Gavan Hill Archives -

Weekend Adventures

We had a beautiful, cloudless Saturday, so I went up Gavan Hill. I hadn’t been in a few weeks, so it stretched out my calves pretty well. I also went directly after lunch, which made me a bit slower than I had hoped – 57:45 to get up to the lookout. I forgot to take a picture of the view, but I did take a couple of the stairs. That’s the main thing you see on the trail, anyway!

Yep, it’s some stairs.

On Sunday the sun was gone and the wind was warning of a weather change. I had made some tentative plans to visit one of the islands near town to pick berries, but I decided I’d rather stick near home and avoid unnecessary boat trips. As it turns out, there were some berry bushes behind the bunkhouse. I found a few blueberries, but lots of red huckleberries. I’m glad I kept exploring, because eventually I found a few bushes that were loaded down with berries. I spent over an hour climbing around in the woods (and singing to myself in case of bears) and picked about a quart of berries. Then I found the mother lode, picked a little longer, and went in. A few hours later I came back and spent another hour picking just off one bush!

Part of the mother lode!

Hiking in Sitka: Gavan Hill

The town of Sitka is spread along the flat coastal edge of Baranof Island, so directly behind town are the mountains, and a couple trails that go straight up. Gavan Hill is one of them, and I’ve now been up it three Sundays in a row.

You walk through a muskeg meadow, but once you get into the woods the stairs start. At first they are pretty mild.

But it doesn’t take long before they get more serious.

Part way up there is a little lookout platform. It’s at maybe 1400 feet. The first time up the trail my taller half was visiting and we went all the way up to the alpine area above the treeline, another 1000 feet up. The next day, I was had sore calves and a sore back. That made it personal – I went back the next week to prove that I could. My lovely intern came with me, and we got up to the lookout in 59:34. This Sunday, I went up again in 50:02. I guess I’m faster with no one to talk to!

The view from the lookout

Coming back down

Because it’s a small town and I’ve been here for more than a month, I saw four people I knew on the trail, including my supervisor from the Forest Service. Next weekend we’ll be out in the field, and the weekend after that I’m back in Seattle for a quick visit, so I’ll won’t get up Gavan again for a bit, but I hope I can keep improving my time, along with my calf muscles!