Day 36A overall, Day 29 afloat, Rods Cove to Warm Springs

Blog Reader, Blog Reader, Blog Reader, this is vessel Domino with Tammy at the Blog.

9:45- I slept late today at this very nice quiet anchorage. I have gotten so used to the movement of the boat that it just rocks me to sleep at night. It is really amazing how little sleep we are really getting or for that matter how little sleep we seem to need this summer. There is so much to do and see that neither of us wants to miss it and because we are both sleeping so well we simple don’t need more than 7 hours. It really makes you wonder what we are doing wrong at home that we don’t ever feel completely rested.

It was a real treat to wake up and see the captain making breakfast tacos. Bravo Andrew, I love breakfast tacos. Yummy.

10:55- Anchor up and away we go. On the way out we saw a group of sea otters rafting together and they all seem to be napping. Man are those little guys cute!

Quick trip today after much debate about where to anchor tonight. We finally decided that Warm

Springs could be just the treat that we have earned. The name pretty much describes the place. The cove is listed as a good anchorage even if you can’t get a place at the dock.

1:05 arrived at Warm Springs in the Baranof Islands. There is no harbor here, just a long finger dock that can accommodate about 6 -8 boats depending on their size. Some of the fishing fleet are tied up so we decided to anchor out. When we entered the cove I was quite pleased as it is stunningly beautiful place and I am looking forward to a lovely hot bath! Showers are nice but is there anything nicer than a long soak in a tub! We decided to anchor out in the south arm of the bay. We are the only boat in the arm and it is quiet and beautiful. We took the Dinghy to the dock and tied up which took about 10 minutes. We walked up the board walks and right up to the edge of the waterfalls. I can’t believe you are able to get that close, there must not be any lawyers in this state!

Time for the hike up to the lake and the natural hot pools. First we hiked up to the lake which is above the falls. There was a float plane at the beach which appears to have brought someone here to fish in the lake. I think I would like to take a float plane to some remote place and perhaps fish in a mountain stream or lake. Must add that to my list.

Warm Springs is best known for the natural hot pools which look like tubs carved into the rock. These pools are quite secluded and quite beautiful. There are three or four pools depending on how you count them. The water cascades down into each other and as the water flows down it gradually cools off. So the top pool, which is obviously where the water enters the cascade, is the hottest and then the water cools down as it flows into the lower pools. So you dip a toe or finger in each pool and select the pool that has the right temperature for you. Or you take the broad approach and sit in the hottest one and then jump in the coldest one and man is that the way to wake up your skin.

On the hike up I was thinking about paths and signs. I think over the last few years I have spent too much time waiting for signs and looking for commonly used paths. It seems like young people are looking for common paths so that they can quickly be promoted which I think hinders creativity. Folks that have been around and have not achieved their goals yet are looking for paths and stop creating new paths because they get frustrated and confused. I remember now how much fun it is to create a new path, a new role a new experience. More of that for me!

Part of the path up to the lake is not entirely clear and you have to just figure it out and get yourself back on the path because you really don’t know where you are going. Some of the path is built up with board walks. I was thinking about how when I was younger I never worried about paths, not for fun, not in my work life and certainly not in my personal life. Perhaps that is the problem for many of us today that we are all looking for paths and don’t realize sometimes if you only follow the path you never see anything new. If you only take beaten down walk ways that others have already tried than you don’t have to take any risks and hoping to just repeat the steps of the people before us in hopes that that we achieve success and arrive at the same location isn’t always the right course and certainly not the only course. Now I am not saying that paths are entirely bad, I am just saying that it has occurred to me this summer that maybe part of my own problem is that I don’t enjoy following a beaten down path as much as I enjoy making a new one. I know that there are plenty of places where it is not appropriate to make a new path, national parks are a good argument for using the designated paths so that we don’t trample the natural beauty. Going through medical school and then being an intern seems like a good idea but I think that I am yearning some bush whacking! I think this summer has awoken the explorer in me and I am excited about keeping that aspect alive in my life even after this summer is over. To me there is nothing more rewarding than stretching your body, mind and spirit by taking or making a new path. Waiting too long for sign or for some invisible path to come into view could leave you regretting the time you lost waiting for a sign.

