Legends of Alaska: West Meets East

I have a theory in life that every condition, every state, is relative in some way.  Sometimes it is larger, sometimes it is smaller.  It could be as grand as life and the universe or as small as bacteria in my dog’s mouth.  We see things on our scale, then there is the cellular scale or the atomic scale.  Each level is equally complex but entirely relative to itself.  

Okay before I continue to a point that I would need marijuana to sooth the bulging blood vessels in my over taxed mind, I had better step back.  For the context of this discussion I will apply the same theory to social life and intellectual discovery.  We live within layers of social life each on a different scale.  Each is complex and interdependent in its own way.  Some of us seek social life outside of our immediate environment, other’s never do.  As you grow older in life our worlds keep expanding.  I think often times this is a result of an internal need in some people for greater and different stimulus.

When I was in high school I ventured out of my immediate world.  It think in many ways it was a response to a feeling of confinement in my immediate surroundings.  I went to high school with many people I had known since kindergarten.   Naturally this long term growth together led to countless judgements and and societal limitations.  This disturbing reality of life encouraged me to look to a world beyond.  I dated a girls from different high schools and made friendships with people I did not see on a day to day basis.  

Tom Fink

One of these friendships was with the son of a local bow tie wearing conservative and anti homosexual politician named Tom Fink.  Fink was a longtime Alaska personality that served as Mayor of Anchorage and Governor of the state.  He was a good Catholic and produced eleven children one of whom one was my friend, Josh.  Looking back I believe we first met at an American Legion sponsored camp called Boys State.  Recently reading the history of the thing it appears it was founded in 1935 as a counter to Socialist inspired Young Pioneer Camps.  Looking back I had no idea I was being hosted by a militaristic capitalist tool.  They just seemed like a bunch of old World War 2 vets.  Perhaps this explains why the event was held on Fort Richardson, a military base in Anchorage, where we stayed in a large barracks together sleeping bunk next to bunk.  Honestly aside from trying to teach state and local government I really don’t recall what else we did aside from visit the base cafeteria.   

Josh Fink came from a high school on the west side of town named… “West High School.”  I came from a high school on the east side of town named… you guessed it, “East High School.”  The schools were cross town rivals and coming to know Josh almost felt like I was flirting with the enemy but not really.  Josh just seemed like a cool guy.  He was charismatic,  smart and had a razor sharp personality always focused on a small level of mischievousness.  I liked him because it seemed like we could be friends and I had none of the baggage of the judgmental people I grew up with.  We hung out and I recall spending at least one weekend at his families ski cabin in Girdwood/Alyeska, Alaska.  That was where I came to know a Japanese American Mormon named Jerri Fujimori who I dated for a while. Yes dear reader, Alaska had everything.  Alaska was a huge small place.  Another friend of mine on the eastern side of town was Stephanie Begich the daughter of Nick Begich and sister of Tom Begich.  Tom Begich was a rival of Tom Fink in the Anchorage mayors office.  He was also a state Senator for a term.  His father was elected to Congress in the early 1970's but died in a small plane crash before he could take office. He was succeeded by Don Young a crazy man that is still the only Congressman from Alaska.  Come on Don, isn't 23 elections and 46 years enough?

At some point Josh made the proposition that he, another guy named Max and myself should fly down to South East Alaska and have an adventure via the Alaska Ferry.  The idea was warmly received and somehow I convinced my parents to let me join my two partners in crime.  We flew to Juneau the capital of the state  and made it our jumping off point.  Landing in Juneau is an adventure unto itself.  I think for most Americans it is difficult to comprehend the space vs. livable space in Alaska.  The state is enormous but it is also incredibly mountainous and this is especially true in the south eastern section called the pan-handle.  The region is essentially a mountain range with little bits of livable land attached.  It is so remote that none of the towns are connected by road to any other.  Each is essentially a tiny island connected to the outside world by airplanes big and small and a ferry system called the Alaska Marine Highway.  For a period of time however these settlements were the primary towns in the state.  This largely came about for any of a number of reasons including: gateway to the gold rush, the closest trading points to the continental United States and more distantly in the case of Sitka, the capital of Russian Alaska.  It is some what awkward therefore that the states founding fathers in the American sense chose to locate the state capital in the tiny town of Juneau.   Juneau, population 32,000 is over nine times smaller than the largest city of the state Anchorage.  Anchorage has a total population of close to 300,000.  The result is a capital completely disconnected from the people of the state.  Perhaps now we understand why the politicians are often equally disconnected. 

The states brain trust tried to solve this at one point by creating a new capital in a town of  Willow, population 2,000.  Willow was located between the two population centers of Fairbanks and Anchorage.  This made about as much sense as having the capital in Juneau however it was approved by the state in a vote in 1976.  Votes mean little for politicians and despite the expressed will of the people, the move was never funded.  To this day the capital remains for better or for worse in Juneau.  

