Deer before sunrise

Glassing for deer from camp

Friday evening Lisa, Gregg and I hiked up to the alpine to go camping.  The plan was to camp out overnight so as to have a head start on hunting for deer the next morning.  Lisa still has a road system tag so she was the hunter - Gregg and were along as sherpas to help pack out meat.

After slogging up through the brush we camped out in a flat spot covered in bunchberry and enjoyed a spectacular sunset.  During the night the almost full moon was so bright it lit up the inside of the tent enough that I did not need a head lamp when I woke up to cook breakfast.  And then we broke camp before dawn and headed up the mountain.

We got to the top and immediately found a deer for Lisa, and she made the most of her opportunity.  One shot and the deer was down.  She got it so early that I got my first dead deer pictures with the moon in them.  Best of all, we had the deer meat in the fridge by noon.  Patrick

Camping in my new tent tarp

Sunset from camp

Hiking by moonlight at dawn

Dawn patrol

Lisa's deer is down before sunrise

Whoo Hoo - now to get the meat back to the car

Negotiating the alders on the way down

A spider in her web - we watched her attempt to catch a fly in her web - we were rooting for the spider

First Day of School-St.Mary's

First Day! I stood inbetween so they wouldn't hit eachother. Sibling love.  

MOST BEAUTIFUL mailbox ever!!

The kids started school last week and the first day couldn't have gone better. The new principal, "Mr. Brian" as he likes to be called, was very friendly and warm to the families as we came through the door. He took time to learn names and walked us to the class rooms. Mr. Brian is a longtime friend and neighbor and I am thrilled to have him  as principal!

Nora's class has 11 students in it-grades 2-5.
Stuey's class has 14- Grades K-1. I love the small class size and one-room school house feel that St. Mary's has.  This year I volunteered to be the volunteer coordinator, which I really look forward to doing. There hasn't been such a position in the school for some time and its much needed. There is  work that needs to be done in increasing student enrollment and ensuring that parents are doing their 25 hours of volunteer time a year.

The mail box outside was recently painted and I couldn't resist taking a picture of it; it reflects the warm feeling  of the school this fall and the attention to aesthetics that I see all over the school campus.  Outside, the playground had been spruced up a bit since last year-old equipment removed and a new slide installed.

At the end of the first day, I didn't get too many details out of the kids about their classes. The typical response is  "Good" when I ask them how their days are. But then details slowly leak out later in the evening- Such as "Mom, there aren't any demerit slips anymore", Nora told me. (This made me happy! Seemed a little strict for such young kids.)

The beginning of the year excitement is contagious. All the possibilities and adventures to be had....

Zoya

Afognak Days Five and Six

Thomas backlit by a spectacular sunrise

This is the last Afognak post.  We got back just over a week ago, but it already seems like it was ages and ages ago.  All the memories have already moved from the present to the mythic parts of the memory banks in our brains.  So rather than write a whole lot I'll just post some pictures from the final days of the trip.  Patrick

Resting in a patch of arnica - it's supposed to help with aches and pains

Our little daredevil

Teepee Time

We depart a day early to beat the weather - Thank You Rolan!

Afognak Day Four - another fish feed

Back at camp we had another silver salmon feed.  But rather than cook the fish in a frying pan over the Coleman stove Thomas used the bonfire.  He found an old grate and cooked the fish over smoking green alder.  It was excellent.  Lightly smoked and perfectly cooked silver salmon.  Patrick

Afognak Day Four - Thomaso Arrives

Hiking to the far beach to get in some fishing

Thomas arrived and was very keen to go fishing.  So we took him back to the beach where we had caught the silvers a couple of days earlier.  On the way I practiced for deer hunting and gave the kids rides in my hunting pack. Nora is still not as heavy as a load of deer meat!

For the sake of variety we took a 'shortcut' to the beach on an old trail that cuts behind the entire village connecting the two ends of the town.  It's called the 'new trail' but is actually around 100 years old.  It crosses a large swamp and once was a built up log and plank road.  Today, however, it is more just a boggy trail through a swamp.  Thomas, the kids, and Zoya were not very impressed by my shortcut.

Thomas admires the chicken of the woods

Fish on!

At the far beach the fishing lived up to its billing.  At one point both Thomas and I had a fish on and Stuey caught a dolly varden trout all by himself.  However, we only had limited room in our bellies, and kept just one salmon.

While Stuey, Thomas and I fished Nora and Zoya read 'Miss Pigglewiggle' at the top of the beach.  After we caught a fish Nora and Zoya tried the raw fish eggs.  They report that the eggs tasted very salty and 'strong'.  Or as Nora puts it, 'ughhhh'.

