately. Long story short...The bartender that was hired for the summer wasn't cutting it, so they offered me her job! I've been the bartender at the King Fisher lounge now for four days. I'm loving it. I'm finally getting all of the drinks down...I make a mean key lime pie martini...my bloody mary's need a little work. Plus its just fun being behind the bar talking with the guests and getting to know people. This past trip there were four guys here from Detriot, so it was fun to chat it up with them.

Really there hasn't been too much to update on. I'm still loving it here and every day I find great things to get into. Yesterday my friend Scotty and I build a fire pit and just sat out in the woods around the fire. Its just little things like that that go on all the time.

Its lunch and laundry time so I must run!

Love you all!
CW

Hi all! A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. Its been in the high 60's/low 70's here the past few days! I've now been in the water 3 times. Its extremely chilly (I think some one said 48 degrees) so basically all you can do is run and jump in and then hop back out. Its so refreshing after scrubbing showers in the stuffy rooms all morning. The only problem is that there's no ladder at the end of the dock so we have to climb up the tires which are covered in mussles and barnacles. I've got some pretty narley scrapes all over my left leg. I also forgot that its salt water and took in a big mouthful on my first jump. On the other hand, I've got a pretty nice tan going, so its all good. They said that it wouldn't be like this much longer so I had to soak it up while it was there.

Two days ago I got to go out on the shrimp boat for the first time. The boys go out every other day or so in order to get shrimp for the guest's appetizers. It was something that I've never done before and it was pretty cool. The tide took out one of our pots though and we have no idea where it went off too. The shrimp here are HUGE! I've never seen anything like it. But I think that once you've been out and seen that once, you don't really need to see it again. I liked seeing the landscape more than anything. It wasn't quite as exciting deadliest catch.

Yesterday I worked all morning and then decided to start a little project. My cabin is right on the end of a row with a nice little patch of gravel that slopes down to the road. I got my friends Scott and Eli to help me build a rock garden. Eli build this really nice rock retaining wall and Scotty cobbled out most of the main garden area. I basically just worked pulling out all the weeds and finding good rocks for the boys. Its looking pretty great. We also have two little benches there so we can sit and watch the world go by. I took a peace of drift wood from Kasaan beach and carved "love life" into it. Margaret would be so proud. I love my little spot, its very peaceful and zen-like. I still have more work that I plan on doing. Scott and I are going to dig up a blue berry bush and plant it in there. It'll be sweet. Right now Pu'u (pronounced Poo-oo), the german shepard, is pretty in love with the spot where I want to put the blue berry bush, so he and I might have to duke it out. I'll try and get a picture of my home on here soon!

So things are going pretty great! I was supposed to go on a glacier tour today but it was cancelled because of the fog. I was pretty bummed out but its Scott's 19th birthday today so we're all celebrating tonight! On another good note, my big sister Erin got engaged on Saturday, congratulations! I can't wait to see the ring girl!

Love you all!
CW

So I've had quite a bit of time off lately. Its been absolutely beautiful weather so I'm loving it. I had Thursday off, I worked 2 hours yesterday, and I had today off. The only reason that I haven't been working is because we didn't have guests in so there's really not much to clean. On Thursday 8 of us had the day off so we went on a little adventure. I saw my first bear! It was just a little baby blacky but it was still sweet. We stopped at a beach on the low tide and dug clams and mussles. We did have rakes so I was rockin the "Alaska Hands." That basically means that they were very dirty, and all of my nails have broken off. Anyways...we did that for about an hour then went to Kasaan which is an extremely tiny village on the island. They're famous for their totem pole park. I was expecting a big open field with a whole bunch of totems, but it was way cooler than that. You go down this really long trail that winds along the beach (saw some bear scat, little freaky), then out of no where you go around a corner and there's a totem jetting out. It goes like that for quite a while, and then ends at the chief's house on the beach. Inside the house there were three totems and a huge fire pit. The whole place had some strong spiritual energy and it was quite the experience. There aren't many places left in the world where you can go and feel the history and not know a thing about it. I sat down at the beach on a piece of drift wood, looking out at the mountains, it was wonderful. We got some great pictures but they just can't capture everything.

After Kasaan we headed to the town of Thorn Bay. Holy smokes. I'm so glad that I didn't grow up on this Island. Thorn Bay is probably about the size of Kingsley (maybe smaller) with a whole lot less to do. We stopped at the Post Office/Gift Shop/Bakery and got killer milkshakes, it was quite the treat. It did set me back $5, but we don't have ice cream at the lodge so it was worth it. After Thorn Bay we started our treck back to El Cap and stopped along the way to do a little mushroom hunting. One of the guys that we were with knows his Morrels and we found the absolute motherload. The island is covered in clear cut forest patches and apparently that's the best place to find them. I found a patch that was probably bigger than Thorn Bay. We fried them up last night, it was just like home. It was good day.

Yestday I spent the day reading in the sun. I also took the canoe out for a little spin around the bay. I'm having a great time, that is for sure. Its gorgeous again today so I'm going to head outside and do a little more reading/sun bathing. Oh, if you haven't noticed I've added more photos and there are more to come when I get them up. If anyone wants to call me or send me anything I'll leave my address/number. I would love...anything. I'm pretty desperate for pictures or things to spruce up my room. Also a bottle of glycerine would be great because I get SO extremely dirty. You can call anytime. The number is for the crew lounge, so just ask for Caitlin and they'll find me! I love you all, keep it real.

Caitlin Warner
P.O. Box 1174
Craig, AK 99921

206-792-7040