Sea Otters & Surf

Theres no denying it- fall is here. With stronger breezes off the ocean, leaves falling from trees and later sunrises and earlier sunsets, its really here. My favorite season. 

Our friends, Julie and Ray arrived from Anchorage  and we went to Afognak to fish, hike, pick berries and visit. A trip that we've been planning together for nearly 5 months.  Patrick and Ray skiffed over with gear  in the Whaler and set up camp~bless their hearts!   

Julie, the kids and myself took a float plane and enjoyed a silent trip over to the adjacent island from Kodiak. The plane was short one set of headphones, so I just plugged my ears for the short trip over.   After the flight I was happy to learn from Julie that the kids hadn't spoken a word on the headsets! Often the trip can be fraught with "evil eye" looks from me when they do silly talk in the headphones so it was a treat to enjoy the views without any concern about how the kids were or weren't behaving. I was in an "in-flight" bubble. 

Arrived!

The only things that we leave on the property between visits are the
-cast iron bathtub
-broken red firewood basket (a beach find)
-1 small elk antler (found by Katelyn earlier in the summer, I believe)
-Square slate stones on which to assemble to the cookstove upon inside the Kifaru Tee-pee.



On the prior trip out to Afognak in July, we left a bottle of 1/2 consumed liquer nestled in the tree trunk right near  where we set up camp. When we returned this go-around, it had been consumed. Not a drop left. I am so curious about who consumed and feeling very glad that we set up and take camp with us on our trips.

Sawing wood+good conversation=excellent Afognak times!

On this trip, Julie introduced us to the world of camp cookies! She brought a few packs of pre-made Nestle cookies and they baked up well in her special camp oven. 

tent scenic

Nora's new seaweed 'do' :) Silvers caught on the beach by Patrick. 

Every time when we are packed up and ready to return back to Kodiak, I return to the emptier piece of earth where the tent used to stand. My heart is sad for a moment, not ever quite ready to go. Taking a deep breath,  I envy the sea otters which get to float around the point every day, or the eagles which nest in the trees.  Or the fox that frequents the land.  All of these beings are what make our experience rich.

The breeze blows through the trees and the salmon berry bushes and I realize that I've never cared about a piece of land as much as this one.

Zoya