As you descend by airplane into Juneau you quickly realize that there are far more mountains than town.  The town occupies a narrow strip of land at the foot of the Mendenhall Glacier.  I suppose in this sense global warming is probably great for Alaska as the glaciers rapid retreat has likely created additional land for Juneau to grow.  Across from the town is an Island called Douglas that itself is a giant mountain.  They built a bridge to connect Juneau and the 10 people that live on Douglas Island.  Perhaps now you will understand former governor and Alaska state idiot Sarah Palin and her famous bridge to nowhere in Ketchikan.   Descending aircraft have to rapidly dive into a valley between two mountains to gain enough room for landing at an airport built on the northwest side of Juneau.  The experience is similar to a roller coaster and made even more entertaining by the frequent fog that blankets the only rainforest in North America, the Tongass National Forest.  

After touching down in Juneau and still having our lives, Josh, Max and I collected our backpacks and were ready for our adventure.  We were extremely low budget travelers planning to camp our way from one spot to the next.  In Juneau this meant staying in the Mendenhall Glacier camp ground.  I don’t remember a lot about Max.  I remember him as friendly and jovial and together with me we both followed the lead of Josh.  Somehow we obtained a bottle of Malibu Coconut Rum and Coke for mixer.  We erected our camp site at Mendenhall and proceeded to consume the coconut rum.  I don’t think it took much for me.  I had never really been drunk prior to that first night and it was not long before all of us had begun to lose our senses.  At some point in the Alaska summer’s twilight I announced I was going for a swim and ventured off in the direction of the frigid glacier lake.  When my announced actions sunk in to Josh and Max’s drunken minds they came after me concerned.  Knowing that they were coming close I launched a large rock into the lake creating a loud splash and retreated to a hidden locale.  I remember Josh and Max looking out at the water terrified before my laughter announced my still grounded presence.  

At a later point Max took his own turn wandering off while Josh and I sat around a

campfire.  When he returned he had a partially cooked fish sticking out of his jacket. He looked disturbingly similar to Dan Akroyd in the movie Trading Places. He told us some other camper had given it to him and he commenced to nibble away at it.  The following day likely with hangovers we moved on via Alaska Ferry to the old Russian capital of Sitka.  Sitka, population 8,000, is a beautiful little gem of a town so isolated from the rest of the world the only people that know of it are on cruise ships, locals or adventurous high school kids from Anchorage.  

After landing in Sitka we toured around a bit seeing the Russian Bishops house, St. Michael’s Orthodox Cathedral the block house and Castle Hill.  We needed a place to camp so we wandered over to the Sheldon Jackson College Campus.  Now closed, Sheldon Jackson was this beautiful little oasis of European architecture.  The school was founded in 1878 and is a little paradise in Sitka filled with forested land.  We found a spot in an isolated area off a road and pitched our tent.  We were kicking back, doing whatever young boys do, when a truck pulled up and a campus security guard jumped out.  After inspecting our digs he informed us we were not allowed to stay there.  We all pleaded but it was to no avail.  He offered to take us to a campground and like an old western sheriff, drove us miles out of town in a bid to expel us from our squatted location.  

Our relocation was to a state park at the end of a road that went no where.  The place was Starrigavan Campground and while in a beautiful location, forested and by the sea, it was getting dark and it was not in the town we wanted to be.  We sat around for awhile eventually arriving at the decision we would return to Sitka.  There was just one problem, we had no car, horse or other means of transport.  Logistics are never an obstacle to youth so with our packs on our backs we commenced the 8 mile/3 hour journey back to Sitka.  I can’t exactly recall, someone might have given us a ride part of the way or we may have just walked.  I seem to fairly remember riding in the back of a pickup truck.  Whatever the means, upon arriving back in Sitka we chose in defiance to locate again on the grounds of the campus in a slightly less visible location.

From Sitka we boarded the ferry and moved on to Ketchikan population 8,000, a town that is happily known as the rainiest place in North America.  It rains on average 229 days out of 365.  If you add cloudy days to that it makes you wonder if they ever see the sun.  I remember meeting up with some friend Josh had but not much else sticks in my mind.

I think these travels when combined with the other journeys I have made in life has worked to enlarge my circle.  It was a reason I left the state.  I could not remain small.  My universe had expanded and the scale of my world had increased.  No longer were my friends in my school or  the school across town.  The started to span cities and continents.  Locality gave way to a feeling of world.  Sadly, while I wish I could, I think unless we are visited by aliens I have reached the limits of my expansion.  At this point expanding my consciousness into universality will remain a tantalizing yet unreachable dream.