Island penthouse

Friday, August 10, 2007

ATLIN, B.C. — This tiny burg, population 350, has been nicknamed Little Switzerland by some, Shangri-la by others. It is situated on the shore of Atlin Lake, and surrounding it on all sides are tall, rocky mountains streaked with snow. More distant mountains to the southwest are crowned with the Llewellyn Glacier that stretches from here to Juneau, Alaska’s capital city, on the other side.
The little village is home to many small log cabins and wooden buildings from Gold Rush years, and tall pink fireweed, wild yellow snapdragons and deep blue stalks of larkspur grow in beautiful profusion along the roadsides and next to the structures’ weathered boards. There is a homey, small-town feel to the place. We stopped to pick up some milk at the store, and people were gossiping with the lady at the counter, while the aroma of fresh bread wafted in from the bakery next door.
We chatted with the bearded proprietor of the gas station and car repair shop, just across from the RCMP detachment. The detachment is basically a trailer, but up the road the wood is being sawed and hammered for a new building that the three members will be moving to soon. The owner said he’s seen a lot of really nice members in his time, who come and roll up their sleeves and give the community much more of themselves than is required. Nice to hear.
It was a short drive here today from Whitehorse — we arrived at about noon. The road was mostly gravel (so much for the car and RV wash of yesterday!) and in need of grading in quite a few places. Val likes the challenge of dodging the worst potholes as we drive along, but isn’t so happy when there’s no avoiding them. The shoes were scattered about in the trailer again, but no damage was done. The last few miles were paved, at least.
The scenery along the route was gorgeous. The mountains were visible most of the way, and we passed beautiful lakes, some as calm as mirrors, reflecting the tall pine trees and blue sky. Aside from some red squirrels which scampered across the highway in front of us, we saw a handsome deer with an adolescent set of antlers bound across the road and into the bush.
The Norseman Adventures RV park where we’re staying is quite small, and since we were the first arrivals of the day, we had the pick of the lot, which Mitzi, the owner, called the Penthouse. It’s on a narrow spit of land with a marina on one side, the lake on the other, and a little round picnic table complete with a blue-and-white umbrella at the tip. Bright white, yellow and orange poppies are growing at the edge of the spit, which is just wide enough for the trailer. Inside, when we stand facing the back, all we can see out the windows is water on three sides! It’s as if we were on a houseboat!
Water has been a worry for the people of Atlin this year, Mitzi told us. They had nine feet of snow over the winter, and the lake is higher than it has been in years. People have put out sandbags around some of the properties, and the small docks next to our trailer are submerged under a foot of water. The water usually peaks in mid-August, which is still a few days away, so they’re watching it very closely. We’ll know things are really bad if we wake up tomorrow on an island!
After we ate our lunch we headed out to see the town. We stopped in at the courthouse, an old wooden structure with a tower over the main door and staircase, topped with a flagpole. The building doesn’t appear to have a courtroom, but houses the town library on one side and an art gallery for local works on the other. There was some lovely pottery, quilting, paintings and handmade jewelry on display. The curator was telling us about the area and how much she loves to wake up in the morning and look out on the lake and glacier. It looks different every day.
We asked about the glacier, as we hadn’t seen it, and she gave us directions to a side road that had a good lookout point. We drove out, passing some beautiful log homes tucked in the woods with big windows facing the lake and mountains. After about 15 kilometers, we came to the lookout point and pulled out the binoculars. There were about six mountain peaks in the distance, all capped with snow, and in the valley at their base was the Llewellyn Glacier, deep green at the bottom and white on top. It stretched out of sight on the right and left, making the peaks behind appear as if they were floating on air. Apparently students come each year and spend the summer living on, and studying, the glacier, moving along its length. At the end of the summer they hold a town meeting to report what they have learned about it.