Audubon Hike up Monashka Mountain

Nearing the top with Monashka Bay in the background

Today I lead an Audubon hike (click here for more info on hikes) up Mount Monashka and 29 other people and 4 dogs showed up for the hike! That's the most I've ever had as a hike leader.  My previous high was 17 people for a hike up Sheratin.  At times I'd look back and see them all strung out behind and felt like the 'Pied Piper' playing my flute.  Either that or the lead bull in an elk herd.

Audubon hikes are always great because you never know who you'll meet or end up talking with.  There is always an incredible diversity of locals and out-of-town visitors on the hikes.  And everybody has a story to tell.  Today we also had some pretty good weather.  Nothing like a blue bird day on the top of Mount Monashka with the blue, blue sea all around and the green, green, green spruce forest down below.  Patrick

Cami on top

That's town in the background

The wind was pretty strong and could partially hold you up when you leaned against it

25 people on the top of Mount Monashka all at once - it's got to be a record

Community Archaeology Goals for 2014

Next week is the start of the Alutiiq Museum's Community Archaeology dig, and tonight (7PM at the Alutiiq Museum) I am giving an introductory talk about the dig to potential volunteers.  Here are a few slides from the talk that outline what we found last year and hope to learn this year. Hope to see you there!   Patrick

Last year we found a small, late-prehistoric multiroom house right at the top , but the site turned out to be very deep and has been a place Alutiiq people visited for well over 6000 years.

Community Archaeology has focused on the archaeology of one area of Kodiak, and over the last 17 years the Alutiiq Museum has had the opportunity to excavate a great many different types of sites.

The over-arching goal of the program is to understand the Alutiiq seasonal round in one bay and to examine how it changed through time.

For the last few years the program has focused on sites at the head of Womens Bay - we expected simple late summer fish camps and found that and so much more! 

Last year we did not get down to the bottom in our main block and ground penetrating radar (Thank you Ryan and Terrasond) clearly shows the late prehistoric house's sideroom.  The house is interesting because it represents a 'type' of house - the fish camp rather than winter house

The site is HUGE and we will be testing other areas of the site to see if different activities are taking place elsewhere on the site.  How does the site differ from other nearby sites?

Mount Monashka Hike

A view from earlier this summer about half way up the mountain

Next Sunday (20th of July) I am leading an Audubon hike up Mount Monashka. This is one of my favorite hikes because you get to hike through both Sitka Spruce rain forest and Kodiak's high alpine.  And then when you get to the top you have one of the best views there is of town.  The mountain is very close to the ocean and you feel right above it.  However it is a STEEP climb and there are lots of muddy areas and creek crossings - so be prepared.

Anyway, if you are interested I leave from the Visitors Center by the Ferry landing at 9:30 AM.  See hiking schedule posted below for more details or click here for more information.  Patrick

Back and forth to Afognak

On our last trip to Afognak Erica and I took most of the gear over in a Boston Whaler.  I was impressed with how much it carried!  The trickiest and most stressful part was backing up the boat on the trailer.  The trip itself from Anton Larsen Bay to Afognak only took a 1/2 hour or so, and anchoring up the boat proved to be fairly easy.  It was also the first time I have skippered a boat by myself to Afognak.  I have made the trip countless times before, but it has always been with someone else driving.

The trip reminds me of when I was a kid and we did a similar trip in Maine from the mainland across Penobscot Bay to North Haven Island.  We had an old aluminum Mirror Craft with a Mercury 50 horse on the stern and sharks teeth painted on the bow like a WWII fighter plane.  We called the boat 'Jaws'.  No electronic navigation aids back then, and when it was foggy you'd take a compass bearing, account for the tidal current, and go.  Then when you got to the other side you had to go slow for a while until you recognized where you had ended up.  Once oriented you turned the appropriate direction and finished the trip to the North Haven harbor.

The GPS gear on the whaler we took to Afognak took all the guess work out of it.  The GPS shows all the rocks and a map of where you are going.  And it was sunny and clear anyway.  However, I still found myself staring a little too hard at it, and not watching where I was going!  I think I preferred boating without the gadgets, but I also realize that for safety reasons there is no going back to those days.

Anyway, the whaler is too small to take the whole family and gear over to Afognak.  But it does lighten up the plane load, and a lighter load is a cheaper floatplane charter than a heavy load.  Funnily enough we also looked into boat charters over to Afognak and the floatplane costs about the same as a boat charter!  The floatplane also carries more, and is way, way more convenient.  Patrick

Taking the kids out for a joy ride in the whaler out at Afognak

Load of gear for the whaler on the ride home

Willy and the beaver floatplane took 6 passengers and personal gear

Lovin' on the beach

Our July trip to Afognak held the warmest weather we've ever had for a remote trip. The sun was blazing for 2 days and the dark sand on the north beach was too hot for the feet.  

