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A fishing village on stilts in Southeast Alaska
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We
said good-bye to civilization as we boarded a modern 737 in
Seattle bound for Juneau. At
the Juneau airport my husband and I were folded into a tiny Beaver
float-plane, along with three other people and our baggage, to fly
over the Cross Sound to Chichagof Island and Pelican.
Our somber pilot silently focused on maneuvering the little
plane from island to island, flying beneath a ceiling of menacing
grey clouds and barely skimming the surface of a white-capped bay.
To say I was nervous is an understatement.
Finally
we circled over a glistening inlet and
glided to a watery landing in the harbor of Pelican.
Like many other villages in Alaska, Pelican is totally
isolated by impenetrable barriers of rugged land, thick forests, and
vast seas. We were enchanted by this little fishing village.
Built on narrow Lisianski Inlet with heavily wooded mountains
rising steeply on both sides, the entire town is built on stilts.
Pelican’s only road is a mile-long boardwalk–also on
stilts--which connects the little houses that cling to the forested
hillside behind them.
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