State Fair!

This past break Joe and I were able to get away from Sitka for a while with two other Forest Service employees, Ryan and Peggy, andgo to the Southeast Alaska State Fair up in Haines. Getting to Haines was a journey in and of itself, taking two different ferries with an overnight stop in Juneau. In Juneau we met up with Carole, a fisheries biologist stationed there that came down to Redoubt with her boss to help us set up the infamous net weir (which I have yet to talk about…). She was super hospitable and picked us up from the ferry terminal (normally a $50 taxi ride), drove us to our hostel with scenic stops at the glacier and hatchery along the way, and even took us out to breakfast in the morning before our 8am ferry onto Haines. We didn’t have time to do much, but to say the least the booming metropolis of Juneau was a shock to our humble Sitkan sensibilities.

The Mendenhall Glacier

The Juneau hatchery; each of these tanks is jam-packed with King and Chum salmon

Once in Haines we got a taxi to our camping destination (free overflow camping at a grassy picnic ground) before exploring the town. The fair wasn’t quite what I had imagined (picture more school fair than state fair), but they had a great entertainment and we saw Joe’s favorite band, Trampled by Turtles, a bluegrass band from Minnesota, twice in less than 24 hours; he was like a little boy in a candy shop. And we kept running into them around town – I think they might have thought Joe was stalking them! Other highlights included the Most Adorable Dog Contest, lots more live music, the parade and the Log Cutting Competition (which I may or may not have slept through).

Peggy and Ryan on one of the few roads in Haines (popul. 2500)

Fellow fairgoers watching live music

Actual buildings from of the White Fang movie set at the fair

Trampled by Turtles on stage.

Joe ecstatically happy to be seeing TBT play

One of my favorite parts of the whole trip wasn’t even at the fair; it was the overnight ferry ride back to Sitka. Unlike on the way two Haines, we opted for the slow 10-hour ferry on the way back from Juneau, 8pm to 6am. At first we thought it wasn’t going to be comfortable, but we set up our sleeping bags on the top deck in the solarium with a full view of the sunset and a cool ocean breeze. Anyone who thinks expensive cruises are the way to go is wrong – ferry hopping offered us the same wildlife and scenery viewing opportunities at a much cheaper price and without the associated pretentiousness.

Our sleeping set-up in the solarium aboard the ferry

Sunset from the top deck of the ferry

There, of course, lots of other interesting anecdotes from the weekend, but as they say, What happens at the fair stays at the fair!