5/31/08

Today started with a grocery shopping that nearly broke the bank, one downfall to being an island town is the price of groceries. A pound of chicken breast was over $9. But you gotta take the good with the bad. Spent the early part of this afternoon flight seeing with my neighbor who lives in the front house, he's one of the pilots for the company and owns his own plane. So I got to see my neighborhood and surrounding areas by flight. Then went on a medevac this afternoon in Stewart/Hyder. Hyder is Alaska, Stewart is British Columbia. It's about a 45 minute flight in the helo from Ketchikan in good weather. It's mostly throught the mountains so the view is amazing. We landed in a make shift baseball field about 100 yards from the shore with the same Helo pilot as yesterday. And after yesterday and my mild concern about landing at the top of a mountain, we're getting ready to land and he asks me "is landing a little better for you?" Wiseass! Followed by a comment about "those people in the lower 48". Once again, had a blast and I must reiterate I love being in the Helicopter! The sight, the sounds, I dig it! I'm considering getting a pilots license but it's very expensive.

Totem Pics

More South Dakota Pictures

Crazy Horse Monument Enterance
Crazy Horse Monument
Buffalo in Custer State Park
Buffalo rolling in the dirt.

First MedEvac

So I had my first MedEvac, well three, actually. We went out late this morning for a downed logger. About 40 minutes outside of Ketchikan, on a mountainside, a logger was falling trees when onekicked back and crushed him, earning a nice femur fracture. The guy apparently laid on the hill for two hours before someone could hear him and called for a bird. So we flew out with another chopper that carried two guys from Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue (which is a bunch of climbing/nature enthusiasts who specialize in rescue situation not unlike TROT or SERT). So we land on a mountain summit that consist of rough gravel and boulders. The area was previous logged and was probably cleared in order to place the crane for pulling the logs up the mountain. The area wasn't any larger than 35 feet by 25 feet. (And yet landing zones for helos in Ohio are 100 x 100?!?) After the other pilot lowered them guys on to the side of a mountain, we pulled the stokes basket out of our chopper and moved it to theirs were it was lowered to the ground. Then once they loaded him both choppers moved down to the logging camp (if that what you want to call it, essentially a gravel/dirt intersection). They lowered the guy via basket and netting 3 miles suspended 150 feet below the chopper. Now that would be one hell of a ride! The guy wasn't really in too bad of shape. Just a compound fracture of the femur no other trauma. Just a little cold.

While unloading the patient from the aforementioned scenario we were dispatched for another call to one of the clinics for a possible stroke. Then when we got back we helped the Sitka crew load logging guy for a trip to Seattle for orthopedic surgery, since our jet was grounded in Seattle for maintenance. So I'm finally getting home at 9p after leaving on the first call a little after 11a.

Sorry no pictures, I promise, I'll get some Helo pics! We contract out with Temsco until our new chopper comes. Temsco has a lot of contracts with the government and military. They fly supplies and people into remote places throughout Alaska. They even fly wildland firefighters in and out of places.

Just an update spoke to my new Fire Chief and am in process getting paywork done and turned back in.

Oh and by the way on the flight back from the hopsital to the helo base I got to chatting with the pilot and he asked about the flight and I mentioned that I wasn't use to landing on tiny pieces of semi-flat land at the top of mountains. His response was "that wasn't even small, we've been in much tighter spots". Craziness I tell you! but it was a blast! And some of the most beautiful scenary. Especially seeing two helos flying over the Pacific in tandom with there shadows bouncing of the water. And I actually got to use a few medic skills!

Skunk Cabbage

Throughout the drive we encountered these giant yellow flowers along the roadside in Alberta, British Columbia, and Alaska. We speculated that they were some kind of water lily, however they are know as Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanus). They grow naturally in swamps and wet areas of the Pacific Northwest. It's name is derived from the "skunky" odor it emits. It is food for many animals including Bears. The bears dig at the plant eating it's root which is a laxative to relieve their bound up intestines after several months of hibernation. Essentially it's a natural Fiber One bar for the bear!

Tree along path in Settler's Cove

Update

It's been a few days since I've updated, I know, I'm slacking off! Just been out and about touring trying to get a little more settled in. In just two days I've found several hiking trails. Deer Mountain which is north of the city and provides great views of downtown and the surrounding islands. When hiking deer mountain altitude increases by a thousand feet in less than a mile, with a total climb of 3,001 feet to the peak over 2.5 miles. Settler's Cove is north of town and a little less know therefor a little less travelled by the tourists! Very quiet and scenic the trail winds its wind around Lunch Falls through the thick brush and old growth forest. Several trees along the path are larger in diameter then my jeep! The falls will fill with king salmon here in just a few short weeks. Per the locals the peak salmon run is usually the last week of June. For those who like to beachcombers there is Refuge Cove which is walking distance from the apartment and spans at least a mile of rocky beach.

The rest of the photos from the trip up are still not done yet at Walmart, bear with me, time moves differently here.

Also I'll be en route to Fairbanks June 8th for a week. So expect a few pictures. They're averaging nearly 20 hours of daylight right now. On the summer solstice (the longest day of the year) June 21st they'll reach 23 hours of daylight. The flight to Fairbanks is long (roughly 8 hours) to the locals it's know as the milk run, because the plane stops off in multiple cities to drop of people and supplies. From what I here it's a sight with countless glacial views. So here's hoping for clear skies. And hopefully a moose sighting!

