Week 5, Birthday in the Birthday Suit!

It's been a few weeks now since my birthday but why not re-hash it here in this post? I mean, I am trying to 'catch up' right?


Well, to start off this post I have to give a huge shout out and thank you to Allison and Jon Dunlap, the owners of Sitka Sound Ocean Adventures (the kayak guiding company that Steph works for). My b-day is on the 17th of September which coincided with their end of the season 'guides only' trip to the Goddard hot springs. They invited me along which was very generous indeed!











The trip involved a nice boat ride to the southern portion of Baranof Island where the hot springs is located. We were also staying in an amazing cabin a mere 10 minute kayak from the hot springs on a sweet little island that had amazing beaches. Allison cooked all of our meals in two dutch ovens and even made me a cake!! The hot springs were just that, hot and springy. There were two 'bath house' type hot springs in wooden huts that had iron tubs in them where you could control the influx of hot water and even drain the entire tub. I wasn't a huge fan of these but higher up the trail there was a huge hot springs right there in the good ole ground, this was more like it.


Now, I'm used to getting butt naked in a hot springs but there were other people present that might have been slightly uncomfortable if I had stripped down to my birthday suit, so I kept it PG...until they left HA! Then it was on, or off I should say. We had a great soak and finished the evening with a beef stew and pound cake smothered in blueberry sauce, not to mention the ghost stories.
The next morning was full of good food, more hot springs, and granite boulders!!





Okay, it was one granite boulder, and no, it wasn't very high, or hard (that's what she said?). There was a lot of granite everywhere though. More so than I had seen in any other part of the island. It was nice to feel those large grained crystals again, took me straight back to Squamish for sure.





All in all, an amazing birthday. I feel so fortunate to be in this part of the country, having the kind of experiences I'm having. Psyched for more!