After fishing we hiked back to camp along the beach.  Patrick

Reading Miss Pigglewiggle at the high tide line

Salmon eggs - yummy?

Stuey casts for silvers

Thomas carrying dinner

Afognak Day Four - Some time alone

Time alone on the beach

Rachel, Matt, Ramsey their dogs, Pauline, Andy and Piper left at the end of day 3 and it was suddenly a very quiet camp.  We missed the company of friends but it wouldn't be long before another friend would join us!

At night we missed Rachel and Matt's camp dogs when a fox started to cry. The dogs had been good at keeping the foxes at bay.  There wasn't a breath of wind. The absence of surf and wind sounds is unusual, and it accentuated the fox's intermittent yowling.  A very eery and scary sound.  Zoya and I were surprised that it did not scare or even wake up the kids.

The next morning was idyllic and after breakfast we hung out on the beach.  The kids made their city in the sand complete with roads and houses.  Feathers acted as currency and they could buy rocks from me to build their houses.  I also acted as the bank for their feathers.

We lit a fire and cooked hotdogs.  The kids pushed sticks into the fire and then played with the smoking ends.  They would stand sentinel with the sticks smoking at their shoulders.  We expected our friend Thomas to arrive but he caught us by surprise when he finally did arrive around noon.  He drifted up quietly in his kayak.  No motor boat noises to tell us someone was coming.  Patrick

Hors d'ouvres - rice crackers and 'pepperoni'

Nora's Eighth!

Nora's Eighth birthday was on Monday and the day started with her going out to breakfast with Ella and her boys in the morning. It was fun for Nora to get some special Auntie time!

We spent a lazy day around the house, I made pizza dough, we ran errands. In the evening 7 girlfriends came over for a dinner party. They made individual pizzas which actually ended up being fun. (It was one of those mom moments when I said to Nora earlier "Do you want to make pizzas?"then worried later that it could be too much work. But it wasn't!) 

Watching the enthusiasm of the girls made it really fun and very worth it. Also, seeing how the couple of older girls were so helpful with the younger ones in the process was great as well. There are two neighbor girls who are older than Nora and Stuey who came and really exemplify kindness and selflessness in such situations. 

On the pizza menu: Olives, pepperoni, cheese and sauce

rolling out the dough

Cutting the cake!

Then we played a game of musical chairs and "guess how many M&M's are in the jar". The girls had a fun time with musical chairs and it made me happy that such a classic older game continues to work so well at a birthday party.

Opening gifts as girls watch on

It was the best 8th I could've imagined for Nora; complete with family time, friends time and lots of laughter and kindness from everyone around. 

At night after she was tucked into bed, I realized I hadn't written her a card. I went back to her bedroom, she was hardly awake. I whispered to her, "Nora....Happy 8th! Have I told you what a wonderful girl you are? And how proud I am of you? Its been so much fun doing your program together this summer. I love you Nora!" She smiled big and I gave her a big good night kiss. 

Zoya

Unplugging on Afognak

Since our return from Afognak, friends have asked, "How was your trip?"

...To which I replied, "It was great! Felt wonderful to unplug!"

I realized I need to create more 'unplug' time into my life here in Kodiak. More away camping trips, leaving the cell phone at home, or beach bonfires. It feels so good for the soul for be away and not in contact. With quick access to e-mail, smart phones, it makes this off time even more treasured.

Coming back from Afognak I felt truly recharged, energized.

I was physically a bit tired, but in a good way. The great thing about remote camping is that you get your workout in every day!

 This year  I did more my part in hauling water, sawing wood, cleaning dishes at the oceans edge. These tasks of daily camp life  are essential, rewarding to contribute to and occasionally challenging. For hauling water, it was a 15 minute walk through an up/down trail to a small stream.  Sawing wood with Stuey was new for me this year as well. He really enjoyed sawing the pieces of wood as I anchored the long end of it down with my foot. And I loved washing the dishes...using the hard sand as a scouring pad...waves lap in to wash off the dishes. Quiet beach time is priceless.

Upon our return from Afognak, there was an initial frenzy and hustle bustle of house cleaning, about a full day of laundry to catch up on, responding to e-mails, texts, but that has subsided somewhat and I have a few moments to occasionally day dream about my next outdoor getaway....

Zoya

The campfire beach scene.

We heart driftwood!

Toothless Stuey! He lost 4 teeth in 3 weeks...more to come on that later!

INCREDIBLE freshly caught Silvers ready to cook. Thanks to Andy for filleting!

And to Patrick for cooking them up!

Pauline giving the experience 'thumbs up'!