Thorsheim lake

Another view from last week's elk hunt. We experienced some great hiking. Here we are hiking down the mountain towards Thorsheim Lake. All the salmonberry leaves have turned yellow.

Afognak Elk Hunt

Patrick just returned from his Elk hunt on North Afognak. He went with friends Ben Millstein, Ira Edwards, Mark Rusk, Justin Hays, and Jim Eufemio on Jim's seiner. It's a yearly event intended to fill the freezer with tasty elk. Here Patrick and Mark take a welcome break on the deck of the Alpha Centuri. Most of their time on Afognak was spent bushwhacking on shore. They did manage to bring home around 300 pounds of elk meat.

Scanning the high country

Here Justin scans for elk in the alpine. Note the 'termination dust' (first snow of the year) on the mountain in the background. The elk like to frequent the high bowls like the one seen here on the right. On this particular hike Patrick and Justin only saw a few lone bull elk. On another hike they saw 4 elk grazing on another mountain and after a three hour stalk managed to finally harvest one. It took everyone (Justin, Mark, Patrick, Ira and Ben) to get all the meat back to the boat in one trip.

Cruising the trees

Hunting elk on north Afognak requires a great deal of hiking through the spruce forset. The goal is to avoid having to bust through too much devils club, salmonberry and alder when getting to the high country where we could actually see the elk. The elk like to graze and sun in the alpine meadows. Here Justin and Ira negotiate a game trail down a hill back to the boat.

The 'wolf' tree

On a particularly rainy day, Justin, Mark and Patrick, surveyed for archaeological sites on Ban Island. The United States Fish & Wildlife service is interested in the condition of the sites on the refuge and Patrick and his friends found three new sites. While surveying they found this old spruce tree. When it was a seedling there were no other trees around - hence the multiple lower limbs.

Foul Bay Northwest Afognak

Patrick just returned from his elk hunting trip on Afognak. The pictures make it look beautiful, but it rained every day! Some serious wind too (both on the boat and outside). They camped on Jim Eufemio's 47 foot long seiner, and hiked the mountains by day. This is a view over Foul Bay, on the first day it finally cleared off. If you look closely in the foreground you can see the Alpha Centuri at anchor.

Julie and Ray In Seward

Ray and Julie in front of their digs in Seward. Julie is 34 weeks pregnant! American Gothic Anyone?? Where are the pitchforks?

A vist to the Anchorage Saltonstalls

A contingent of the Kodiak Saltonstalls visited with the Anchorage Saltonstalls (Will and Beth). Nora had fun exploring their living room and playing with the wonderful box of kid toys Will and Beth had.

Nora aboard the Trusty Tusty (Tustemena)

Nora enjoyed the 12 hour ferry ride from Homer to Kodiak. She emptied the contents of her moms bag onto the bunk in the cabin. Then she proceeded to sort and stack the contents from one side of the bunk to the other. It provided hours of entertainment! She has her dads tendencies for sorting and organizing. OCD???

Nora and Mike At Don Jose's

Nora and Grandpa Mike at Don Jose's in Homer. Nora was quite the handful at this meal!

Zoya's Trip to the Mainland

Zoya recently returned from her trip to the Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage. She and Nora took her Subaru over on the 'Trusty Tusty' and visited friends and relatives in Homer, Anchorage, and Seward. Great scenery on the way. This one is of fall colors on the Kenai River.

Mill Bay Sunrise

Glorious sunrise over Mill Bay. The sun is no longer rising out of the ocean. As winter approaches it rises further and further to the south east. These days it comes up out of the trees on Spruce Cape. Zoya and Nora are off to Homer and Anchorage for the week. Zoya took her car over on the ferry. I am holding the fort down with Roxy Dog until I go off elk hunting this weekend. Roxy and Patrick miss Zoya and Nora.

Its A BOY!

Nora will have a little brother to idolize her.

Finger Lickin' Good Deer & Goat Ribs

Local and out-of-town-friends surrounded the pile of ribs on the counter. The ribs were marinated with a home made sauce (Gregg's "secret" recipe) and they disappeared quickly!

The Deer Hunt

Brian and Ray scan the hillsides for deer. It was a cold day and they found the deer on a sunny, warm, south-facing slope. They came home with about 80 pounds of deer meat. Much easier to carry a deer a long way when it is split between three people!

A patch of sun between rain squalls during the deer hunt.

Baby Nora Has a Green Thumb!

After distracting Nora several times from digging in the indoor plants, it was time to let her explore the dirt outside. In a year or two I imagine she'll be in the garden helping her dad weed and pull carrots in the fall! Many people in the family garden, including her dad, her mom (occasionally), her Great-Grandma Nana in Massachusetts, Granny Emmy in Maine and Grandma Cathy in Homer....so she'll have lots of great role models!!

Its Bathtime!!

After her dirt digging session it's straight to the bathtub for Nora!

More Goat Hunt

Another picture from the goat hunt. Here is Patrick climbing back up a hill after checking down below for goats. Goat hunting is a lot of scrambling up and down in steep places. In the background is Kizhuyak Bay and the native village of Port Lions (barely visible on the far shore).

September Goat Hunt in Kodiak's Backcountry

This past week Patrick and Mike Sirofchuck (a local friend and retired school teacher) ventured miles into the back country to get a goat! Mission Accomplished. It was a LONG hike....
This is the view after they climbed out of the valley where they got the goat. In the distance, on the right, near the blue ocean and dwellings is where they hiked to that night. They made it out of the wilderness right at sunset. Phew.
Patricks quote was "It was like outdoor braille following our trail at dusk". Patrick surprised me at home when he arrived at 10PM....I thought for sure they'd be camping another night!