On a warm beach day you'll often find me laying upon a piece of driftwood with my arms to my side soaking in every ray. Or tracing pictures and patterns into the sand. Or just watching the kids tidepool with the never ending curiosity about their findings and desires for a hermit crab pet. 

 Out on Afognak, I truly take advantage of the beaches. Laying my head against driftwood, tracing pictures into the sand with my finger and watching the kids so enthsiastically  explore the tidepools -it all recharges the soul. Here in town we live a stone throws away from a beach and I go there so infrequently. That behavior pattern needs to seriously change! 

Doing the dishes-a favorite camp chore of mine. I meander to the ocean front-balancing a tall stack of cups, bowls, plates and sporks precariously. Arriving at the shore, I use the pebble and sand along with seawater to scrape, rinse and swish out the food and oils. The water laps at the beach, seaweed swirls around. The ocean always feels surprisingly warm to me during this routine chore. The word chore conjures up an activity that is unpleasant, so I can hardly use that term to sum up my experience of washing the dishes in that gorgeous sea water! 

Innova inflatable kayaks on the beach at Old Afognak Village

hours of fun in the mud!

My neice, Cami, kayaking solo 

Nora adores every chance to roll up her pantlegs and wade, wade, wade. :)

Group kayak outing!

Zoya

Writing

There are several authors in my writing & reading world who have recently inspired me to be less *shy* about my writing and to get my pen moving on the paper.

One is our next door neighbor, Leslie Leyland Fields. She is  a well known author, long time Alaskan fisherwoman and has a blog. She did a recent post which I particularly enjoyed...
Leslie fields blog link here

The post I linked above was one she did earlier this summer about the challenges of writing. And a reminder that there are times of discouragement, self-doubt, criticism form others as we share our work with others.  In Leslies words, from her blog:

"In all the betrayal, admiration and lights, here is what you do:

You work at loving them all, and you keep on writing (or singing or sculpting or knitting or designing).

You will not be hushed, not by hurt or by hate; you keep on writing.

You will not keep trying to satisfy insatiable people; you keep on writing.  

You will not listen to critics in the shadows afraid of their own lives; you keep on writing.

 You will not let praise erode your stability; you keep on writing (and rewriting.)

Don't let anyone shoot down your moon. Tell the truth. Please God. Love your neighbor. Love your enemies. And for the sake of us all, 

keep writing." -Leslie Leyland Fields 

Another fellow blogger wrote on a similar vein in her blog:

Life Goes on I think Blog Link Here

The author, Paige, attends a talk by author Jennifer Weiner and during the talk Jennifer gives a piece of advice to the group which  particularly resonates with Paige. She says, "You sit in a chair and you write. You can't wait for inspiration."

I'm hearing a similar thread of writing wisdom from my writing teacher Marilyn Bousquin Webpage Every minute of writing counts. It doesn't have to be perfect, pretty, refined. It just has to be. And I have to let it become what it is. Moving the pen  stirs the subconscious and brings the words to the page.

The most important thing I'm learning from my writing class is to put my writing first. Because putting my writing first, is putting myself first. For so many years when I've wanted to write, I haven't. There is always a floor to be swept, clothes to be folded, kids to be tended to, e-mails to be written.  Those things will always be there and I'm beginning to see theres no time like the present to write and get the stories and thoughts down on paper.

Zoya

Branches of us

On one  blustery Afognak afternoon, Patrick took several of the kids on a hike to explore and work on developing a hunting trail to use in the fall. As Patrick left with trail blazing machete in hand, he took a look at the small wood pile and said, "When I get back, I'll need to saw wood because rain is moving in tonight or tomorrow."

Fortunately, we had 2 saws at camp. One for Erica and one for myself. Away Erica and I went on the wood-silently cursing the occasional knots which would slow our progress. As well as  large pieces where it felt as though the saw would never go through.  But then the saw would reach the final wood fibers, and and the thunk of the wood hitting the ground was oh so satisfying.

I wanted Patrick to be impressed with a big stack of wood upon his return. Not just slightly pleased, but impressed with the fruits of our labor.

Erica and I talked. Sawed more wood.  Rested. Sipped on a drink. Talked some more.  Sipped some more on a drink. We talked about our kids and school. Shared acquaintances, and many pauses  as  we would focus on our sawing. For nearly 2 hours we conquered the stack of long driftwood logs which were set aside for our wood stove to burn.

The bulk of the pieces were a gorgeous cedar and we relished in the sweet smell of the wood. It is a hard, solid wood which burns hot.

Basket-full  by basket-full, our stack of finished wood inside the edge of the mossy tent floor grew.  And my understanding and appreciation of Erica grew and grew as I learned about the various jobs she held, places she lived, how she and her husband met. I learned that she went to graduate school in Australia and had been proposed to on Fossil Beach  in Kodiak.  

