Attu Island, June 27

This morning we had some time at sea on our way to Attu Island. The morning was foggy and it looked as if the weather was going to be windy and cold for our landing at Attu. However, as we tucked into the lee of the harbor, the sun came out and the fog bank decided to hover offshore. This made Attu look amazing and all the surrounding peaks were visible. Karen, Mason and I led a medium walk looking at wildflowers and general nature stuff. I have attached a photo of some of the wildflowers with the snowcapped peaks in the distance. You can also see the fog bank rolling in.


Wildflowers and Volcanoes

After the hike, I got a chance to hang out with the guys from the Coast Guard station and also visit the station. It is one of the most remote stations that the US maintains, although they keep saying that there are rumors it is closing since it is a LORAN station and not needed anymore.

There are 17 men (and sometimes women) that get stationed out there for one year at a time. Some of them choose the posting since afterwards they get their pick of where ever they want. The guys were nice and happy to have visitors. Some of them came out to visit the ship, and they even set up a ‘gift shop’ out of the back of a truck. I ended up with one t-shirt, although they were selling these amazingly funny Hawaiian print Attu Coast Guard shirts. One of the officers said that Hawaii is a state of mind. They said that the climate there is not too cold - last winter it didn’t get below around 28 degrees (on the same latitude as Seattle), but it does snow a ton and they get major winds - over 150 miles per hour is normal. Overall it was a great afternoon and I even got a little warm hiking around and a bit of sun on my nose and back of my neck. That was a nice surprise from thinking I was going to be very cold all afternoon in the wind and fog.


Hanging out with the Coast Guard men