Sharatin with Stuey and Dale

A short but HOT hike up to the snow

On Sunday it was Stuey's turn to go skiing.  And rather than go the long way up through the spruce forest we opted for the quick and steeper hike up through the meadows and brush to the alpine.  It was much hotter!  But it was also a lot more quick.

On this trip my friend Dale N accompanied us.  I used to ski with him and his daughter when she was 12.  So there was a reciprocal element to the day.  Both dale and I agree that on these sorts of trips it helps a lot to have a third adult who is not family.

We got up on the snow and into a big bowl and Stuey decided to take a nap and watch Dale and I as we made multiple runs on the steep slopes above.  Then Stuey decided he wanted to go higher too.  He wanted to get as high as Nora did the day before.  So we skinned on up, and got to the same elevation as we did the day before with Nora.  Then Stuey ran on a little higher so that he could say he got even a little higher than Nora (but still the same within the margin of error - sorry Stuey!).

Then came the ski down.  It was not as long a run out as the day before, but it was a lot steeper.  and even a little scary in places.  Before we knew it we were at the bottom of the snow and filling our water bottles with the sweet tasting snow melt - better tasting than any other water.  And then down into the bugs and the green -  back to the car and home.  Patrick

Look Goats!

It's a steep skin up the mountain

Dale and Stuey

On the Summit ridge

Stuey begins his descent

It gets pretty steep!

It's green down there

Sharatin with Nora and Andy

Finally on snow!  It took over an hour and a half just to reach the snow

We just finished an incredibly busy and sun-blasted weekend.  We started with a backyard fire pit barbecue on Friday night.  Adults sat by the fire while a pack of kids roamed the neighborhood.  Then on Saturday and Sunday I took the kids skiing.  First Nora on Saturday and then to make it fair - Stuey on Sunday.  Phewwww but I am tired, and so are the kids.

Both ski trips were epic and I was lucky to have a friend accompany me on each one.  Kids just seem to do better and go further when there is a non-family member along.  On Saturday my friend Andy S came along.  We hiked up Sharatin Mountain from the trail at the end of the road at Small Creek.  It has a fairly gentle incline and is shaded by spruce forest.  But low incline also means LONG - we had to hike more than 2 miles before we even got to the snow.

Nora was in Heaven and had a smile on her face the whole.  She just loved all the snow, and tells me that after the ski, when she was trying to get to sleep, she was sad thinking about all the snow melting and going away.  A daughter after my own heart!

The sun was so bright on the snow it was like a radar dish.  Nora was very good about the sunglasses and used copious amounts of sunscreen.  We toured over and checked out Shelly Lake.  This is the usual destination for the trail we used.  But we kept on going and toured around the big bowl until we got up onto the summit ridge - just 300 feet or so below the summit but still a 1/3 of a mile away.  We ate lunch and Nora had a nap.

Then it was time to go home.  Whoooo wheeeee - we got to ski for 2 miles.  Just coasting along in the sunshine with very little work.  And then all the gear went into the packs and we were back a foot - wending our way through the spruce forest down to the car.  Long Day!
Patrick

Look where we are!

Andy and Nora above Shelly Lake

Shelly Lake - Whoooo Hoooo

Climbing up the big bowl at such a low incline that Nora and I did not even need to use climbing skins - the fish scales worked fine

On the summit ridge

Andy rips it

Nora ripping part of a 2 mile long ski

We started up there!

Still not done!

End of the snow - at the end of the tongue of white it was time to start hiking

Finally back at the car after a 5 hour tour!

New Afternoon Sport

Every summer once the ski season ends my regular daily exercise regimen also stops.  Oh I still do stuff - a lot of hiking and lawn mowing, but it's never the same as a daily hike up a mountain.  Consequently, during the summer I slowly get out of shape until by October I am at my least fit.  Then ski season generally starts up again and I slowly get back into shape again until I am at peak conditioning by May.

But not this year!  This year I got a new sport to try out - mountain biking.  On Wednesday a friend took me up Pillar Mountain and we biked down this insanely intense trail.  Biking up the mountain was a pretty good workout!  And there are all sorts of trails right close to town so that I can get in a quick exercise fix every afternoon.