When Patrick returned he was pleased with the large stack of neatly arranged wood on the floor of the cook tent. He didn't have to saw more wood that night.

Sawing wood not only fuels the fire,
but warms the soul and body.

Zoya

Camp Chores

Out on Afognak we saw firewood by hand with a hardware-store, carpenter's saw.  Our little pig of a wood stove consumes a lot of wood, and so to keep it fed we have to saw a lot of wood.  A chainsaw would be much quicker and efficient, and we do own one.  But sawing wood is one of those camp chores that makes camping fun.

We did bring a chainsaw out to camp once and the roar, stink, and containers of gas and oil seemed somehow profane and out of place.  Sometimes less really is more.  Gathering and sawing wood is a group activity that everyone helps with and enjoys.  It helps to create the sense of self-sufficiency that camping is all about.  Patrick

Reading Oprah Magazine on the beach

Archie in the teepee

'Drama' setting breakfast shot from Stuey's camera

Fireworks on the rocks

When I was 11....

The on-line writing class advertisement caught my interest. The description which was designed to reel me right in did exactly that. The ad read:

'Do any of these sound familiar?

“There is never enough time for me to write.”

“I’m not a real writer.”

“I don’t have a voice.”

“Story? What story? I don’t have a story.”

“Who would want to read my writing?”

“One day—after the kids are grown or after I retire or after I get tenure—I’ll write my story.”

“When I’m not writing, I feel irritable and restless.”

“Sometimes it’s like I don’t even know who I am. Writing is the one thing that makes me feel like myself.” 

I connected with so many of the bulleted elements. And I knew that as a born and bred Kodiak girl, this distance style of writing class was perfect for me. I could write without fear of judgement and learn to discover my voice in a group of eclectic women from all around the country.

At times when I blog, I hit speed bumps and my thoughts cease. A sense of fear of my words not being worthy of the page takes over me.   Since starting the class 2 weeks ago, I already feel this struggle improving. My instructor, Marilyn, encourages to  keep the pen moving and the ideas and words and memories will come. If there is a lapse in thoughts, ideas, she encourages us to write blank, blank, blank to keep our brains churning and activate our memories. 

The class is full of 10 minute free writes; some of which push me truly outside of my comfort zone and others which I relish in spending the time on.  

Our first free write had to do with writing memories about our grandmothers, and features of our grandmothers body that stuck out in our mind. I wrote about my grandmothers seemingly akward feet (which I inherited) , her arms, shorter stature. All features which struck me as unique to my nana. 

 When I read my second free write out loud to the group, my heart beat increased.  The assignment was "When I was 11....."

What was there really to be afraid of? Well, you couldn't convince my visceral self of that.

 I wrote about my 11 year old self and details such as boy books, fishing with my dad, riding on our bouy swing...details I couldn't imagine others finding terribly fascinating. After I shared the piece out loud, there was a moment of quiet then the others gave feedback in such a thoughtful, positive and curious way. A couple of the ladies wanted to know about the boy book; several chuckled and identified with it and others asked what it was.  After that free write reading, I knew this would be a good venue in which to find my voice.


Zoya

Sundew, Rose and Raven

A carnivorous sundew plant

Here are a few of my 'artsy' photo attempts from our recent trip to Afognak.  The rose is a bit cliche but I like how I also captured a fly in the picture.  I had no idea it was there when I took the picture.

I do like my picture of the sundew.  I took another of the sundew with a dragonfly entrapped on its pads, but I like this one better.  The droplets on the pads are sticky and hold and digest insects so that the sundew plant can get some extra nutrients.

I think I could have done better with the ravens.  I used a bit too much zoom and it seems a tad grainy. But I really do like the silhouettes and mountains in the background.  It's funny but last week at the museum I was tasked with finding a good picture of a raven and could not find one.  Next time I will have one on hand!  Patrick

Rosa Ragusa

Ravens

Big Trees

Last night we got back from Afognak where we spent the 4rth of July weekend camping with friends.  On this trip I tried to capture the big trees in the mature Sitka Spruce rain forest.  I've been trying to do this for years, and never quite seem to achieve the effect I desire.  When you are out in the forest the trees seem HUGE, but in the photographs they always seem puny.  Worse yet, I can never seem to capture the grandeur and open-space of the sitka spruce forest.

So this past weekend I tried again - and, while I came close with the top photo, I still do not have the desired image.  In the top photo I tried putting Nora next to one of the big trees to give it a sense of scale.  I also put in the beach. Still, the trees do not look as big as they do in real life, and the image does not convey their impressive height.

