John Muir Cabin

How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains! – John Muir

At the risk of jinxing the good weather, I must say, the weather has been incredible! For the past week the sun has been shining, and the temperature has been perfect: warm enough for humans, cool enough for dogs. Yesterday, I had the chance to fully appreciate and enjoy the good weather when Chrissy, Brian, Tim, Mike, Amanda, Heath Prancer and I hiked up to the John Muir cabin for a night of camping. The John Muir cabin is one of the many Forest Service cabins throughout the Tongass National Park available for rent. Nestled on the side of a hill, next to the top of a rise, smack dab in the middle of the muskeg fields sits the John Muir cabin, overlooking the sea and many small islands off the coast of Juneau. From the back, one can see the surrounding peaks and glaciers. The cabin itself is a quaint little structure with a south-facing porch, wood stove, bunk beds, and spiral staircase that accesses the loft. It’s slightly ironic that the cabin that we camped in was nicer than all my summer lodgings.
At eight o’clock on Friday night, after a day of tours and a quick stop at the convenience store for dinner, Mike, Chrissy, Brian, Tim, Prancer and I began our hike up to the John Muir cabin. We were a vagabond crew as we marched up with sleeping bags, a guitar, and gear in our hands and dangling from our school bags. The start of the three and a half mile trail climbed up from Auke Bay through dense spruce and hemlock for approximately one mile. By eight o’clock it was dark, so the few with headlamps graciously shared the much-needed light with the rest of us. However, as we turned off the main trail and started to gradually ascend up towards the cabin, the trail traversed meadows of muskeg. Muskeg is a marshy land with smaller, sicklier trees, and open fields with shallow, muddy ponds. For the entire two miles through the muskeg, a trail crew had constructed a series of boards and planks to cover the spongy ground. Since the night was clear and the trees were thin, the moonlight reflected off the planks and allowed us to hike without our headlamps. At the risk of sounding ‘granola’, it was magical. Of course, that’s not to say that we didn’t occasionally fall off the boardwalk only to be sucked into the surrounding muddy ground.
After an hour and a half of rapid hiking (we had a drill sergeant in lead), we finally arrived at the cabin and were welcomed by two of our friends. For the rest of the night we played Jenga, talked, and relaxed around the campfire. Mike, who had hauled his guitar all the way up, even serenaded us for a couple hours. It was a classic camping scene. Being such a clear night, we’d hoped to catch a glimpse of the aurora borealis but by two and three in the morning, we gave up and went to bed. We probably should have just checked beforehand to see if the northern lights were even scheduled to make an appearance (which we later found out, they weren’t).
The next morning, we woke up early, enjoyed a warm sunrise, and then basked in sun, soaking up the rays in our translucent, Vitamin D deprived bodies. I’m surprised that none of the helicopters landed, mistaking the sun’s reflection off our skin for a distress signal. Since, as many know, I don’t last long sunbathing, I took off for a short hike around the cabin. Prancer and I tromped through the muskeg meadows, climbing small rises, and trying to find the best viewpoint. After an hour, all the small fields started to look the same, and I realized that I wasn’t quite sure of my location. Luckily, due to the sponginess of the marsh, evidence of our passage was still visible to lead us back.
Around noon, we decided that we couldn’t postpone reality any longer, and left the solitude and quiet of the cabin (it’s amazing how well you sleep when there aren’t 150 dogs nearby). I’d have to say, the campout was a highlight of the summer. There’s a reason John Muir said, “To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world.”

Later that evening, we celebrated Chrissy’s birthday with a massive cupcake from the Booyah Grill, which you have to order two days in advance due to its enormity. I’d say it was a good day.