Only issue right now is that the bicycle seat hurt my 'seat'.  So I'll have to wait a few days before I do it again.  It is going to take me a while to condition my body to the bike.  But that's OK - there still is snow, and now I have the bike to slowly ween me off the quickly disappearing ski opportunities.  Patrick

Life on the Point

Some final pictures from our Memorial Day weekend trip to Afognak.  We did do a lot of hikes and kayaking but most of our time was spent just hanging out at Lipsett Point.  Playing on the beach, doing the zip line, reading on the beach, tide pooling, or hanging out in the teepee.  Patrick

We decided to clean up the beach by burning marine debris - 'P yewwwwww'

The old stand by - Color Ku

Lots of whittling in the cook tent

I've discovered that around 10 AM is the best time to take pictures of the petroglyphs

Brewster is actually getting pretty good on the whole airplane thing

The zip line set up by uncle Dicky was HIGHLY popular

Brewster catches some rays

Kayaks and the big beach

We returned from Afognak over a week ago and for some reason I still have not posted all the pictures.  It has been busy around here!

Anyway, here are some pictures from the weekend that show us kayaking and exploring the nearby beaches.  We use inflatable Innova kayaks because we can just stick them on the floatplane to get them out to camp.

I did not get to kayak very much myself because every time I left shore Brewster got very apprehensive.  He would follow my kayak along the shore, barking, and then swim out to see me whenever I got close to shore.  At one point he followed along behind my kayak for about a 1/2 mile.  Normally he does not go swimming at all - throw a stick and he only wades out to belly deep.  But the funny thing is that in the last week here in town he has started to swim after sticks!  So maybe the kayak chasing had an upside.  Brewster learned how to swim!

One of the highlights of the trip was kayaking to the big beach in front of Aleut Town.  This is the village that was abandoned after the 1964 Great Alaskan Earthquake.  The land sank 5 feet in this area, and the village was inundated by a tsunami.  Nora took my camera and explored the old houses taking pictures.  I searched unsuccessfully for morel mushrooms.  Patrick

The big beach in front of Aleut Town looking back towards Lipsett Point

Nora's picture of the inside of an old house from the village abandoned in 1964

Cool Find

Yesterday my co-workers and I walked over the archaeological site where we will be digging later this summer.  We needed to decide where to put our excavation units etc.  We also checked out the erosion face and looked around on the beach for artifacts.  That's when I found this retouched blade.  It is basically a 7000 year old knife, and it got me super excited because it means the site is super old.  The Alutiiq stopped using blade and core technology at about 7000 years ago. So the site has to be older than that at the bottom.  So it looks like we’ll be finding some pretty darn old stuff later on this summer!  Patrick

'Multi-Media' Excursion

In the old days I used to use my mountain bike to get to places to go skiing, and yesterday, for the first time in something like 15 years, I did it again.  In the old days we used to call such trips 'multi-media' excursions - as in we carried the gear to do to a number of different activities.  In the photo below, in addition to the bike and skis, I am also carrying a shotgun to hunt ptarmigan and ice skates. I seem to recall that I used all the gear that I carried and even brought home a ptarmigan.

Yesterday I used my new mountain bike to ride up to the snow on Kashevaroff Mountain.  I then skate skied another 4 miles along the ridge towards Center Mountain.  When I started my trip it was foggy and I did not think to bring my sunglasses!  Big mistake!  And when the sun started to break through I had to turn around.  It got pretty bright on the snow.

I skied back to my bike and then mountain biked back down the trail to my car.  My new mountain bike has amazing suspension and handled the trail down with aplomb.  In the old days my bike could never have done that trail.  As it was I was surprised at how much I worked my arms and shoulders riding the bike down the hill.

All and all a great day - I think I'll do it again!
Patrick

John M, me and Katie Dog on a multi media excursion to Summit Lake (same skis and poles I used yesterday!)

The car is down by the water, and that is town in the distance