Road to the end of the world...

A closer look at the end of the world...

It's a long road from Massachusetts to Chichagof Island in southeast Alaska. The general direction was to go to the end of the world and turn left. How was the trip? Let's start from our new home, Game Creek, and work backwards. The three mile trip by boat seemed simple, except for up to a 25 ft. rise from low tide to high tide and frequent stormy weather. That would be a continuing education.

This view of the Hoonah shoreline in 1977 shows what it looked like at low tide. High tide would reach up close to the dock. The dirt road between the dock and the houses is Main St. Driving the trailer truck down Main St. required putting someone on the roof of the truck to pick up the utility wires as we passed under them.

If the houses all look the same, it's because the entire town burned in 1945. A shipment of houses was en route to the military in the western Pacific and when the fire struck, the entire shipment was redirected to Hoonah. While Hoonah now hosts regular visits from large cruise ships, in the '70's it was a simple fishing village with considerable deferred maintenance.

Since we're working backwards, we arrived with a 40-ft. trailer and an International cab-over tractor. How do you get the two horses, two oxen, and 40,000 lbs. of miscellaneous goods from the end of the world to the farm at Game Creek? Well, when the ferry arrived in Hoonah with our precious cargo, everything was good except it was dead low tide on a minus tide, leaving the ramp at a precariously steep angle. With the entire ferry load blocked by our truck, I walked up the ramp to watch my friend Bill drive the rig to freedom. Enjoying the beautiful scenery, I turned to see the red and white International moving confidently up the incline, and then it stopped short of the top as he skillfully downshifted to complete the victorious exit. Soon it started moving again and eased over the top onto level ground. A cloud of clutch smoke quietly announced that Bill had not downshifted at the top like I thought. He had started in low gear and actually had to slip the clutch to make it safely over the hump. I don't want to think of the headlines had the truck rolled back down the ramp and out the other side of the Alaska Marine Highway ferry. We would have been a match for the event in Haines, AK, when the ferry was delivering the town's new fire truck. As a large crowd of proud local residents eagerly awaited the new vehicle, the ferry swung around to dock and the fire truck rolled silently out the door and into the cold, deep water. Not a good thought.

It was only a short trip down Main St. to a weathered loading dock that we were able to use for loading an old wooden barge. Transferring the live cargo as well as the other twenty tons on the high tide was our introduction to working with nature's deadlines. Fortunately, many hands help accomplish a huge task in a short time. Unfortunately, generous helpings of under-cooked soybeans the night before the major move complicated the delicate dance of our willing crew. I will let you imagine the unexpected result of sudden intestinal distress that was dealt at random moments to various workers. In spite of the difficult conditions, we were able to bring the barge out to a level spot on the mud flats for a more leisurely unloading. Working with the tides, we could move small mountains, without them, we would never move anything. We'd have more classes on that topic later. Timing is everything.

Since we're working backwards, the next question is how did we get the truck and contents onto the MV LeConte? When I made reservations for our truck on the ferry from Prince Rupert to Juneau there was no problem. However, they wouldn't reserve a spot on the smaller ferry from Juneau to Hoonah because they had recently had a similar size trailer get stuck on the LeConte. That meant we made the trip across the US and Canada not knowing how we would make the final leg to Hoonah.

Having survived the long trip across the continent and enjoyed a restful trip through Southeast Alaska on the larger ferry from Prince Rupert to Juneau, we were ready for the challenge of the last part of our trip. Coming off the ferry in downtown Juneau, we drove around town looking for the Main Office for the Alaska Marine Highway. We were doing quite well maneuvering around the crowded confines of Juneau until we turned onto a short street with an overpass blocking our way. After carefully backing into traffic, we proceeded down the famous hill that featured a permanent box for insurance accident forms to handle all of the incidents that happened at that spot whenever it snowed. Soon I was standing in the office humbly requesting a reservation on the ferry to Hoonah at 6:00 AM the next morning. After a short conversation, the clerk put our name on the roster for that trip and told us to arrive at the Auke Bay terminal at 5:30 where the ship's captain would make a decision.

A short drive to Auke Lake to bed and feed the horses and oxen, an abbreviated sleep, and next thing you know, we found our spot in line for the early morning trip to scenic Hoonah. It was a typical gray day as the ship's captain walked over to the truck to talk with us. His first question was "How long is the trailer?" Quickly recalling that they had recently had a problem with a 40-ft. trailer, I answered, "40 feet." He quietly pulled out a steel tape measure and, with the help of a crew member, proceeded to measure it. Naturally, the trailer was exactly 40 feet long. He pondered for a moment, listened to our comments that our tractor was a short cab-over design, and said, "give it a try." Since this was my first trip driving a trailer truck, Bill did the driving while I prayed he would fit it into the narrow cargo area without incident. He successfully backed it down the ramp, leaving it ready for a simple exit when we reached Hoonah. We made our way upstairs to relax as we made the three and a half hour journey to Chichagof Island, soon to experience the wonderful world of high and low tides firsthand.

Bill at Auke Lake, getting water for the livestock.