Foggy, damp, but still a great day in the woods!

Sometimes, it takes fresh eyes to remind me of how blessed I am to live in Southeast Alaska. Although it might be another day of rain and fog, with no views to reward the hiker, there is still beauty to be seen. It was just such a day, a few Sundays ago, that provided me with that reminder.

 Fog covered Deer Mountain down to about the 1000 ft. level and occasional sprinkles added to the cool and dampness of the air.  The weather didn't matter to me - I was focused on getting some exercise, so I headed up the trail. I passed many cruise ship passengers on the lower part of the trail, heading back down.  There wasn't much talk - just a quick greeting as we passed, but most seemed to be enjoying their rainforest experience.

But, it was several encounters I had with non-cruise ship visitors that set the tone for the rest of my day. The first was a trio, which I guessed as a couple in their late 40s and their 20-something year old daughter. They had stepped aside for me to pass them, going up the trail.  When I ran into them again perhaps 20 minutes later right after I'd turned around,  they expressed surprise to see me coming down so soon. "Did you already make it to the summit?" the man asked. I explained that I hike the mountain a lot, so the summit (about 1/2 mile away) hadn't been my goal that day; I was just out for exercise. I was a bit surprised that they would so focused on the summit when it was obvious from the dense fog surrounding us they would not to be rewarded with any "top of the mountain" view. But, the man looked around him at the dripping trees, bushes, and ferns, and exclaimed on how beautiful it was. I immediately warmed to them, and after finding out they were there for several more days and had no cruise ship to catch, suggested they spend some time in the alpine below the summit, knowing they'd be enchanted. I headed on down the trail, almost skipping, thinking: "It is so cool to share this mountain with visitors who appreciate it when they don't even get a view!"

Around a couple more corners, a young man blazing up the trail greeted me enthusiastically: "How's it going?" "Great," I responded.  "Every day in the woods is a great day!"

And then the experience was topped off when I was almost back to the trailhead. I had stopped for a quick break near an animal trail that intersected the man-made trail, when the young man came around the corner, stopping when he saw me. After I answered his question about where the deer trail went, he realized I was a local and his words come out in tumbling rush. "This is the first time I've seen snow-capped peaks. I want to move here! I'm going to call my gal and get her to come up."  Whoa, I thought, but asked: "Do you have a job?" Oh, yes, he affirmed, just as enthusiastically, he was going to be working on a seiner.  He introduced himself, shook my hand, told me he was from West Virginia and this was the first time he'd been west of Tennessee. He looked around at his surroundings almost in reverence, and described it as fantastical.  I told Maurice how cool it was to meet people who were so appreciative of their surroundings,  even when it was foggy and a little drizzly. He kind of looked at me as if "how could I not be blown away?;" then in another rush of words,  he rattled off what had occurred to him in his first 24  hours in Alaska. In addition to the snow-capped peaks, which he noted again, he'd watched an eagle swoop down and "snatch a fish from the water right in front of me!" and saw "a seal pop up right beside the boat dock just feet away!!"

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Wow! What an attitude! I hoped he'd be just as enthusiastic in several weeks...

but somehow I think he will be. 

(At my turn-around point that day on a face of Deer Mountain, I spent a few minutes trying to capture some flowers and bushes with the fog in the background.)

Rain droplets on new lupine blossoms.

Included to show the dense fog surrounding me.