Sunday, May 14, 2023
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
Today is a beautiful sunny day with the temperature starting at 46 degrees and reaching a high of 63 degrees before night fall.
We left the camper at 8 a.m. this morning after breakfast and headed out to Chilkat State Park to the Battery Point trailhead. It is located about 1-1/2 miles south of Haines at the end of beach road. Our plan was to walk the Battery Point Trail out to the beach and back.
When we arrived, we took a quick look at the trail map and then began our hike -- with hiking sticks in hand.
The primitive trail was relatively flat and wound its way through a dense rainforest about 100 to 200 feet above Portage Cove for a little over a mile before dropping down and reaching Battery Point and the beach.
The 2-1/2 hour hike was beautiful crossing a few streams and climbing a few stairs every once in a while. We did encounter a few other hikers during the day, but it was pretty serene for the most part. Below was the hardest water crossing of the trail -- where you literally had to maneuver over some rocks or logs without falling in to cross.
The picture below shows the stairs back down to the water crossing.
An easier water crossing -- nice bridge over the water! (See below.)
Mel is looking for the buds of Devil's Club, but there is a right time to harvest it. Below is a picture of the Devil's Club plant after it has leafed out and produced berries -- too late to harvest for human use, but the bears love to eat the berries.
Devil's Club, a historical medicinal and herbal plant used for centuries by First Nations people, can be found in the forests of coastal Alaska. For a short window of time in harvesting them -- Haines did not disappoint.
Mel learned how to harvest and prepare the Devil's Club by talking to the locals. You simply grab the bud, bend it down, twist or cut it off. While foraging for this plant, you need to be careful of their thorny stalks and spiny undersides. Ouch!
Above Mel points out what the bud of the Devil's Club looks like. And below a closeup of the bud.
We follow the trail to the beach.
The beach was covered with large rocks and logs. Mel made his way through it, but I stood, swatted mosquitos and waited for him.
Once we got back on the trail heading back Mel began to harvest the Devil's Club buds. He used his pocket knife to cut them and put them in a Ziplock bag.
Mel and his Devil's Club bounty (above) and a closeup of the freshly picked buds (below).
The house below was at the start of the trailhead. It is for sale. Looks to me like it has been vacant for a while.
In the ditches we saw this plant with yellow buds and blooms, that we later found out is skunk cabbage.
Next we drove back to the camper and had lunch. After lunch, we took off to drive the scenic Lutak Road to see views of glaciers and snow-covered peaks above the inlets and Lynn Canal.
We drove past the ferry terminal.
And continued toward the Chilkoot Lake State Recreation site passing beautiful scenery along the way.
Along the way, we passed a totem pole along the side of the road.
And a sign reminding us to live in harmony with bears -- as they can be everywhere, so be bear aware!
We drove through the Chilkoot Lake State Recreation campground located about 10 miles north of Haines at the south end of Chilkoot Lake, near the outlet to the Chilkoot River, before heading out to see Chilkoot Lake.
Above, Mel holds up the map showing Chilkoot Lake and the Chilkoot River and all its tributaries. We sat at the picnic table enjoying the awesome views. On our way back, we continued to enjoy the splendid sights, and even saw a few roadside waterfalls.
So Mel turned the truck around and drove back to the house with the great garden. As Mel was getting out of the truck, the owner came down and greeted him. Mel said, "I see you have a great patch of rhubarb, and I really love rhubarb. I was wondering if I could buy some." The owner asked Mel, "How much do you want? Enough to make a pie?" Mel indicated that he wanted enough to make a rhubarb pudding cake. So the man cut him a handful of rhubarb stalks, and would not take anything for them. Such a nice man. Mel was delighted of course!
When we got home, Mel chopped up the rhubarb and made a rhubarb pudding cake, and froze a couple more bags of rhubarb. For dinner we had pork chops and a salad. Afterwards, I worked on my blog, while Mel went for an hour walk down to the Haines cruise ship pier. When he returned he had a sweet dessert to enjoy.
Mel was definitely in rhubarb heaven!
Shirley & Mel
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