Perhaps our lives are going too fast because we aren’t learning enough. Perhaps we are not taking enough new paths. Did you ever notice how slow time seem to go when you hike a new trail and all you know is that the trail is 2 miles? I always take pictures and look at everything while I am hoping to see a new plant or animal. Time seems to go much slower and I have to think that this is because I am learning something new and taking a new path and of course because I have to haul my but along another 1 ¾ mile before I get to flip around and come back to the potty and drinks. Andrew was reading some research to me about when we are learning and discovering people always report that time seemed to pass slower. Perhaps the key to real happiness and a larger life is to slow things down and make sure that we are learning something new every day. I think the key for me is all of the above sprinkled with plenty of new adventure. Perhaps what I am really learning is that a repetitive life is really not my bag and as I said in an earlier post, not the larger life that both Andrew and I are craving.

My favorite line in a move is the Pixar movie called “UP”. The widowed old man (Carl Frederickson) tries to save his home full of memories from a big city developer and he plans how he will take his home along on a grand adventure that he and his wife had planned but did not happen because they waited and she died too early. The movie starts with Carl as a child in a movie theater watching a “Movie Town” news clip called “Spotlight on Adventure.” Carl is a cute little chubby guy glued to his theater seat listening to a story about an explorer called Charles Munse who explored faraway places in lost worlds by his Dirigible. He talks about an amazing location in South American called Paradise Falls and he ends his little speech by telling the listeners that “Adventure is out there!” This tag line becomes the nature of the entire rest of the movie. I started this blog with the same statement and so far I am standing by that statement. Adventure IS out there! Every day of this trip has proven that to us that all it takes is some imagination, a little planning and a little courage to step into the unknown. Adventure is out there and Andrew and I decided not to wait until it was too late so we are taking our own path and embracing the adventure and we have faith that everything we need will follow.

Ok, exercise over and time to hit the bath tub! At the top of the cove there is a spectacular waterfall that spills out from the lake above the cove. The place is surrounded by natural hot springs and so the locals have built a very rustic bath house (technically more of a bath shack) with about 3 little private rooms. The rooms are just framed in boxes with a deck and porch on the front side. In each room is a huge metal tub that you can fill with water from the hot springs. The water is piped down the hillsides and connected to the bathhouse and then run through a rubber hose which spills into the tub. The water comes out boiling hot and then you turn on a little cold water spigot on the wall to cool the water down somewhat. It was unclear to me the origin of the cold water but I suspect that it comes from the same source and sits in a tank cooling off or perhaps it is just bay water being piped in which would explain the cold temperatures. The rooms are very simple and made from unfinished wood and have 4 walls, a roof and a wood floor. There is a large framed in window cutout with a nice little curtain you can close for privacy. The curtain is on a rod and you can slide it aside and you are now open to the great outdoors. The little bath houses sit above the bay by 20 feet so no one can see in but the view that you are awarded is spectacular. I read about this place so I had brought along a little bath salts for this particular reason. I filled the tub and pushed back the curtain and took my bath looking right over the bay and right down a beautiful waterfall. If you are a reader that appreciates a nice relaxing bath this is the bath of a lifetime with a view that can simply not be described to do it any justice. It is a quiet bay and all you can hear is the waterfalls which is about 400 yards away and the many birds that are coming to the shore to eat the unlucky sea creatures that are become trapped shore at low tide. I brought along music but it seemed senseless when I was enjoying the sounds already provided by nature.

A couple of rather large ravens land on the window seal and begin talking to me. They were probably hoping for a snack or wishing I would look the other way for just a minute so that they could carry off one of my possessions. Ravens are notorious thieves. Ravens are also known for being able to mimic human sounds and one of the birds on the ledge calls out like he is calling a pet. There are so many poems, stories and lore about these mysterious jet black birds. Just about every “first peoples” story in Alaskan included a Raven. They are known for being smart and creative, using tools and repeating sounds that they hear. They stay for about 10 minutes and they chat to each other and occasionally to me. I am watching and they seem to know it and eventually they give me a goodbye squawk and off they go empty handed. For those readers that love a good bath, I ranked this one a 10+.

Andrew helped with dinner. Tonight is Mexican food night. Chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

8:30 and boat is put away for the night and we are both tired so we are headed for bed. Little kitty has been a little quiet this week so I spent some time with her tonight as she was just hanging out in her kitty condo alone. I love it when she lets me hold her and I love her purr. This is Tammy, warm and cozy, snuggled in with Kitty and Andrew signing off and by on Channel 16.