Haines, Alaska
Why Haines, Alaska?
Alaska is a coveted destination; a land of great wilderness, remoteness, vastness, rivers flowing and salmon running for thousands of years, mountains riding out of the seas, glaciers everywhere, and fjords left in place of glaciers long gone.
During the pandemic, it was my civic duty to stay put for a while and I was fortunate to find a place to rent in the beautiful Santa Cruz, California. Even more fortunate was my sister, Eliza, coming to visit and getting stuck with me for the next two months, we had a grand old time.
Optimistic, or naive to the impact of this pandemic, at some point in April I reached out to a few places through Work Away. I was hoping summer would bring about a time of movement, of travel once again. I heard back from one place, a woman named Julie living in Haines, Alaska. “I do not live in fear of this virus” she said and invited me to come spend the summer with her. I wasn’t fearful either, but I did feel a great sense of responsibility and respect to all who were fearful and/ or compromised in some way. So while I felt travel was possible, it would be different.
Just like getting to the village of Nordskot, where I lived in Norway last year, it takes organization to get to Haines. One must align a flight with a ferry ride, and unfortunately the schedules of both do not align easily. Further more, I would stop in Port Townsend where my parents now live, in between California and Alaska, to resupply in a way.
From Port Townsend my parents dropped me off at the public bus which took me to the Bainbridge Ferry. This ferry delivered me across the sound to Seattle, where I got the train to the airport. My flight to Juneau landed at 19:30 with a spectacular view of the Mendenhall Glacier. I spent a measly 12 hours in Juneau before catching a 7:00am ferry up the Lynn Canal to arrive in Haines, Alaska.
More and more I enjoy finding a place less traveled.
Of all the places to go in Alaska (Anchorage, Palmer, Talkeetna, Homer…) Haines was seemingly random, only to find out it was not random at all. Arriving in Haines was a long series of serendipity. In my first few days here, I experienced vicious doubt. This often happens when arriving in a new place, being surrounded by newness is not comfortable for our animal-selves, even those of us who are well practiced. Laying in bed trying to sleep in a never darkening sky, I thought to myself, “what the hell are you doing here” which lead to the classic, inevitable question “what are you doing with your life?!”
The next morning I discovered Julie’s collection of paper maps and browsed over the local area. In the middle of Haines I noticed a small lake named Lily Lake, with just one “L”. Immediately my brewing existential crisis resolved. The first of many times I would find my name in Haines, Alaska, from old fishing companies to the chocolate Lillies in bloom up on the mountains. Each time a sign that I was exactly where I should be, so there I would be.