Late March

In an earlier post from less than 2 weeks ago (click here for post) I mentioned how 'Spring had sprung' but was only a little earlier than usual.  Well I was wrong.  I have never spring accelerate at such a rapid pace.  Yesterday I even saw my first salmonberry blossom.  This almost matches the earliest date I have ever seen this from 3 years ago (click here for post).  And is fully a month and a half earlier than the normal first blossom in early May.

Since that 'Spring has Sprung' post we had a deluge of rain and warmth, and now sunshine.  Thing have just happened VERY quickly.  The jibber bowl on Pyramid has almost melted out.  This does not usually happen until late May.  And there is very little snow on Pyramid even on high.  I noticed rocks appearing in the North Bowl.  It looks more like late June than late March.  I fear the skiing will be kaput by May when I usually can ski through June.

What has happened to Kodiak winters? Check out this blog post from 2008 - late July and there is almost as much snow as there is now in March (click here for post).  Patrick

Test Pits

Last week I did 2 different types of archaeological survey.  On Monday I did a reconnaissance type survey with Alex (click here for post), and the rest of the week I did a more intensive investigative type survey with Molly.  For a reconnaissance survey the purpose is just to find and document sites over a broad area.  While for the investigative type survey you are actually digging test pits and evaluating the sub surface character of sites - you are examining a much smaller area and trying not to miss any sites.  The first is a 'skin deep' view while the latter is getting at the 'depth and character' of the sites.

The latter type survey is important if any development is planned for an area.  Where exactly are the sites and what is their exact extent?  What is the character of the deposits and are they worth excavating?

So last week Molly and I excavated a lot of test pits.  I would dig out the test pits with a shovel and trowel while Molly screened and took notes.  We would interpret the stratigraphy (layers of dirt) together.  Is that dark layer a natural 'organic' horizon formed from rotting vegetation or is it a layer of dirt stained black with charcoal from human activity?  Why are there clean beach pebbles in the test pit - where they brought up from the beach by people or do they represent the remains of an old glacial esker?  Such were the types of questions we asked of the profiles in our test pits.

And we did find a few sites.  We also found out where there are no sites.  We also determined where the beach was located 4000 years and what areas were bulldozed during WWII.  We learned a lot about a small little area by digging a lot of small holes!
Patrick

Azimuth Point

This past Monday my co worker Alex and I did an archaeological survey of the Termination Point area for the landowner, Leisnoi Inc.  The Alutiiq Museum through a tribal preservation grant from the National Park service is in the process of surveying all of Leisnoi's land for archaeological sites.  Leisnoi wants to know where the sites are located so that they can better protect and preserve them.

This is the kind of work I love to do!  We got to wander along the tops of cliffs through old growth spruce forest looking for archaeological sites.  When we came to a site we would do a sketch map and document its condition.  Is the site eroding - how badly?  Is it threatened by human activity or damaged by animals?  What does the site represent- is it a village or fish camp?

It seems this spring and summer is going to be pretty busy - I will be doing similar surveys practically every week!  Patrick

Alex is actually standing in the main room of a very large multiform house foundation

Weekend Snow

Sharatin and Kizhuyak bay

This past weekend the sun finally came out.  Prior to that it had been raining and warm for a solid week.  We lost a lot of snow down low in the mountains, but above above 1500 feet we actually gained a bit.  Still, the lower parts of the mountains seem more like they do in late April rather than March. This has been a warm winter.

Up high the skiing is as good as it has been all year.  Saturday evening on Pyramid was all spring corn snow.  Then on Sunday I climbed up into the big bowl on Sharatin and went skate skiing on the crust.  The skate skiing was excellent until the sun came out.  Prior to the sunshine the crust was firm and fast, but once it came out the crust softened and my skis started to punch through the crust.  Still I found that if I maintained a high rate of speed I could stay up on top of the crust.

The lifting clouds and swirling thermals lit up in the sunshine was very dramatic.  And there is the ocean seemingly just below.  Sharatin is a very dramatic place to ski.  Patrick

Dale booting up Pyramid Saturday evening

Field Season Begins

Using the soil probe to look for buried deposits

This past Saturday Molly and I kicked off the Alutiiq Museum field season with an archaeological survey. This spring and summer the museum has the busiest field season planned that I can ever remember.  So we are also getting out into the field earlier than we ever have before.  I can remember April starts but never March!  And it is a good thing the ground is not frozen.  Most years I do not think you could start until April at the earliest.

On Saturday most of what we found was WWII related but we also checked on some prehistoric sites.  We have done a lot previous work in the area and I am always amazed that there are so many sites in an area that looks like it should have none.  It is also an area that looked very different 3000 years ago than it does today.  So when looking for sites you sort of have to ignore what it looks like today and imagine the coastline of the past.  Patrick

WWII underground bunker - with a wall for tools

Molly taking notes

Beach Walk

A couple of days ago I decided to take the dogs for a walk on the beach rather than into the park.  I was hoping to collect some alaria to make a seaweed salad (click here for old seaweed salad post).  But the tide was not quite low enough to get down to where the good seaweed grows.  Also, judging by the size of the seaweed sprouts I did see, I do not think the alaria is quite big enough yet to harvest.  I might have to wait until late April.

