The Lake family owns one of nine stilt houses off the Pasco County coast. Their home features a wraparound porch and an American flag mural at one end. Pam LeBlanc photo

It’s getting harder to find remnants of Old Florida these days, but the fishing camps that stand on spindly legs off the Pasco County coastline offer a nostalgic glimpse into the past.

A century ago, anglers who needed a place to stash their catch and seek shelter during storms built small structures over the shallow water near the mouth of the Pithlachascotee River. At one point, as many as two dozen small cabins balanced on wooden stilts about a half mile offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Over time, though, hurricanes, fires, and time took their toll. Today, just eight of the stilt houses remain.

A visit to one of the famous stilt houses

I capped off a trip to Florida this week with a visit to one of the stilt homes, owned by two brothers and their wives – Brian and Shannon Lake and Greg and Christina Lake.

It took about an hour to reach the stilt house, known for its large American flag mural, by pontoon boat from a dock in New Port Richey. Once there, the Lakes welcomed us to their home and told us a little about its history.

The original structures were built between 1916 and 1918. Today, state law prohibits the construction of new stilt homes, but these were grandfathered in by the Florida Legislature. Existing structures can be repaired, depending on how extensive the damage.

Nine stilt houses stand on spindly legs in the waters off of Pasco County, Florida. The originals were built more than a century ago. Pam LeBlanc photo

The owners told us that Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter Cash were frequent visitors to one of the nearby houses when they were still alive.

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The original home at the Lake’s site – known as Camp 6 – was destroyed by what locals call the No Name Hurricane in 1993. Because the pilings of that original camp remained, the homeowners were allowed to rebuild. Then, four years ago, the renovated structure was hit by lightning and burned. The Lakes again received permission to rebuild.

Growing up at a stilt house

As a kid we just had fun, went fishing, caught crabs and hung out with my dad,” Brian Lake says of spending time at the house as a kid. “We had a good time here.”

We ate a dinner of fresh-caught scallops on the deck of a stilt house owned by the Lake family. Pam LeBlanc photo

The one-room structure has walls that swing open to let in the sea breeze, three beds, and a wraparound porch. The Lakes own the building and pay a “submerged land lease” for the watery lot. The best part of owning the house, Brian Lake says, is sharing it with others.

There is no running water (we peed in a bathroom set up with a toilet seat perched atop a hole that opens into the ocean) and used ice instead of a refrigerator. We flicked on solar-powered porch lights after the sun set. The homes are not open to the public, but anyone can motor past the structures.

The house provided the perfect old-Florida backdrop for dinner on the last night of my recent trip to Florida. Our group of about a dozen ate at a long table on the porch, nibbling scallops we caught that morning as the sun dropped in the sky.

That view, I’m sure, is one thing that hasn’t changed since those fishermen first built these homes.

A view of the sunset from the back porch of a stilt house off of Pasco County, Florida. Pam LeBlanc photo

Bachelor, the resident hotel dog at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, soaks up the fresh mountain air. Pam LeBlanc photo

It doesn’t take long to figure out that a slobbery fella with droopy eyelids and a tongue that won’t stay in his mouth ranks as the most popular employee at the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch.

Bachelor, a two-year-old St. Bernard with paws as big as grapefruits and ears as soft as velour, serves as the canine mascot at the luxurious hotel in Beaver Creek, Colorado, where I recently spent three nights.

The resident hotel dog program

The hotel instituted the program nearly 20 years ago, bringing a Labrador retriever on board as part of the staff to snuggle with guests. Since then, other dogs, including a Bernese Mountain dog named Scout, have taken over the duties. Bachelor, the latest pup to land the position, spends his days mingling with guests and tagging along on the free daily nature hikes.

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Bachelor, the resident hotel dog at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, tags along behind hotel naturalist Tyler Reynolds during a hike. Pam LeBlanc photo

It’s easy to see why Bachelor got the job. He’s a floofy, four-pawed rock star. As soon as he steps out onto the patio with his handler, humans zoom in like ants at a picnic. He’s notoriously lazy and demands lots of petting, traits which come in handy when you’re top pooch.

Bachelor, the resident hotel dog at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, snuggles with Linnea Covington during the shuttle bus ride to a trailhead. Pam LeBlanc photo

On Tuesday, Bachelor bounded right onto the shuttle bus that whisked a group of hikers and staff naturalist Tyler Reynolds up the hill to a trailhead for a morning hike. During the 10-minute drive, he moved around the bus, laying his huge head on one hiker’s lap and then the next, all the while positioning his rump for easy scratching.

During the two-hour hike, Bachelor stuck close, posing for photographs among the purple and yellow blooms and trotting into the aspens to explore. He seemed to pay attention to Reynolds’ commentary about edible plants and local history, too, perking his ears at bits about the lettuce farms that once flourished here and the five “bachelors” for whom the region is named.

Bring your pup to The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch

The Ritz is a dog-friendly property.

