Women's Bay Kayak Trip

On Sunday we went kayaking with friends in Women's Bay.  While on Saturday we went to exotic Anton Larsen Bay - on Sunday we stayed closer to home.  And we had just as much fun.

We explored an abandoned barge that is covered with colorful and profane graffiti.  It was a tough climbing up onto the top and once there it was surprisingly high up with quite the view.  Inside the barge was sort of scary.

Then we paddled out to an island where I found an archaeological site.  The birds are all nesting and squawked above us.

I think that this summer we will be doing a lot of paddling!
Patrick

Anton Kayak Trip

Yesterday the kids and I grabbed Stuey's friend Elias and went for a quick kayak picnic over in Anton Larsen Bay.  For a weekend that was supposed to be rainy it sure has been nice!  We took the same Innova inflatable kayaks that I use on my archaeological surveys.  It does feel a little funny to be playing around in them empty of gear.  Generally when I use the boats they are loaded down and I have miles to go before I sleep.

Yesterday we just tooled around and explored the islands and coastline.  We did not go anywhere in particular.  I noticed that the arctic terns are back and nesting, and also saw my first puffins of the summer.

For lunch we pulled up on a beach and ate beef jerky and Cliff Bars.  The sun always seemed to be shining at other beaches but not on us.  But finally, near the end of our picnic the sun did find us - if only for a brief moment.
Patrick

Depth of Field

As you can see from my recent blog posts I've been taking a lot of close ups of plants and flowers.  And I think I have gotten better at it.  In the past I always wanted as much of the plant in focus as possible and would increase the aperture - set it at 11 or 16.  That way I had a bigger depth of field - a thicker plane of where everything is in focus.  But in the last week I have been playing with using my telephoto lens, putting nothing in the background, and not setting the aperture very high.

Sometimes parts of the plants that I want to be in focus are not, but I have been loving how the background just disappears in a haze of out of focus-ness.  It simplifies the picture and isolates the subject.

Patrick

Spring Flowers

Here are some close ups of flowers I took on recent dog walks.  The last couple days were grey and rainy and the flowers were about the only bright thing out there.  In just a couple of months we'll be back picking berries.  Hopefully the berry crop is as good this year as it was last year!
Patrick

My garlic is getting big - nothing else in garden has even sprouted

Switching Seasonal Sports

Ski season is about done.  I went for a ski with Stuey on Pyramid this past Saturday and I sort of think that may well end up as the last ski of the year with kids.  So it is time to start trying out other sports.  I know Nora wants to go kayaking.  Last week Stuey and I tried mountain biking, and directly after skiing on Saturday we went paddle boarding with the cousins at White Sands beach.

Stuey enjoyed both mountain biking and paddle boarding.  And since we don't have to pick just one I bet we do more of both activities this summer!
Patrick

A quick trip to the top of Sharatin Mountain

View of the summit during the climb up - that's the face I skied down

Yesterday I was driving up to Pyramid to go for a quick ski when I decided to go up Sharatin Mountain instead.  It was so beautiful outside and I really did not have any pressing commitments - so why not?

Sharatin is a much bigger mountain, and a 4 rather than 1 1/2  hour commitment.  I also had no gear in the car.  I realized I was wearing clogs and had even forgotten to wear socks.  No food, no raincoat, but certainly a perfect day.  So I decided to just do it anyway.

Getting my gear together at the car I realized that I did have Nora's day pack and that Stuey had left a puff jacket and pair of used socks in the car.  So I had socks to wear in my ski boots, a too small puff jacket in case it got cold, and a pack to carry it all.  I was all set and so away I went!

And it was totally worthwhile.  I got to the summit in 2 hours and then skied most of the way back to the car in one long swooping 2 mile ski run.  I got back to the car less than 3 1/2 hours after I left it.

A quick trip indeed!

Patrick

Me at the top with Nora's tiny pack carrying the skis

I skied almost 2 miles to the far end of the snow visible in this photo

My tracks off of the summit

The radial engine and propellor for a B18a bomber that crashed on Sharatin in 1941

That's the LONG ski run - and I still had a 1/2 mile of time on skis to go!

Final Survey Post

This is my final post on my recent archaeological survey by kayak - I promise!  These are the photos that did not fit into the other posts.  The boat we watched make a 300 ton set of herring.  Loaded kayaks, the camp kitchen, and lots and lots of photos of Philip.  I am lucky that Philip likes to help with these surveys!  He made my job a lot easier and did most of the navigation.  Thank You Philip!

Patrick