With the tide high I was confined to the top of the beach just below our house.  I had to climb up onto the rocks to skirt some areas of deep water.  The doggies did not like this and were forced to swim in places.  But before they did the plunge and swam they did the whole, 'Nngggg, nngghh' whine and claws on the rocks thing.  Awkward doggie climbing poses!

Judging by the amount of torn up kelp on the beaches you can see that we have had our share of storms this winter.  I also checked out the tide pools for anemones.  The beach and cliffs made a nice break from our usual green forest hikes in the park.  Patrick

Spring has Sprung

Blueberry blossoms

Today is the officially the first day of Spring, but my garden and yard do not heed the dates on the calendar.  They sprout when they deem it warm or light enough.  Some years my garden and yard decide to 'spring' later and some years earlier.  This year is actually about average - or maybe a wee bit early.

A couple of years ago we had salmonberries blooming in March and Blueberries in February.  This year the blueberries are blooming in late March, and I'm confident that the salmonberries will not bloom for another month. In my garden the kale that held on and barely survived the cold(er) days of winter is now putting out new green leaves.  The garlic is sprouting, and I noticed that the rhubarb is coming up too.  The crocuses are blooming.  Late March is normal for the crocuses - or is that the new normal?

Patrick

Kale

Sprouting garlic

crocuses

Salmonberry buds

St Patrick's Day Green

Yesterday was St Patrick's Day so on my afternoon dog walk to the park I tried to take 'green' pictures to commemorate the day.  I found a rhododendron that stayed green all winter, and a moss covered spruce tree trunk that also is perennially green.  Still I did notice plenty of new 'spring' green, and will show these photos in a later post. But it seems that for St Patrick's Day the greenest things out there survived the winter!

For dinner I cooked up corned beef hash and mash potatoes.  I had my corned beef topped with hot mustard and sauerkraut.  It turns out that Stuey and Nora do not like corned beef.  How is it that one of my absolute favorite things is despised by my kids?  However, they do like mashed potatoes.  So one out of two is not so bad.  For dessert we had homemade vanilla ice cream with raspberries mixed in - mmmmmm.  Patrick

More Spring Break

The 'Glacier Bowl' from the chairlift at Alyeska

Some more vacation photos from spring break at Alyeska.  The snow conditions were actually pretty good.  It was the visibility that was often challenging.  The best day for photos was on the first day when it was a mix of clouds and sun.  And that is the day I did not take my camera skiing.  Oh well - but even with bad lighting it was always beautiful on the mountain.

Now we are back on Kodiak and it is pouring rain and 43 degrees outside.  Of course it is blowing too.  We probably should have stayed on the mainland!  It's so wet out that I am thinking today is a good day for river rafting!  Patrick

Nora and I did not like it up top when it was like this!

Beer and tea on arrival at the hotel

Alyeska is right by the sea - surfers ride the bore tide on the rising tide on the flats in the background

On the tram

Stitzmark for lunch

Uncle Dicky goofing getting off the chairlift

Spring Break 2019

Our Hotel room - much better than usual!

Nora and I just got back from our annual spring break ski trip to the Alyeska Ski Resort at Girdwood.  We stayed at the Alyeska hotel.  Stuey did not go with us because of his leg, but the cousins were staying at the same hotel.  Amazingly enough, Nora missed having Stuey along - and she even told me this quite a few times.  I am hoping that this a sign of a new found appreciation for each other - maybe next time when we all travel together there will be no fighting? LOL

In year's past we have always had a tiny room with 2 beds crammed in there.  Last year I slept next to the window behind the curtains while the kids took the beds.  But this year, when there was just the 2 of us in the room, we got a HUGE corner suite with a couch.  Go figure.  Nora and I certainly had a lot of space to spread out our stuff!

We met up with the cousins on the slopes and did a lot of skiing.  The cousins tended to ski ALL day, but Nora and I would ski a few hours, have lunch and then ski just a couple more hours in the afternoon.  Why get exhausted when the hotel has a pool! At the pool I would alternate between the hot tub and the cold pool.  I also managed to get in a XC ski every day.

At night we met us with the cousins for dinner.  But one night Nora wanted to eat at a fancy restaurant with just the 2 of us.  She chose 'Jack Sprat's' - a place I seem to eat at every year with adults only while the kids have had room service pizza.  But not this year!  Nora had duck and brussle sprouts while I had steak and king crab.  WOW!  For dessert I had a small glass of late harvest Muscat.  Absolute heaven.
Patrick

Riding the tram

That's the sun breaking through above Nora's head

Morning view from our room

On the first day we found the cousins on the slopes

Nora skis in a whiteout

We saw a moose at the Anchorage airport - I wonder how he got through security with those nasty antlers?

Birthday Beer at the Silver Gulch Brewery