If a visit with Bachelor just isn’t enough, you can bring your own dog when you stay there. Four-legged travelers get treated well – you can even arrange special treat delivery and toys.

West Hansen, leader of the Arctic Cowboys, paddles at the Texas Coast in early 2020. Pam LeBlanc photo

With less than two weeks until the Arctic Cowboys depart Austin for Canada, where the trio of paddlers will launch an attempt to kayak the Northwest Passage, team leader West Hansen spent part of Friday night sorting gear, sipping wine, and eating tacos.

The tacos could be among his last for the next few months. Hansen, along with veteran Texas paddlers Jeff Wueste and Rebekah Feaster, will eat mainly dehydrated meals, instant oatmeal (not blueberry, thank you) and packets of tuna during their expedition. If they’re successful, they’ll become the first to kayak the entire 1,900-mile route in a single season.

Lizet Alaniz, wife of expedition leader West Hansen, sorts through meals vacuum sealed by Hansen’s mother and sisters. West Hansen photo

Arctic Cowboys make final preparations to kayak the Northwest Passage

Such an attempt takes detailed planning – and mounds of gear. Yesterday, rows of vacuum-sealed meals, prepared by Hansen’s mother and sisters, covered the kitchen table at Hansen’s Austin home. Packages of noisy flare cartridges called bear bangers, designed to startle polar bears, along with dry bags, packets of tea, a hard-shell case for a shotgun, earplugs, coils of rope, duffle bags, and other essentials were heaped around the room.

“It’s almost all there, it’s just a matter of packing,” Hansen said. “I’ve got to install a pump in my kayak, test it, and put a seat pad in it.”

Hansen has been through these pre-trip preparations before. In 2012, he led an expedition with Wueste to paddle 4,100 miles down the Amazon River, becoming the first to kayak it from its then newly discovered source to the sea. Two years later, they paddled about 2,200 miles down the length of the Volga River in Russia.

The Arctic Cowboys plan to leave Austin July 15. They’ll spend three days driving to Ottawa, Canada, where they’ll catch a flight for Pond Inlet, the predominantly Inuit community on Baffin Island where they will launch their journey. Starting about July 20, they’ll begin paddling south and west, toward Tuktoyaktuk, a small hamlet in the Inuvik region of Canada’s Northwest Territories.

Lizet Alaniz, wife of West Hansen, arranges gear in their Austin home. West Hansen photo

From polar bears to drift ice, a series of challenges

The team plans to cover about 37 miles a day. Along the way they’ll face a slew of challenges, likely to include ice, storms, frigid water, polar bears, and pizzlies, a hybrid of polar and grizzly bears. Along with the bear bangers, they’re bringing bear spray, a loud horn, and, as a last resort, a shotgun.

“It’s pretty rare to get a polar bear attack,” Hansen says. “We just have to keep an eye out for them.”

About two weeks into the roughly eight-week adventure, they’ll reach the Bellot Strait, a treacherous 16-mile, steep-walled channel known for swift currents, a dense population of polar bears, and chunks of drift ice that could turn into frozen, boat-wrecking torpedoes.

Hansen won’t be collecting any scientific data during this expedition, but he has other reasons for making the trip. The explorer, who works part-time as social worker at his family’s business in East Texas and part time as a carpenter and construction worker in Austin, says he plans to write a book about the experience and gather footage for a possible documentary.

It’s also about the adventure.

“It’s for me to go out and have fun, get away, maintain my sanity, do something exciting that no one else has ever done, and record one of the last pristine areas on the planet before it becomes a major industrial shipping route,” he says.

A new transportation corridor

He compares the change that’s about to transform the Northwest Passage to what happened in the remote jungles of South America a century ago. Europeans who saw the area in the sixteenth century predicted the potential of creating a transportation corridor. After 19 years of construction, the Panama Canal opened in 1914.

“Conquistadors had the same interest in the Northwest Passage, but no one could see the way through,” Hansen says. “Now, after hundreds of years of ocean transportation, it’s suddenly going to become a reality. It could be this year or next year, it’s that close.”

Paddler West Hansen will lead the Arctic Cowboys expedition through the Northwest Passage starting later this month. Pam LeBlanc photo

Hansen predicts that as global warming makes the passage easier to traverse, infrastructure will spring up, changing forever one of the planet’s final frontiers.

“There will be ports, fueling stations, all kinds of industry and support for that,” Hansen says. “We’re going to see it before it changes. At least there will be a record of what existed there before it becomes an industrial wasteland.”

Right now, Hansen says he’s feeling overwhelmed – not about the expedition itself, but about making enough money to keep the bills paid at home while he’s gone.

The trip will cost an estimated $45,000, and so far, the team has secured about $8,000 in cash donations.

“I’m looking forward to it so I can relax,” Hansen says. “After we get in the water. I’ll feel much better. It’ll feel good to get up there.”

West Hansen tugs on a dry suit before paddling in Lady Bird Lake in February 2021. Pam LeBlanc photo