Wind Songs: Rain. High 44

I looked out the bedroom window when I first woke up this morning and was very excited to see that there was blue sky.

Not just sucker patches here and there - lots of blue sky with only a few white clouds.

While making coffee I checked the weather forecast for today. Rain. High 44.

Pretty much the same forecast that I have read for..........ever.

Being a meteorologist in a place like Juneau must be some kind of easy job..........

While drinking coffee the sun streamed into the living room through all the windows and I hurriedly guzzled coffee, skipped breakfast and got dressed.

Jamie knew.

She followed me from room to room looking expectantly at me, and when I finally grabbed my jacket and said "OK baby - let's go!" she barked and jumped and ran to the door.

We both piled into the truck and headed Out the Road.

I was headed for Echo Cove - the literal end of the road system in Juneau.

While on the way out LC called me.

He was driving through snow just past Missoula Montana and headed to his brothers' home in Minnesota.

We got disconnected once, reconnected briefly and I told him that I was headed Out the Road and would probably lose contact with him pretty quickly, since there is next to no cell phone service that far out of town.

Which was predictably what happened.

While driving further away from civilization I passed a number of overlooks, and the snow covered Chilkat Mountains looked beautiful in the sun on the opposite side of the channel.

Foolishly I did not stop at the overlooks - either to just pause for a second and enjoy the view or to take pictures of this wonderful mountain range.

Foolishly I planned on stopping on the way back after walking with my dog at Echo Cove.

Jamie was still barking loudly, barely able to contain her excitement about going for a ride and going for a walk, and truthfully I also had energy to burn and needed to move. So we blew past all of the overlooks and kept going.

When we arrived at Echo Cove a very hardy husband and wife couple were getting ready to head out into the channel in an open boat.............

Jamie and I started walking the beach on the parking lot side of the cove.

We had walked on the opposite side of the cove previously.

It was a really nice walk along the beach and on a well-kept series of trails in the woods that back up to a private camp ground, so I was eager to explore further along this side of the beach and walk out past the sandbar that I had kayaked to over the summer.

This ramp, that is usually located down near the boat ramp by the parking lot was sitting in the sand...........

For the first part of the walk the going was very easy.

The sand and small rocks were easy to walk on, and I enjoyed watching one boat head out into the channel as, at the same time, one more boat was coming into shore..........

No more campers.

No more four wheelers or dirt bikes.

No more noise..........

I still want one of these.......

After walking for about 20 minutes the going started to get tougher.

The beach became progressively rockier.

I pulled Jamie into the woods adjacent to the beach in an attempt to find an easier route but it was covered in Devils Club. Back to the beach.

The remainder of our walk was full of rocks, boulders, lots of very slippery seaweed and long grass laying down and waiting for the tide to come in again.

Balance checks and slips were constant for both of us as we continued heading further out, and I found myself both wishing I had taken the walk on the opposite side of the cove (which I knew was so much more fun) and resolving that I would not try this again.

Me and my bright ideas. But you don't know until you know.

All in all it was pretty treacherous walking and my dog was a real trooper............

We eventually made it as far as the sandbar and unexpectedly saw a large pole standing upright in the sand.

I have never seen it before and don't know what it is.

We have NOAA stations up here in Juneau and whenever I find some strange piece of equipment sitting randomly in isolated areas I figure they're something to do with either weather monitoring or weather study...........

We continued beyond a sandbar but the walking was still extremely treacherous.

By that point we had been out for well over an hour, still had to make our way back through that same rocky/wet grassy/wet seaweedy ground and I was ready to stop for a few minutes, take some pictures and head back.

Also by this time there was some sunshine out over the Chilkats but nothing beyond increasing clouds back the way we needed to go.............

Over the summer I kayaked as far as the sandbar, pulled my boat off the water, and then walked around the point that is in this picture.

The beach around this bend belongs to Echo Ranch Bible Camp, which I did not know at the time when I went exploring (and inadvertently trespassing) on foot.

It is a very beautiful camp on very beautiful grounds, with sandy beachfront and clear and open views of the mountains and channel.

The camp is closed for the season so I will have to explore further there again soon...........

Not too far beyond the sandbar I decided to call it quits.

I stood on large boulders by the water playing Queen of the Castle and taking these pictures while my beloved animal waited patiently for me to make a move..........

My dog intently watching a couple off in the distance who were walking their own dog........

I took this picture on the way back, knowing that this would probably be the last taste of sunshine today and I had better capture it now before it was gone.

By this time I also realized that I had missed my chance at the overlooks on the way out...........

Even though the walking was tough this morning this place - this PLACE - was quiet and peaceful and very beautiful..............

I took this rock picture because the sheer number of colors in it caught my attention on the way back.

This rock was large and beautiful and the picture does not even begin to do it justice.

This rock, filled with so many colors and so many minerals, tells an entire story of this region of the country.........

These two men in their survival suits pulled in just as Jamie and I were almost back to the start of our walk.

One of them walked up to the parking lot to retrieve the truck and trailer while the other man reached into the boat and methodically pulled "somethings" out and tossed them on the ground.

He glanced over a few times and saw me watching him, and I realized that he was pulling crabs out of the boat.

I approached him, made small talk for a minute, explained that I had a blog, and asked if he minded if I took a picture of a couple of his crabs.

He happily obliged.........