Hoonah Zip Line!!!

Day 51 – June 30 Hoonah Zip Line!!!

First thing this morning (Funny - Nicole was the first one up), she went on-line and found her answer. Yes they were open and we should be there by 9:15 so that we could get zippin’ before the ships arrival. Of course she immediately made sure the rest of the boat was awake.

Yes, we got her there on time to catch the zip bus. There is a 40 minute bus ride up to the top of the hill. Maryann, Nicole and Glen went on the bus with the zip line employees. The employees zip the lines every morning to test them, and make adjustments for weather, wind, etc…. Shawn and Liz stayed at the bottom as support crew. Someone had to watch, take the photos, be ready to bring the boat back to Seattle, and of course collect on the inheritance.

--Note from the Zippers – WHOOOO HOOOOO!!!! Boy that was fun. A beautiful view across into Glacier Bay from the top and on the way down. 60 mph flying through the sky was exhilarating, let’s go again!!! Of course Big Boy Glen beat the girls to the bottom. He barely made it under the weight limit, he almost redlined the scale. They use a “Vanity scale” no numbers, you’re either in the Red Zone or the Green Zone. In case you were wondering, it’s 5,330 feet long and drops 1,300 feet.

The old cannery has been rebuilt into a museum, with several touristy stores, three restaurants, and THE zip rider. It is owned and operated by the Huna Tlingit Natives. One cruise ship per day comes into Hoonah, which probably is a huge boost to this small harbors economy. Hoonah has a population of 880 of which 70% are Huna Tlingit Natives. While talking to one of the managers he indicated that on really good days they can make $100,000. Last year they had 75 cruise ships stop here, this year only about 60, but next year they have over 90 scheduled and booked for arrival.

Lunch at the Office Tavern … Crab should be the only option on their menu, but it’s not. Guess what we didn’t have LOL. We asked what kind of local beer they had on tap, “Pabst Blue Ribbon and Pyramid Hefewisen” evidently are now brewed in Alaska. So we ordered bottled Alaskan Amber. It was a pretty quiet place, so evidently it’s only when the rowdy sailors are in town that it’s noisy.

Another fuel stop on the way out of the harbor. Nicole caught some herring so hopefully now with bait, we’ll have fish for dinner soon.

Two WHOOOO HOOOOO’s in one day!!!! Whales by the dozen bubble-netting ½ mile NW of Point Augusta. Of course we stopped again and got the camera’s clicking as fast as we could. The only thing they didn’t do was breach for us.

It will be a whale of zippy slide show tonight!!!!

Headed to Tenakee Springs for the night. Tom and his buddy Sherm will be meeting us there. Chris will be rejoining the adventure in Sitka, we look forward to seeing her.

We arrived at Tenakee Springs and found Tom and Sherm on the docks. This is a very very small place. Tom and Sherm told us that the locals were not very friendly, and could care less if any outsider was there. They claimed that the locals only made grunting noises in reply to their saying hello or good evening. The hot springs has set times for men, and women. Women 9am – 2pm, Men 2pm – 6pm , Women 6pm – 10pm, Men 10pm – 9am. It is very different than the Bishop Hotsprings. This one is inside a building, with little ventilation, so the hot moist sulfur smell is strong.

After our late dinner the girls went for a walk to check out the hot springs, not to go in as it was already 9:30 when we left the boats and the hot springs is about ½-way through ‘town’. What the guys hadn’t seen was the sign on the door ‘Absolutely Nude Bathing Only.’ We found that the people we met were friendly and willing to say hello, or good evening.