Pics 5.28.08

Hiking out at Settler's Cove State Park (just north of Ketchikan on Tongass Highway).

Park Entrance
Lunch Falls

Temperate Rainforest

New favorite artist

I've found a new favorite artist who resides here in Ketchikan, his name is Ray Troll. Check out is stuff:

http://store.trollart.com/home.php?cat=24

Sunset on the beach across from my house!

Pics 5.24.08

A few pics from our float plane trip into Misty Fjords National Monument in Tongass National Forest (the largest national forest in the United States). Fjords are long narrow bays with steep
sides created by glaciers. Misty Fjords consists of 2,294,343 acres. It was a perfect day for sightseeing the weather here was in the high 70's without a cloud in the sky. The trip aboard the float plane was a little bumpy which made mom a little green but it was a once in a life time opportunity. We were able to stop in the fjords and get out and walk along the pontoons.

Mom and Dad left a few short hours ago for home. They should reach Akron-Canton tomorrow morning. We'll see how long it takes before I get bored and lonely. Especially since I still don't have working cable! Twenty one years of life without cable, I finally have cable and it doesn't work! Go figure!

Just as a side note I dropped seven rolls of film off at Walmart this afternoon so expect an abundance of pictures to show up in the next couple of days.

Dad playing with my camera!

Making an apartment a home!

Today I had my first taste of Ketchikan lifestyle. I opened a bank account and a P.O. Box and made a trek to the grocery store along with checking out a few tourist spots. We toured Totem Bight State Park and the historical creek street. Which was a red light district (home to houses of ill repute during the great gold rush)I attended my first staff meeting for work. The lifestyle is completely different from that at home. Everything is so laid back and relaxed here. When they explained doing daily equipment and med checks, I asked what time they come in each morning they're on call to do them. I was told about "ten-ish, but we're on island time so eleven, noon, five, whenever as long as they get done". I almost had heart failure. Also when we went to pick up the keys for the apartment I was told it's open. No one here locks their door and they leave their vehicles running while they run into the bank or Walmart. It's definitely different.

Tomorrow we'll be taking a aerial tour of Misty Ffords before mom and dad fly out. So stayed tuned for more photos. Also I'll be heading north to Fairbanks around June 9th for training so I'll be sure to post a few pictures of the surrounding area and hopefully of Denali National Park!

Totem Bight Pics Cont.

Pics 5.23.08

Totem Bight State Park
Dad snuck on of mom!

5.22.08 pics cont.

View of the ocean from my apartment!

5.22.08 pics

View from the ferry "Taku"
View from Ferry
Bathroom of my apartment .
Apartment
Apartment

Home sweet home

We finally reached our destination! We arrived in Ketchikan about 2pm Alaska time after a 6 hour ferry ride. While mom didn't feed the fishes she was a little ill. She slept most of the way in a Dramamine induced coma. The apartment is little but cute and clean. I finally have cell phone service after two days without. I was going crazy without the ability to text.We moved my stuff in and are working on figuring out why the cable isn't working. We're all getting tired, especially mom and I since we have to sleep in the same room as the snoring machine. I have to my first day of work tomorrow, a staff meeting at 10am. Pics to be posted soon.

5.21.08

Oil tender in the Pacific off the coast of Prince Rupert.
Small craft in the harbor at Rupert
Sea Planes
Old engine at the Prince Rupert Firefighter Museum.

Black Bears

Oh where, oh where, is my boat?

The driving portion of our trip is finally complete! In 6 days we've covered 3,300 miles. We reached Prince Rupert this afternoon and the Pacific Ocean finally came into view. We're grounded here until our boat comes in Thursday at 0530. Today was a long drive throught the mountains. The elusive moose has still not shown his hide. I'm beginning to doubt their existance. We did see a family of black bears and one walking down the railroad tracks no more than 15 feet from the car. While the views are spetacular we've become tired of being cooped up in the jeep. I've seen more in the last six days than I've seen in my whole twenty-one years of life. I'm thankful for the experience, but I'm getting tired of road life and wish to reach my destination soon. (And to be back on American soil!)

Greetings from Prince George, British Columbia

We're getting closer to our destination, thankfully! We have another 425 miles of driving left until we reach Prince Rupert to take the ferry to Ketchikan, Ak. Today we left Canmore and travelled north through Banff National Forrest and Jasper National Park. The elusive moose has eluded us. I want to see a moose! I think they're hiding from me. We did see several black bears, a few elk, a coyote and the melting glaciers of the Columbia Icefields in Jasper National Park. The Icefields are surreal, it was almost 50 degree and yet there still frozen.

I forgot to mention yesterday that our scheduled ferry from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan was pushed back a day and a half so we will not reach our destination until Thursday, May 22. Apparently something was delayed in Belligham, WA pushing our ferry back. Big bummer but there's not a whole lot we can do about it.

Pics 5.19.08

Black Bear in Jasper National Park
Columbia Icefields in Jasper National Park
Columbia Icefields
Snow and Ice melting from the Rockies
Waterfall

More pics of Canmore

5.18.08

The Rockies from Canmore, Alberta.
The rail line running thru Canmore.
Bow River in Canmore
Canmore FD
Canmore Fire Station