The bottom photo is an attempt from last week at Fort Abercrombie State Park, and I include it here to provide a contrast with the old growth forest of Afognak Island.  Abercrombie just seems tame with less moss, smaller trees, and way less understory - devils club etc.  Also it has really well developed trails!

Anyway, I'll continue on my quest to capture the rain forest.  Eventually I might get it.

Patrick

Radish Green Salad

My favorite thing about radishes is that they grow so darn quickly.  I plant them in May and they are ready to eat by early June.  When radishes are ready to eat everything else in the garden is barely growing.  The problem with radishes has always been that I am not wild about eating them. Funnily enough I have discovered that I actually prefer the greens to the red bulb.

Lately I have been making salads from my radishes and greens.  Add the cut up bulbs, an avocado, some croutons, parmesan cheese, top with a balsamic vinaigrette, and you are good to go.  I also like to add a bit of normal salad greens.  For the past couple of weeks this has been my go to lunch salad for work.

I've also been attempting to horrify my coworkers by saying that if anyone is interested I'll trade my salad for a McDonalds 10 piece chicken McNugget meal.  I am pretty sure they all know I am kidding. Patrick

Quick visit to the beach

Jake at the beach

This past weekend I was drinking my coffee in the kitchen when Stuey rushed in, grabbed the binoculars, and rushed back outside.  Then he rushed back in and reported (yelled actually) that 'Shane was at the beach', and asked if we could go down there too.  So off we all went with the dogs to the beach.

It's funny but the beach is right THERE, practically in our backyard, and yet we do not go there all that often.  Partly it is because you have to walk beside the highway to get there and I don't like to do this with the dogs.  But also I think it is the 'local effect'.  The same sort of thing happens with many local attractions - you only tend to visit them when someone is visiting.  They are so easy to do that we take them for granted.

Anyway, the kids have been exploring a new way down to the beach so perhaps in the future we will be going there a lot more often.  Patrick

Nora explores the upright rock

Tank

Tank Fetch!

The culvert under the highway was a bit hit

Panoramic view out Mill Bay

Jake seems about 10 years younger at the beach - who'd guess he's somewhere around 13 years old!

Deer Thai Curry

Curry and vegetables prior to adding the deer meat

Sometimes it seems that there are only so many recipes for deer meat.  This is not actually true but it sure seems that way when you're in a cooking rut.  Earlier this year I was doing lots of slow cooked, rare roasts, pot roasts, and stir fries.  Our family desperately needed some variety.  Enter Thai curry!

Thai curry is easy, different, and super tasty.  It's easy to cook because you can buy the curry paste at Safeway.  Basically all you need to buy is a can of coconut milk, some ginger root, and the paste (see bottom photo of the paste I bought in the Asian section of Safeway).  All the rest of the ingredients you can freelance depending on what you have in the fridge or outside in the garden.  I don't think you even absolutely have to have the ginger root either.

The directions for the curry are right on the container - basically 50 grams of curry paste (a little bit more than 3 tablespoons) with a can of coconut milk.  The directions call for cooking the meat in oil and then adding the paste and milk, and then the vegetables last.  But since it is wild game I do not like to over cook the meat.  So I cook it in peanut oil first and add just a little bit of curry paste (maybe a teaspoon full).  Then before the meat is cooked thru I remove it and set it aside in a bowl.

Now comes the part when you can freelance - what vegetables do you have on hand?  Last night I cooked up an onion in oil and grated some ginger in with it.  Then I added 2 red peppers, asparagus spears and string beans.  At this point I added the 3 tablespoons of green curry paste (I actually prefer the red curry and yellow is my least favorite) and stirred it into the vegetables.  Then I added the can of coconut milk and 1/2 the same can of water.  I used the coconut milk can to measure the water so as to get all the coconut flavor possible.  I then added kale from my garden and brought the whole pot to a low simmer (top photo).

Once the vegetables seemed done I re added the already cooked deer meat (second photo).  I used a deer backstrap from a sitka blacktail I shot last August.  There is no better deer meat than August sitka blacktail.  But shoulder, and hindquarter deer meat would work well too - I'd stay away from calf, shank, neck, and other cuts with lots of connective tissue.  Such cuts require longer cooking times and tend to be tough.  For this recipe tender cuts and quick cook times are best.  You want the meat still pink when you add it - preferably just before serving it.  At this time, I also added some basil leaves that I had growing on the windowsill.  While the recipe on the box did not call for basil it sure looks like basil that they got on the meal shown on the curry container (bottom photo).

I served my curry over bismati rice.  And wow is this good.  And very different from all the other ways I've been cooking deer meat.  Sometimes it is good to mix it up.  Patrick

Adding the pre-cooked deer meat to the vegetables and curry

Final touch - some fresh basil that I shredded with my hands on top just before serving over rice

The curry paste that I used - the red curry is also excellent.  I bet the brand does not matter all that much just so long as it is a paste