Wind Songs: Cowee Meadows Cabin

Cowee Meadows Cabin

It rained most of the night last night, and this morning I woke to grey skies and drizzling rain. My Mountain Boy and I took our time waking up and putzing around the house on a depressing Sunday morning.

By mid-morning LC asked me which trail we were going to walk today.

I half-heartedly tried to decide, then suggested (after being incapable of making what is usually an easy decision) that we just stay at the house today, watch a movie, clean.

I was incredibly out of sorts.......preoccupied with work issues and my future and for once, unmotivated to move.....

By late morning, with it still cool and drizzling, my Mountain Boy pushed me out the door, and we went to Bridget Point Trail Out the Road at Mile 38.

Before we left I looked through my Juneau trail books to find out any information about the trail. About three miles one way. Public access cabin. Probably relatively flat. OK.....

As we headed Out the Road, and not far past Eagle Beach, we came around a bend on Glacier Highway and saw a bear running across the road. It was already half way across the road when we saw it, and I excitedly reached towards a side pocket of my pants to try and get my camera in time.

But it was already gone - disappeared into the woods on the opposite side of the road - before I had a chance to get a picture of it.

I smiled. Happy that I had seen this bear. That makes six this summer so far.

Happy that LC had pushed me out the front door, and that we were on the way for a walk.

Happy that I was outside..........

The trail itself was a combination of wooden plank trail over what turned out to be many wet and boggy and swampy areas along the way, and gnarly and rooty and muddy sections.

We were decked out for the conditions - Xtra Tufs and rain jackets. We ended up ditching the jackets and stashing them in my pack during our walk, but the boots really were put to good use in the conditions we met along the way.

The first of many open meadows we came to on our trip.

We realized fairly quickly that we had left our bear-bells at home - one for Jamie's collar and one for the back of my pack. So LC entertained me by singing dumb songs.

And I entertained him by singing dumb songs in return (there's a flea on the wart on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea...........)

Gnarly and muddy trail conditions, and dense growth on both sides of the trail........

For the first 20 minutes the trail was very closed in. We balanced precariously on slippery-when-wet planks and the dense growth on both sides of the trail, which meant that there was not much to see.

But after those early stages the trail began to open up on a regular basis and we enjoyed beautiful open and lush green meadows that were surrounded by mountains.

The drizzle eventually came to an end, and although low lying clouds stayed with us most of the day, it turned into a lovely Sunday walk......

One of many swampy ponds, filled with skunk cabbage, that we came to along the trail........

Yet another swampy pond, this time filled with lily pads....

At one point I veered off the trail, and waded through a water-logged section of a meadow to take more pictures of a small lake...........LC caught me on the way back to him and Jamie......

This was one of many interesting sights that we saw today along the trail.

A huge tree had literally grown almost completely around a huge boulder.....

Although I take a lot more time to "see" than I used to, it is LC that still points out many things previously unobserved as I blow right by on the trail.

I missed this hugely interesting drama-in-nature. LC did not. And I am glad that he shared it with me......

It seems to be very rare in the summer in Juneau to see eagles travelling alone. Much more often we will see eagles travelling in pairs - mated for life, staying close, sometimes landing on separate trees after their flight, but never out of ear shot and never out of sight of each other.

They are beautiful to watch in flight.

They are very beautiful to watch together.....

A veritable skunk cabbage forest - seeming to have smothered almost everything else out of this place.......

The first beaver dam I have seen since arriving in Alaska.......

About an hour into our walk we came to a trail intersection. Going straight meant more slippery planks or rooty trail and right meant water-logged and flat. We went right to see if the walking conditions would improve.

They did.

Since we were both wearing boots the water was not a concern, and after only a few minutes the ground dried out and we were now walking on easy gravel single track.

More importantly, we moved from closed-in trail to a trail that provided non-stop views of beautiful meadows and mountains......

LC whispered with authority "don't move"

I didn't move.

My first and immediate thought was that there was a bear. We had seen signs of bears continuously since we had entered the trail.......more than I had seen in one place since moving here.

But then he pointed up.

I looked up and saw this beautiful heron resting majestically, and watching over the world from a very high perch.

The trail was beautiful.

Tall grass, open fields, lots of wildflowers, views of the mountains in all directions, tall pine trees, ravens and eagles (and herons).

For the afternoon my world was these things. Only these things.

I was sharing these things with my guy and my dog. And I was happy to be in this place.......

Our approach to Cowee Meadows Cabin. It is a public access cabin about three miles from the trailhead.

It is located in the center of a truly beautiful and wide open meadow, and there were no sounds around us except for the birds.....

The inside was clean, functional and spacious. Between the floor upstairs where people could sleep on a sleeping pad and sleeping bag, and the beds downstairs, this cabin could conceivably sleep 10 or 12 people.

It also contained a table, a bench, a sink, and a wood stove.

The public can reserve the cabin for overnight stays from the state park folks. They can be used for day use at any time that the cabins are not reserved.

And during the winter these cabins, which are numberous and located all over the Juneau trail system can be used as warming cabins.

I have been to the John Muir cabin, and today this one so far. These cabins are in wonderful shape, and it is obvious that users do not abuse these secluded homes-away-from-home......

On the table was a leather bound note book, left by a previous user earlier in the year.

My Mountain Boy and I took a few minutes to skim through the notes that people had left in the book, and then left a message of our own.

One person reported seeing two bears running across the field in front of the cabin on the way to the pond, but most wrote simply how much they loved the cabin and enjoyed their visit......

Surprisingly, inside the cabin we found a chocolate bar, marshmellows, graham crackers, a huge jar of plantars peanuts, a few rolls of both toilet paper and paper towels, and a slew of beer.

My Tennessee friends would be ashamed of me.

We left the beer, ate the chocolate bar, and resolved that next time we came across one of these cabins in our travels, that we would bring something to leave for the next visitor who came behind us ........