Week fourteen wasn’t quite as crazy as the weeks before it, so it was nice to take a moment to slow down and breathe. This week was the first week I was able to shadow a Taste of Haines tour, which is one I’ve been curious about since the beginning of the summer. Essentially, we take customers on a quick tour through town, show them the small boat harbor and Fort Seward, and they get samples of our fresh smoked salmon and local beers. After the quick tour through town, we took the folk to a tasting room in Dejon Delights, where they are able to try an array of fresh samples, some of which are cold smoke salmon, peppered keta, and lookout stout sockeye. After the tasting, we made a trip to Dalton City, where the customers were free to sample a variety of Paul’s locally brewed beers, including Eldred Rock Red and – my personal favorite, Spruce Tip. It was really a neat tour,and I learned so much from our guide, Lindsey – who talked at length about the fishing industry here, and the different smoking processes of the salmon.
Thursday I got a nice day off, and the sun was shining with a light breeze. I made it down to a meditation room that over looks the ocean at a local’s house on Mud Bay Road. It’s such a powerful space, I really enjoyed my time there. I also met Sarana Miller – who is a fantastic yoga instructor running a couple workshops in Haines this summer.
On one of my photo tours this weekend, we were starting to see so many bears! We saw a sow (Speedy) and her cub foraging for food in the forest, and then a couple yards away we saw another bear! This one was actually in the water by the fishing wier (which is essentially a bridge blocking the salmon from swimming up freely so Fish and Game are able to count the salmon to ensure enough salmon are reaching their spawning grounds, in order to guarantee a healthy salmon run for next year.) This bear was catching salmon and pinning them up against the wier and eating them. It was really an incredible thing to witness!
The highlight of my weekend, however, was definitely a trip made out to Glacier Point. Me and a couple friends loaded into a small skiff and headed out to the campsite to visit some friends who work in Glacier Point. While there, we were able to take a canoe ride over to the Davidson Glacier, and were able to hike around and do some ice climbing. That area was really special and spectacular – it was hard to want to leave!
Here’s one of my favorite shots from the exploration of Davidson Glacier!
© Brooke Foorman 2013