But I thought I saw one! An Elf! I was sure this time
~ Red Riding Hood
There is not much to Icy Strait Point. It’s even smaller than Skagway (and trust me, that’s saying something) – the only touristy things it has to its name are a few local shops, a visitors center and a zipline from the top of the mountain (that last one has somehow always felt out of place). And that’s it. Tiny tiny place.
But despite that – or perhaps because of it – this is one of my favourite places on the Alaska run. Because what Icy Strait does have, is peace. And forest. This place…I don’t know if the forest here is truly old growth, but it feels old. It feels…set apart. Even in the areas where it hugs close to the road. It feels as though the barrier is thin here, as though if you stepped off the trails in the right place and wandered off under the trees you would find yourself someplace else. Someplace…more.
It’s perhaps a little hard to explain.
But as I sat on a trunk of a huge tree scribbling in my notebook, I found myself struck with the overwhelming urge to stand barefoot on the loamy ground and turn my face up to the perpetual mist – a human element rod….take it away Lady, take it all away.
As I said, hard to explain.
By the time we ambled back to the ship, our clothes smelled like campfire smoke (they keep a perpetually burning campfire by the seaside trail, usually with woodchips that you can add to the flames to make a wish), and fresh woods air – and I had even accomplished my goal of finally getting a decent pair of new gloves (gloves, are a necessity in Alaska, and please don’t try to sell me ‘texting gloves’ if I need to message someone I can take five seconds to take my glove off)…
Sometimes it’s the quiet days that do you the most good.
I think you did a fine job of explaining it. I was taking deep breathes to enjoy it with you. I’m not particularly social, so for me the quiet days always do me the most good. Are texting gloves a thing?