Fogged Out

 

Over the weekend Stuey and I went hunting on Afognak with our friend Ryan. Right off the bat at dawn on the first day we found a herd of bucks and Stuey wanted to shoot the first one we saw. And we probably should have done so. But the buck was not very big and was at a bad shooting angle at the bottom of a steep slope. The next guys were not very big either. With so many deer around I wanted to get something big.

And then just as we were off after some big boys the fog came in and covered up everything below in a mantle of white. Only the very tops of the mountains stuck up above the clouds. And that was that - you can't hunt when you can't see the deer. And so we waited and waited, and took naps and hoped the fog would burn off. 

The fog did not burn off until late in the afternoon. And by then it was very hot and all the deer had bedded down for the day. We looked and looked and just saw one doe. And then the next day we had more fog and the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. Despite getting up at dawn again we only saw one doe.  Lesson learned - 'a buck in hand is worth a big one in the bush'. I actually should have learned this last year!

But the trip was not a bust. We got to camp and hike in some beautiful country. We did some exploring where I have never hiked before. If we had harvested the first deer we saw I would never have had the glorious nap in the sunshine, nor would we have done so much hiking.

Patrick

Nap time waiting for the fog to burn off

Nap back at the beach - waiting for the ride home

Afognak Intertidal

 

Our trip to Afognak coincided with mid day low tides. This made it a lot easier to walk on the beach. And at low tide the beach on Afognak can get pretty broad! The beach at low tide is a whole other world. A world that is only exposed to land mammals for a couple of hours each day. Pink coral, anemones, masses of periwinkles, giant kelp, and the beautiful, barnacle-covered rocks.  I particularly like to admire the patterns the waves leave in the sand (top photo) and the grain in the rocks. Low tide offers an opportunity to look closely at a seldom seen world.

Patrick

Afognak Teepee Time

 

Some 'teepee time' pictures from our time on Afognak last week. On Afognak we spend a lot of time sitting by the woodstove in the teepee. This is especially true when it is just Stuey and I - like it was on this trip. 

We both like to read and there is nothing better than reading a book while sitting next to a hot stove. On sunny days we would keep the door to the teepee wide open.  In the evening the sun would shine into the teepee, and the smoke from the woodstove would get lit up in the sunbeams as it filtered through the trees (see above photo). Then on rainy and windy days we keep the door closed and it is all cozy and warm inside by the stove. We did have one storm, and we huddled by the stove reading books while it raged outside.

Another form of teepee time entertainment is cooking on the woodstove. Cooking on a woodstove takes time. It is 'slow food'. I liken it to one of those cooking shows where people sit at the counter and watch the master chef at work. Quesadillas, red beans and rice, pasta and pesto, eggs and hash browns - it all gets cooked slowly on the woodstove.

On this trip we also played cards. We have a piece of plywood that we put on a bucket in front of the woodstove to make a table - a little rickety but it worked.

Patrick

PS at bottom there is a quick 'teepee time' video.

Afognak Hikes

 

Stuey and I did a lot of hiking on Afognak. Our best hike was up along a ravine in the forest. It was basically a cascade in the bottom of a canyon that went on for about 1200 vertical feet and about 2 1/2 miles. By the time we got to the top we were in the alpine. What's amazing is that despite going to Afognak for almost 20 years we have never done the hike before. The canyon was so pretty in the trees, but I took barely any pictures because it was almost impossible to capture. It's a hike that you have to experience to appreciate and pictures will never do it justice.

All of our other hikes were along the coast and were also often in the trees. I love the great big sitka spruce whose trunks soar up into the canopy. All the devils club in the understory is bright green. And all the green, green moss.

Patrick

Brats on the Beach

 

Stuey and I spent most of last week camping on Afognak. The first 3 days were sunny and spectacular while the last few days were foggy 'by the woodstove in the teepee' type days. We both did a lot of reading (we each read 3 books!), hiking, soaking in our hot tub and - our favorite activity - cooking brats over a campfire on the beach.

We'd wake up in the morning to the bird calls and sea otter squeals. The oystercatchers and eagles were particularly noisy. Then it was breakfast on the woodstove. Stuey got his 4 eggs every day. Then we'd read a bit before going on a hike. One day we hike up along the edge of a ravine to the alpine. In the afternoon we'd have our brats on the beach and collect wood for the woodstove. Evening was dinner in the teepee and a soak in our 'red neck' hot tub (a tub filled with seawater and heated with a propane 'crab cooker' stove).

No internet, no phones - just us, the trees, the beach, the birds and the otters. Heaven.

Patrick

Hearty breakfasts

woodsmoke in the trees