Alaska Day 3: Thorne Bay with floating houses
In the morning mist, our boat was sailing into the narrow Thorne Bay. Many miles before the actual small town, isolated floating homes appeared here and there on the shore. Sort of stationary but still movable houses, built on a raft made out of large cedar logs bound together. Quite a few were out for sale.
I find the idea of spending some time in such remoteness, stillness and calmness tempting. Maybe in combination with a floatplane in front of the house (smile).
Arriving at the bay, locals lead us to a short historical tour of Thorne Bay and then to the Big Grapple. It is a huge shovel capable of pulling several logs out of the water at once and shows how important the timber industry was to this small town.
After this small tour of the place, we started to walk towards a viewpoint hike trailhead and were joined by Richard, a 72-year-old local who happened to be an excellent source of stories and information. We had a great view of the town and the bay from the top.
Surprising fact: Trash that is not easily burnable or biodegradable is compressed and shipped to Washington County in a big container.
Fly, Hike & Travel. 