Karluk Fishing

The fishing was great at Karluk Lake.  And I suspect that the great fishing is the reason why people built such large villages there in the first place.  Literally millions of salmon journey up the river to spawn.  While we were there the early run red salmon were going by in dribs and dribbles.  At any one time you could go to the outlet of the lake and find a pack of a 100 or so red salmon resting in the calm waters of the lake after their arduous journey up the river from the sea.

I fished a bit for the red salmon but I really got into fishing for the rainbow trout.  They were super easy and fun to catch.  Basically all you had to do was float a hook down the rapids and they would bite it.  I do not believe in 'catch and release.  To me it seems like toying with your food.  So every evening when there was fish on the menu I'd catch the rainbows needed for dinner and then quit.  Some of the rainbows were HUGE - and it killed me that on the Karluk you are limited to 2 rainbows over 20 inches a year.  I'd filled my limit by day 3 of the trip, and after that I could only keep the small rainbows.

Anyway, in the archaeological excavation I was digging in the midden where people threw away the bones of all the animals and fish they ate.  I was surprised to find that salmon bones while fairly ubiquitous did not dominate the faunal assemblage.  I found lots and lots of tiny 'salmonoid' like fish. Trout or herring? I thought.

And then in a pile of these tiny fish vertebrae I found an equally tiny hook.  It dawned on me that the inhabitants of the site probably caught rainbows and other small trout in the same fashion as me - drifting a hook through the rapids! I wonder if they lost the hook in the fish mouth (I did this a few times), and that the tiny fish bones represented the very fish caught on the hook!  Patrick

Karluk Scenery

The view from our cabin out over Karluk Lake was pretty stunning and always changing.  In the morning there was often fog out on the lake and in the river valley and it would slowly move and flow like a river of mist.  The green landscape would appear and dissapear as the white mantle shifted.

But by about 10 AM all the fog would have burned off and it would get HOT.  We experienced anabnormal ammount of sunny and hot days during our stay at Karluk Lake. 

Patrick

Every morning we took the raft across the water to the site

Back from Karluk Lake

Dinner - I ate the fish I caught!

Friday evening I got back from a 2 week archaeological excavation near the outlet to Karluk Lake, and today I am off to Maine for a family vacation.  Phwew - that's a quick turn around!

On Karluk Lake I was completely off the digital grid.  For entertainment I read books and harvested food for dinner.  It was all about surviving the elements (mostly heat, Pushkin burns, and bugs) and figuring out the archaeological site we were excavating (more on this later).  A sometimes uncomfortable existence but simple.  Simple life in a beautiful setting.

Now I am back in the digital world.  Answering emails and tied to the grid.  Life is more comfortable - clean beds, water from a tap, and refrigerators! It is everything but simple.  I sort of miss the heat, Pushkin burns and bugs.  But I also can't wait to meet up with the kids and get to Maine!

Let the vacation begin!  Patrick

4 AM view out over Karluk Lake from our cabin

Cabin on Karluk Lake where we stayed

Karluk Lake

Today I am off to Karluk Lake for a 2 week archaeological excavation.  Instead of camping we will be staying a cabin located in the exact same spot as our teepee in these pictures of our camp from when we surveyed the area back in 2009.

I'm excited to finally do some excavation at Karluk Lake.  I've spent a lot of time surveying the lake and river but we've never done any excavation.  From our survey work we have some ideas about what was going on up there.  Excavation is when we test our ideas!
Patrick

Summertime

View from the house the other day at 11 PM

Kodiak is now completely green. No more mottled brown patches here and there but emerald GREEN everywhere.  It is officially summertime.  It's light until absurdly late in the evening, and it seems the lawn always needs mowing.  I'll admit I am not wild about summer, but I do admire the green.  I just wish summer was not so hectic.  Patrick

Documenting Petroglyphs and Villages

Last week's survey was all about documenting petroglyphs and mapping the nearby prehistoric villages.      We were at another of the 'new style' of petroglyphs locality.  The pits and slashes that seem to be associated with salmon streams.  By documenting petroglyphs and examining where they are found you begin to notice patterns and so better learn what the petroglyphs 'mean'.

We have determined that in addition to their association with salmon streams and fish traps they are also associated with late prehistoric villages around 4-600 years old, and a particular type of artifact known as an incised pebble.  In addition I think they are associated with a particular style of house depression - depressions that are deep with big walls and unclear side rooms.  I have also noticed that the petroglyphs are always located where they go under water either seasonally or on particular tides.

I personally think the pits and slashes are a part of a ritual that helped regenerate salmon.  Many of the holes we found were natural but many had also been clearly enhanced and pecked out.  It appears the holes are what was important.  In the Alutiiq world holes lead to different universes - so by going through a hole a being could be transformed.  The incised pebble we found supports this idea.  By looking closely I noticed multiple stacked faces - these also could represent beings in different universes.  Anyway, my interpretations are all pretty fluid at the moment, but the facts are starting to add up and really help us understand the context of the petroglyphs.
Patrick

Alex drawing some of the petroglyphs

An incised people with a face etched into it found on the beach near the petroglyphs

If you look closely you can see multiple stacked faces

Drawing the map back at the museum lab

The data in the notebook translates into a clean map!

A portion of the finished map

Afternoon Hikes

This past week I have been doing afternoon hikes and bike rides with the kids.  On Monday after we said goodbye to Sheba we all climbed up Old Womens Mountain.  Very sad to go on a hike with all the dogs except Sheba.  Tank and Brewster both seemed to be looking around for her, and wondering where she is hiding.  We missed her.

My pictures from the hike did not turn out very well because the camera ISO accidentally got set to 3000.  That's the setting for really low light conditions - it would have worked well inside at night!  But outside in the bright sunlight all the pictures ended up super grainy and pixelated.  Oh well, there is always the next hike!  Patrick

First hike post Sheba. ... 

Sheba

Yesterday was a sad day.  Sheba passed away after blessedly quick auto immune disease.  One day she was taking long walks and the next she could barely get up.  The rest of the pack already misses her.  Or as Stuey put it, 'she's my favorite part of the family'.

Sheba arrived at our house in August 2014 as a fully grown dog, and immediately melded with the pack.  At the time the other dogs were Jake and Tank.  At first she was very shy and stand offish, and on walks she would wander off and do her own thing.  But soon she was sleeping with Tank and Jake on the couch in a big dog pile, and you'd hear her thumping tail when you entered a room where she was resting.

Always regal and sweet - we will miss Sheba.
Patrick

August 2014 - joined Tank and Jake

Spring Colors

Fall is the season we generally associate with bright colors.  Fall is all about the reds, yellows and oranges of dying vegetation.  Spring has her own colors and, in their own way, they are equally impressive.  The colors of spring are mostly various shades of green, but there are also the bright and vibrant colors of flowering plants. The colors of spring are moist and alive.

To be honest, I am more of a Fall/Winter guy.  I prefer bleak landscapes, low light, and stark snow.  Black and White.  But I also appreciate the green of spring.  And this year Kodiak has had a particularly green spring.  I have never seen the spruce pollen so thick.  Patrick