Scouting around the Ghost Village of Unga Island

Hiking up verdant green hills, filled with wildflowers across from the deserted village of Unga.

One of my favorite stops on our expedition cruise along the Alaskan Peninsula, out to the Aleutian Islands, has got to be the Shumagin Islands. One of these, Unga Island, has it all. It has incredible geological features like rock arches, steep cliffs, offshore rocks, and sea caves, so the kayaking is amazing. The offshore rocks are covered with seabirds like puffins and kittiwakes...so the small boat tours are amazing. There are no trees, just soft tundra covered in flowers...so the hikes are amazing. And to top it all off, it has the remains of a native village, deserted and dilapidated. And as long as you avoid any confrontations with the semi-wild cows, you should be totally safe from any animals, since there are no bears or other large predators on the island.

We spent the whole day, kayaking, skiffing, hiking, and exploring. Its nice to be able to let folks wander at their own leisure. Some, like me, sat down on a grassy knoll, overlooking the bay, and tried to imagine what life must have been like for the villagers here. And how hard it must have been to watch all your neighbors leave, before becoming the last one there.

It is a surreal experience, and one I won't forget.

Skiff tour through the natural rock arches of Unga Island.

A tufted puffin keeps one eye on me, while showing off its beautiful orange bill.

Two horned puffins float nearby in the water, posing for our photo boat.

This horned puffin posed for a bit, then took off, running across the water.

Will the skiff fit through there?

*The ship's bartender surprising the guests with a back deck drink when they return from their adventures. *

In the afternoon we spent exploring Unga Island by land. I took a group of hard charges to a remote beach, where we landed and climbed up to the top of the cliffs. Then we skiffed over to the ghost village, where we spent time exploring the ruins of old Unga.

The ground here was rutted up by the semi-feral herds of cows on the island.

The view from the top of our hike provided coastal views for miles.

Beautiful lupine, luring us to a the cliff's edge.

Purple mountain heath covers this hillside viewpoint.

This chocolate lily presents a rare color that is hardly seen in nature. They try to attract beetles instead of bees as their fertilizers.

Hiking up to the top of the cliffs provided some amazing views down the rugged shoreline of Unga Island.

This old caterpillar engine is one of the best preserved parts of the ghost village on Unga Island. At one point this community had electricity thanks to this bad boy.

The grass is starting to take over the old wooden path that led through the village of Unga.

There are buildings here that are in all states of disrepair. It looks like it only takes a few winters to start knocking these down.

Its fun running across different orchids on our hikes. This is a Fisher's orchid.

Yellow cinquefoil clings to the rocky shoreline at Unga Island.

After looking at an old map of the village, I found out that this was the steeple of the old Methodist church.

This looks like the fuel depot, a little outside of town, now with empty barrels and collapsed frame.

Barrels upon barrels, rusting away in the back of the Ghost Village.

Some of our guests spent some time rock hounding down at the shoreline, and found some very cool agate rocks.