9.24.11 Alaska Deer Hunting Green Island Cabin

We just returned from the Forest Service rental cabin on Green Island. The day after we arrived, the weather turned bad with 60 knot winds from the east with 7 feet seas and heavy rain. In the cabin we were warm and cozy with the oil heater running. What a great view out the front window facing the east with the beach 20 ft from the deck. We never had to run the heater over the half or the one third mark on the control valve which burned about 5 gallons every three days .You can save on fuel oil by shutting the stove off when you’re not in the cabin. There is also a wood stove in the cabin which will cook you out. We would start a fire in the wood stove after hiking in the rain all day, which heats the cabin to 80 degrees and then we could hang up our wet gear and crack open a window to let the moist air out which helped dry everything. At night we just ran the oil heater as the wood stove would make it too hot to sleep. It is best to bring some wood with you as good fire wood on the island is scarce. The two bunks were doubles on the bottom and singles on the top. Previous cabin users have left thick foam pads on the bunks - they were very comfortable after a day of hiking through the bush. The cabin has a nice kitchen table and benches set up by the front window and the cooking area was perfect for a three burner Coleman stove. There is a fair amount of shelving to stock food and supplies, although there was a lot of food left by past cabin users. Reading in the log book, some people complained about the abandoned food and gear taking up to much space. Taking a close look at what was left behind we found some items very useful and others had spoiled or were just junk. Spending a lot of time transporting Alaskans to and from the bush we hear plenty of horror stories of previous trips gone badly such as people getting stranded in the bush without food or shelter, so we can understand why someone would want to leave something behind that could save a life. We went through the cached food and noticed that someone put everything in zip lock bags. What was in the zip locks was in good shape like rice, instant oat meal, dried hash browns and spices. Pasta and anything else that was not in a sealed pouch had absorbed moisture. All canned foods where rusted and if left over the winter will freeze turning the food inside to mush.  We did find many items that would be very helpful if one was stranded but we did not find any matches or anything else to start a fire so we left a pack of matches there in a zip lock and some spare candles. Just imagine getting stranded, then finding a cabin with all that food and a heater but no way to make a fire for heat or to cook the food. Feel free to haul off any trash you may find around the cabin or old food – we hauled two bags off. Anchorage in the lagoon behind the cabin was great – even during the 60 knot winds from the east, the boat was sitting in dead calm water. We anchored just outside of the weed bed in 17 feet of water in the northeast corner of the lagoon. Remember to bring drinking water as there are plenty of land otters swimming in the lakes and streams on the island. The rain gutter on the north side of cabin drains into a water barrel for washing and cooking water which is great. Inside the cabin you will find an axe, a saw, a splitting maul and brooms next to the back door. It is dark in the cabin so you will need a lantern or candles. There are plenty of nails on the ceiling to hang a lantern. Bring a piece of heavy wire to hang your lantern well away from the ceiling so you can avoid damaging the wood. You can see many burns from lanterns that have been hung too close to the walls and ceiling. Be careful walking around on the decks as they are very slippery when wet - only the main ramp to the lagoon has a strip of no skid which helps a lot. Hiking on the island is lots of fun - boots are a must as everything is wet with lots of open muskeg with small lakes and streams. The island is heavily wooded on the southeast and southwest end of the island but the center of the island has lots of open muskeg. Birding in the area is very good. We saw large flocks of black oystercatchers and a variety of sea birds. Sea otters are plentiful all around the island and many of them had large pups with them. Most of the otters we saw are half white (golden/yellow) and one that was two thirds white. Every day that we went on the water we sighted whales near the island (both minke and humpbacked whales). Kayaking in the area is amazing – we were using our camo Pungo 140 fishing kayaks – they were super fast and got around the area really well. Staying in the cabin really made the trip enjoyable, even though the weather was not always the best. We had a great time and reading the comments left in the log book sounds like everybody who has stayed there really enjoys it.