Early August

 

I abruptly left for Karluk Lake on August 7th and had been camping on Afognak Island until just before that.  Then I was on Karluk Lake for the next 2 weeks.  So I never really got to post all the photos from early in August.

The photos all look like ancient history now. Back then everything was so green. Since then it has barely rained and the landscape is turning yellow and brown. The juicy salmonberries the dogs and I enjoyed on walks are now past their prime, and are often sour.

Back then it was high Summer - now it is the beginning of Fall.

Patrick

Petroglyphs on Afognak

fleabane

Off to College

 

Foggy Kodiak at 7:30 AM

Yesterday both Stuey and Nora left Kodiak for college. It is a little sad but also exciting.  My house feels a bit like an empty kennel except there are 3 dogs keeping me company.

Anyway, before the kids left we went on a couple of walks with the dogs on Pillar Mountain.  And both times I forgot my camera. On the first walk I picked up the kids at 7:30 in the morning. It was all foggy and grey in town. I told the kids that it might be sunny up on the top of Pillar but they did not believe me. And then when we got to the top it was sunny. I used my iPad to take a picture of the fog down below us.

The next dog walk was on the evening before their departure.  I forgot even my iPad for that hike.  And it was another stunning day with glorious views from the top of the mountain.  So to document the occasion I had Stuey take selfies of us with his phone.  I never take selfies, and Stuey knows this, so it was pretty funny.  

Patrick

the kids thought the jeep looked like a car ad

A deer for Stuey

 

I got back exhausted from 2 weeks of archaeology and camping on Karluk Lake and immediately went hunting with Stuey. We left town well before dawn at 4:30 AM, and hiked up the mountain in the dark. We got to the top about the same time as the sun rose.  

We saw deer everywhere, and Stuey saw a spike (legal deer - on road system only male deer are legal) in an easy place to access.  I wanted a bigger deer and told Stuey we'd pass.  Then while we were glassing a big bowl, and there were plenty of big deer on the bottom, a bear woke up in the bushes near us with a loud 'HUFF, HUFF'. We never saw the bear and pepper spray in hand we backed up a bit away from the bowl. 

This summer I've already been deer hunting a couple of times with Stuey and we have passed on deer. And then in the end we did not get deer.  Stuey did not want that to happen this time.  So we went back after the easy to access spike. And Stuey got him - a very tasty spike.

Good decision Stuey!

Patrick

Early August at Lipsett Point

 

Whaler at Anchor - we got there by whaler this trip

Today I am off to Karluk Lake for a couple of weeks of camping and an archaeological excavation. But before I go I need to report on our quick weekend trip to Lipsett Point. Over the weekend Stuey and I went up to Afognak with some friends from Anchorage. We don't usually go there in the middle of summer and it was weird to see it so green. 

On this trip we did a lot of hiking and tried to get a deer. However, the mornings were foggy and the wind was from the completely wrong direction.  It was always behind us as we hiked and all the deer smelled us and ran away. Still it was gorgeous in the trees, and there was plenty of teepee and beach time. And of course we cranked up our 'red neck hot tub' - an old cast iron tub that we fill with sea water and heat with a propane 'crab cooker'.

On this trip I discovered that the hedgehog mushrooms are out far earlier than I thought.  We usually harvest them around Labor Day, but here we were at the very beginning of August and there were plenty of hedgehogs.  I picked a solid 10 pounds of them to take home, and one evening Ray cooked up a batch for an appetizer.  He sauteed them and added the garlic scapes from my garden that we'd brought on the trip.

Patrick

Hedgehog mushrooms and garlic scapes cooking on the wood stove

The petroglyphs are particularly clear when the sun is just right at 10 AM

Some final pictures from Maine

 

Our Maine vacation is now long over but lives on in photographs and memories.  Since we got back to Alaska I finished editing all my photos and these are the last of the 'ones that got away' - the pictures that for some reason I did not post in my earlier Maine blog posts.

I noticed that a lot of the photos are of the view of the row boats at the dock and thoroughfare from our house.  It is such a good view and I can't seem to resist taking more photos of the same view. Every time the light is a little bit different or there is fog, and I think, 'this time will be better than all the others'.  Of course it is not, but all of the photos of the row boats are good - if only slightly different from each other.

So I continue to take pictures of the same view and maybe one day I'll take such a killer, iconic image of the view that I will stop taking the same picture. Maybe. .. ..

Patrick

Little Tip Toe Mountain on Vinalhaven

The view from little Tip Toe

Good Food

 

Vacation is all about food, and we ate well in Maine. Practically every meal consisted of at least something getting cooked on the grill. But at this time of the year in Maine there are also lots of fresh vegetables available.

In the beginning of the trip we mostly ate down at Granny Thurby's house on the water.  Later on we mostly ate up at my mom's, Granny Coco's, house up on the hill.  We'd commute on foot or by bike between the 2 houses. My mom and I would play Scrabble while we cooked dinner.  She's pretty good at Scrabble and I never did beat her at it.

I think my favourite meal was lobsters on the lower deck.  Nothing quite like eating lobsters and throwing the shells directly off the deck and into the water.

Patrick

First night chaos - this was the meal the evening we arrived

Lobster and wine on the deck - an annual tradition

Blue mussels at a restaurant on the Harbor in Camden