Exploring

I did archaeological surveys on Red Lake and River way back in 2002, 2003 and 2004.  That is a long time ago.  On the recent trip I brought along my old notebooks and checked on the old sites.  How had they changed in almost 15 years?  Had my interpretation of the surface features changed?  And, most importantly, I hoped to finish the survey.

Back then we had not really expected many sites along the lake shores and had not completely surveyed the lake.  Subsequent surveys of Karluk and Olga Lakes revealed that there often 1-2 thousand year old sites behind pea gravel beaches where late run reds spawn.  So on this trip I brought along a raft so that we could survey the shorelines we never got to back in the day.

And it proved productive - we found 2 new village sites just behind pea gravels beaches where there were still thousands of red salmon busy spawning away.  Now I can see why ancient Alutiiq people chose such spots - there is certainly plenty of easy fish to catch and dry for winter.  Also both villages look to be 1 to 2 thousand years old.  Further confirmation of what we learned at the other lakes!

I also discovered that Fall is a terrible time to examine sites.  The grass was so tall I could barely see the house depression outlines.  But I did note that the house depressions are a lot smaller than what I remembered.  They definitely seem smaller than the ones I mapped more recently on the Karluk Lake and River.

Red Lake and River is where I first surveyed and mapped Alutiiq interior villages.  And it seems I have been doing it ever since.  So weird to know a place so well, and yet to have not been there in what seems like forever.  So cool to see with experienced eyes what I first saw as a raw 'rookie'.

Patrick

Documenting a new site - I missed this one back in 2002!

Spawned out, bear chewed red salmon

Wood we collected for camp and the the wood stove while on survey

View from the plane on the way home

Spruce Cape in the Rain

Last weekend Nora and I took the doggies for a walk on Spruce Cape.  It was foggy, but at times it lifted just a bit.  There were asters strewn all along the trail and we even saw a discarded bouquet tucked into a stump.  We tried to imagine the story.  My story was that a wedding party went out there for photographs.

All the fireweed is now brightly colored and reminds of great big flowers.  Kind of like the poinsettia plants you see around Christmas time.  Who needs flowers when you got leaves?

Patrick

Time by the Stove

Here in Alaska all summer long - May thru August - the nights are short.  This means that when camping it is time to go to bed when it finally gets dark, and that it is hard to beat the rising sun.  But now that we are past the equinox the sun sets early and there is a lot of time to spend beside the wood stove before going to bed and in the morning after waking up but before leaving the tent.

This also means that the stove is going for a long time and that there is a need to gather and split a lot of wood.  We spend a lot of time in the teepee by the wood stove when camping in the fall.  Talking, reading books, having our ration, sudoku, quesadillas - it's all good.

One of my favorite parts of any hunt or camping trip!

Patrick

Deer Hunting

Mike and I would generally wake up at 6 AM, cook breakfast on the wood stove, and leave when it was just light enough to see well without a headlamp (around 7:45 AM).  We wanted to be well up the hillsides before the sun lit up the slopes.

Just after sunrise (and right before sunset) are when deer are most active.  And active deer are easier to find.  Once they lie down in the grass or in the bushes they become very difficult to see.  But deer walking about on a lit up mountain slope are very easy to spot.  We would hike until we spotted a herd and then glass them with our spotting scope.  If there was a big enough deer in the herd to make it worth our while then we would make a plan for a stalk.

And then after we harvested a deer it was time to carry him home to camp.  We always got back before mid afternoon, and then it was time to saw and split wood.  Get ready for teepee time.

Patrick

Roasted Veggies on the Woodstove

My new thing while camping in the teepee is roasting vegetables on the wood stove.  I brought along garlic, beets, and carrots from my garden, and almost every night we had them as an appetizer or dessert roasted on the wood stove.  I have this little 'fry bake pan' that has a tight sealing lid.  Season with salt and pepper - a good amount of oil and then just let them cook.  I like to get them to burn just a bit.  I also found that it is better to add the garlic about halfway into the process so the cloves do not overcook.  I also found that the veggies basically steam in their own juice and that to brown them I had to remove the lid for a bit at the end.

I also like roasted vegetables at home and I plan on posting the home cooked recipe soon (big difference is that I add the beat greens at the end).  So stay tuned.  Patrick

The Landscape

I gather a good picture is worth a 1000 words - so I guess I don't need to write much more for this post.  The  Refugium part of Kodiak is gorgeous and I think we hit the fall colors just about perfect.

This is a great place for ridge top hiking - once you get to the ridge tops.  We found the hardest part was hiking on the flats trying to get to the hills.  It is all tussocks and holes, and willow thickets.  The trick is to find bear trails that go where you want to go.

Bears always seem to have a destination in mind.  There are cross valley trails, down valley trails, trails to good salmon fishing spots (you have the 'cross valley expressway', the Connecticut Creek Parkway and the 'down valley highway').  One just has to think like a bear and pick the right trail.  And then once on the ridge tops all is golden views and good hiking.  Patrick

Small tent big country

The south end of Kodiak is a vast place.  We'd hike for miles and then look back and see the little white dot that marked camp.  There are not a lot of trees down there so it was hard to find a sheltered spot for the teepee.  We did pick a spot with some shelter, but a couple of nights it did get windy.

One night we almost lost both tents to a massive gust.  It actually did bend the stove pipe to a 90 degree angle.  It's a good thing we brought an extra stove!  Supposedly it was blowing a sustained 50 mph nearby - so who knows how hard it was blowing at our camp.  You could here the big gust coming like freight trains.  Patrick