We went out for a little fishing on one of the many creeks that runs through Gustavus. McLean got a nice big fish on a fly rod. Emily and I played around on a rod with a spinner.
Killing the fish before it can escape.
Nice looking fish!
The Homestead
Driving in the red pickup out to the homestead.
The road that runs toward the new hydro project and past the homestead.
The homestead. In the center with the smoke coming out the chimney is the cabin. It has two rooms and is very cozy. Behind it is the garage/barn/shop. To the right with the metal and blue plastic roofs is the old bunk house that is now used for storage. To the left of the cabin are a few out buildings for wood, chickens, etc. The road is behind the barn. I am standing in the field out front.
The outhouse. It has a great view for contemplation.
A moose we saw along the side of the road.
Margot gets dressed up with a paper lamp turned into a hat.
Emily cooking a pancake breakfast on the stove in the cabin.
Margot and the dog taking it easy outside.
Driving in the old yellow Ford truck.
Toilet paper was burned in the barrel on the left. The buckets on the right next to the seat had sawdust and ash to mix in with human waste. That helped keep the smell down and promoted the poop to decompose. Underneath the seat was a steel bucket that had to be emptied periodically.
The field and meadow. Moose routinely walk through the area doing their thing.
The road looking back toward town.
The national park boundary line is only a few hundred feet from the homestead.
In the national park. It is easy to see how someone can get lost very quickly if they don’t know where they are going.
Some cool mushrooms we found. NOT edible.
Also NOT edible.
Hanging out in the woods.
Margot’s bike. In a few months she’ll be pedaling it on her own. We brought up the helmet for her to protect her head from the ground.
Up in the loft of the barn.
The inn at the end of the road near the hydro project.
Cutting down some young alder for smokehouse wood.
We later switched to a proper chainsaw.
Someday Margot will upgrade to a keytar. McLean was helping her to play.
Always the entertainer.
Margot watching some Sesame Street on a little portable DVD player.
Another good breakfast.
We helped McLean build the smokehouse during our stay. It’s setup to hold seven racks. That’s a lot of smoked fish!
A little break in the weather. The only day of good weather we had in Gustavus was our last day as we were getting ready to fly out. Otherwise it rained or was cloudy and cool the entire time.
Margot walking out to the pea patch.
The smokehouse doing its thing.
I painted a scrap of wood. It hangs in the outhouse now.
Flying to Gustavus
Emily and Margot in the back of Sarah’s car at the Juneau airport.
The plane that we took out to Gustavus. We walked out, climbed up the wing, clambered in, and away we went!
Looking back at the Juneau airport.
Flying out over the water toward Gustavus. The fog and clouds were thick enough that we had to fly around some mountains rather than over.
The controls on my side had been removed. I guess I could have still played with the fuses though.
It was a very happy day of flying.
Sarah and Margot in the way-back of the plane.
An entrance to a bay or a sound.
Some pleasant little islands on the way into Gustavus.
Approaching Gustavus. The airport is directly ahead. If it were clear there would be a range of 15,000 foot mountains visible.
The small white blips in the upper left portion of the meadow area include the homestead where we stayed.
The final approach to Gustavus. The airfield was built in WWII when Gustavus was taken over by the military in need of an airbase. Now days the airport services air taxis flying between Gustavus and surrounding areas, private planes, and the occasional Alaskan Airlines 737 bringing tourists to Glacier Bay National Park.